I will start off by saying I am very unsure if I am doing this blog correctly... but I will do the best I can!
The two major themes of Jane Eyre are feminism and love. The feminism comes up as Jane is continually struggling to gain recognition as an individual in society. Her status as a woman certainly hinders her in the 19th century Victorian world. We see how Jane is extremely thoughtful and intelligent, and if she were a man who perhaps had a little bit of money, she could certainly make a difference in the world. We as readers are constantly impressed by her thoughts and opinions.
And then, along comes Rochester. While Jane impresses he and the readers with the intelligent conversations the two share, when we again gain access to Jane's thoughts we see how her love for Rochester has had at least some effect on her thinking. At the end of Chapter XVI, Jane becomes thoroughly consumed by her anxiety that Rochester will fall for Blanche, the beautiful girl. At this point in the story, it seems to me like she has at least temporarily abandoned her mature, non-conformist thought and is thinking very... conformist-ly. She is acting just how women are supposed to, focused on appearances.
I think it will be interesting to see how Jane's feminist struggle plays out with her love for Rochester as the story progresses. I am hoping that she will be able to both make a feminist stand while finding love. Today, being a strong woman and being in love would not be very remarkable. 200 years ago, though... well, I'm excited! Power to Jane.
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