Jane's View of Herself

Passage: “You,” I said, “a favourite with Mr. Rochester?  You gifted with the power of pleasing him?  You of importance to him in any way?  Go! your folly sickens me.  And you have derived pleasure from occasional tokens of preference—equivocal tokens shown by a gentleman of family and a man of the world to a dependent and a novice.  How dared you?  Poor stupid dupe!—Could not even self-interest make you wiser? You repeated to yourself this morning the brief scene of last night?—Cover your face and be ashamed!  He said something in praise of your eyes, did he?  Blind puppy!  Open their bleared lids and look on your own accursed senselessness!  It does good to no woman to be flattered by her superior, who cannot possibly intend to marry her; and it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead, ignis-fatus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication.

     This passage gives the audience insight into the way Jane views herself in relation to others. She insults herself and puts herself down in order to show the ways she believes she is insignificant and inferior to the people around her. Jane is angry with herself and jealous of Blanche who she hasn't even met yet. She violently berates herself, showing how she truly views herself in comparison to the wealth and beauty she is surrounded by.
     Jane puts Mr. Rochester on a pedestal and views him as "her superior". She describes Rochester as "a man of the world," and herself as "a dependent and a novice." She puts him on this pedestal above her because he is wealthy and she is not. That is why they do not stand on equal footing. This speech contradicts what Jane had previously said about women feeling just as men do. She believes he could never love her because she is poor and a dependent. When Mrs. Reed would insult Jane, she called her a "dependent". This is symbolic because it shows that Jane's difficult upbringing has had a great impact on her self confidence and how she views herself as inferior to wealthy people.
     Jane prides herself on her intelligence, presumably because she believes she is not physically attractive, but in this passage, Jane repeatedly insults her own intelligence. She says she has folly and also calls herself stupid and senseless. Since the power of her mind is generally what Jane views as her best quality, this is significant because it shows how truly upset with herself Jane is.
     The language Jane uses in this passage shows how she has no confidence in herself and believes she is worthless because she is not rich. Most of the time, Jane doesn't get this angry or jealous, but her passionate emotions let her true feelings about herself show through.