Jane Eyre: Top-Scoring Sample Essay on Representation of women

Discuss the negative and positive representations of women in Jane Eyre.

A full length (~1,200 word) essay covering:

•      Jane as a positive representation of female autonomy, in her refusal of Rochester, her rejection of St John Rivers, and her narrative control over her own story

•      Helen Burns and Miss Temple as models of quiet spiritual resilience and intellectual independence

•      Bertha Mason and Blanche Ingram as contrasting negative portrayals, one silenced for nonconformity and the other reduced to beauty and status

Written by a 2025 VCE student who scored a raw 49 in English. Includes analysis of Brontë's use of physiognomy and the class prejudice underlying Blanche's characterisation.