A constant theme throughout Jane Eyre is the search for love. Although this could be shown through many of the novel’s key characters, it can most readily be shown in the experiences of Jane Eyre herself. The novel begins with her searching for love and it finally ends with her finding it, for good, in Mr. Rochester.At the novel’s opening, Jane is living with the cruel Mrs. Reed and her horrid three children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Mrs. Reed makes her distaste for Jane very evident in all of her actions. She forbids her to play with her (Mrs. Reed’s) children (Jane’s own cousins) and falsely accuses her of being a “liar” and of possessing a “mean spirit.” Mrs. Reed’s attitude is subsequently passed on to her children who, in turn, treat Jane as bad, if not worse, than their mother does. As an unjustified consequence of these attitudes, Jane is forced to grow up in a home where she finds no love, even when she tries to be perfect. The only times she comes close to finding the semblance of love is when Bessie (a servant) is kind to her which is rarely because Bessie is a very “two-sided” individual. Whenever they are alone together, she is quite loving to Jane, but whenever others are around, she can be nearly as cold to Jane as the Reed family is.When Jane is sent to Lowood (an all girl’s school), she finds the first true love shown by an adult. Miss Temple, the school’s superintendent) treats all of the girls with extreme kindness and gentleness. When the girl’s breakfast is burned, she arranges for them to have the luxury of white bread and cheese to make up for it. Also, even while some of the other teachers like Miss Scatcherd and even the school’s headmaster, Mr. Brocklehurst, are mean to the girls, she is always there for them with a hug and a smile. When Helen falls deathly ill, Jane sees how motherly and unfaltering Miss T...
