“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me:
I am a free human being with an
independent will.”
For women
"It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at
them, if they seek to do more or learn more than
custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”
"Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel
just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for
their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a
restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer;
and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to
say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and
knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags."
Against class and society
"For the red room perfectly represents
[Jane's] vision of the society which she
is trapped" Gilbert and Gubar
Equality in her relationships
I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom,
conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh - it is my spirit that
addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the
grave and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are!”
“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and
little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I
have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart!
“I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely
because you are older than I, or because you have seen more
of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on
the use you have made of your time and experience.”