One of my favorite female characters

Jane Eyre
from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
pictured: Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre from the 2006 BBC mini-series

I read Jane Eyre at 14, and it changed my life. This was a cerebral and, I suppose, abstract experience. Since then I've experienced and done many much more concrete things: I've traveled abroad, I've found a job I love in a field I never expected, I've met my best friend, I've moved across the country, I've produced and directed plays, I've been published. But for me, the single most life-changing experience still feels like it was reading Jane Eyre. I modelled myself after the title character. She changed how I thought.

The reason I love this book is directly opposed to my post about Christy. Christy is about a girl who basically runs off to teach at a missionary. She wants to make her life mean something; she wants to make a difference by helping people. Jane Eyre is about a girl who gets an offer to become a missionary. She gets an offer to make her life mean something; she gets an offer to make a difference by helping people. And then she turns it down.

( Female self-sacrifice and roles in society )