(Click the character infographic to download.) If Jane had her way, she would probably tell us that she doesn’t have any character to speak of; she’s happy just to be Mr. Rochester’s "plain,...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Mr. Rochester is stern-featured, heavy-browed, craggy-faced, rude, abrupt, horny, twice Jane’s age, always on the edge of violence, likes to order p...

(Click the character infographic to download.) The first thing to explain about St. John Rivers is how to pronounce his first name, "St. John." It’s not "Saint John," although of course that’s...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Helen is Jane’s pious best friend at Lowood Institute. Helen is extremely intelligent, calm, and caring, but her most important aspect is her devout...

(Click the character infographic to download.) The ultimate hypocrite, Mr. Brocklehurst is the supervisor of a boarding school for orphaned girls, Lowood Institute, which was founded by one of his...

Bessie is Jane’s childhood nursemaid; she’s not exactly perfect, because she has a hot temper and behaves pretty inconsistently to Jane (sometimes bringing her treats, sometimes punishing her f...

Blanche Ingram is, let’s be honest, not a nice girl. The daughter of one of Rochester’s distant neighbors, Blanche gets interested in him because of his fortune and because she thinks an ugly h...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Adèle is Jane’s pupil at Thornfield, a little French girl just under ten years old, the daughter of Céline Varens (an opera dancer who was Rochest...

(Click the character infographic to download.) St. John’s sisters and Jane’s cousins, Diana and Mary Rivers are gentle, compassionate, educated young women who take to Jane immediately. Mary do...