Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is about a girl named Jane grew up with her aunt and cousins who hated her. When she was ten she was sent to a boarding school, and when she was almost eighteen she took a job as a governess, and fell in love with her boss, Mr. Rochester. Right before they got married Jane found out that Mr. Rochester was married to a crazy woman. In this book there were many example of different forms of power. Three main ones were power in love, power in fear, and power in guilt. If someone loves another person, he or she will do anything his/her lover wants. If a person is afraid of another person, he or she will fear consequences of not obeying. Finally, if someone feels guilty he or she will want to make it up to the other person.

Brontë’s book shows many examples of power in love. One example is when Mr. Rochester and Jane got engaged Jane wanted to remain a governess, and see Mr. Rochester rarely. Mr. Rochester wanted to see Jane more, but he agreed because he loved her. “I shall just go on with it as usual.” Jane said this when she was talking to Mr. Rochester. It was because he loved her that Mr. Rochester was opposed to Jane seeing him only once a day like usual, but because he loved her he wanted Jane to be happy, so he let her have her way. Another example of power of love is when Jane left and Mr. Rochester fell apart. “But many think he had better be dead.” A man who was describing Mr. Rochester to Jane said this phrase. The power of love can occur in many ways. There was the one above, where someone will agree to something his or her loved one wants, but there is also one where someone can make his or her loved one extremely miserable, or extremely happy. This power is less conscious. Jane didn’t want to make Mr. Rochester fall apart, but with love comes power, and she had more power than she thought. A final example of power in love is when Jane was in boarding school, and she had a really nice teacher named Ms. Temple. Ms. Temple got her students to do what she wanted by making them love her. Ms. Temple was the only nice one to Jane, so Jane did anything she said. This example is love between a teacher and students, but it has the same effect as love between people who are romantically involved. Power in love is interesting, because it can cause love to end if one person has too much, but it can also cause love to succeed, if both people have the same amount.

Another type of power is power in fear. One example of this power is when Jane was little, and Mrs. Reed had power over her. Jane described how Mrs. Reed treated her when she said Mrs. Reed had made a, “Line of separation” between her family and Jane. Jane was afraid of what Mrs. Reed would do to her if she misbehaved. But Jane feared more than that. Mrs. Reed was Jane’s only parental figure, and Jane feared that if she misbehaved Mrs. Reed would hate her more. Mrs. Reed had her power from fear, but the fear came from love. Jane just wanted someone to love her. That’s why she feared so much. Another example of power in fear is when Jane was at school and the man who owned the school, Mr. Brocklehurst, told everyone Jane was a liar. “This girl is-a liar!” Mr. Brocklehurst announced that quote to the school. She feared him, so he had the power to make her extremely miserable. This example is a different type of power from fear than the first one. This was power to make someone extremely depressed, or extremely ecstatic. A final example of power in fear is when Jane first came to Mr. Rochester’s house, and everyone feared what he would do if they did something wrong. The housekeeper said, “I always dress for the evening when Mr. Rochester is here.” He has power to make everyone at the house do things that aren’t necessary. Mr. Rochester didn’t consciously get this power, he doesn’t care what they wear, but since he is their boss he gets the power that comes with it. Power in fear is dangerous, because unlike power in love the two people don’t always like each other. As the power gets higher, so does the fear, so the power keeps going up.

A final form of power is power in guilt. One example is when Mrs. Reed was dying and she sent for Jane. She felt guilty for ruining Jane’s life, so she used her last dying energy to give Jane a letter from Jane’s uncle on her Eyre side. Jane had power over Mrs. Reed because Mrs. Reed felt guilty. Another example of power in Brontë’s book was when Jane was staying with her cousins on her father’s side. The maid Hannah didn’t want to let Jane in, and Jane would’ve died. “You munnut think too hardly of me.” Hannah really wanted to change Jane’s opinion of her. Jane had the power to make Hannah do a lot, but Jane didn’t want that power. She didn’t like power in guilt. That’s why Jane forgave Hannah, and Mrs. Reed with nothing in return. A final example of power in guilt is when Jane found out that Mr. Rochester was married to a crazy woman. “Mr. Rochester, I must leave you.” Mr. Rochester had to let Jane go because he felt guilty. This power in guilt came from power in love. He loved Jane, and that’s why he felt guilty. Power in guilt is strong, but it only works for people who are loved by the people they have power over.

There are many forms of power. There’s power in love, power in guilt, and power in fear. Charlotte Brontë’s book, Jane Eyre shows good ways to use power, but often in life power is not used well. Love and power are different, but they are related to each other. Often power sprouts from love.