Jane Eyre: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 70 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
12,666 different words. On average 53 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 5,256 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
jane, rochester, fairfax, reed, john. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 11.91 words ending in 'ly' and 9.42 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.5% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 7.2% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 33% of sentences: i, the, he, you, it.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 1933 |
| the | 428 |
| he | 368 |
| you | 322 |
| it | 321 |
| rochester | 298 |
| and | 272 |
| she | 231 |
| what | 205 |
| but | 180 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.86 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
273 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.46 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 6: A breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room, I slipped in there. It contained a bookcase: I soon possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored …
Ch 1, para 15: Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting: as interesting as the tales Bessie sometimes narrated on winter …
Ch 1, para 26: Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair: he spent some three minutes in thrusting out his tongue at me as far as he could without …
Ch 1, para 35: “Wicked and cruel boy!” I said. “You are like a murderer—you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman emperors!”
Ch 1, para 35: “Wicked and cruel boy!” I said. “You are like a murderer—you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman emperors!”
Ch 1, para 35: “Wicked and cruel boy!” I said. “You are like a murderer—you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman emperors!”
Rich use of similes and metaphors throughout. Fire represents passion and destruction (chapters 15, 20, 27, 36). Blindness symbolises moral blindness (chapters 20, 36, 37). Confinement imagery shows psychological struggle. Rochester compared to eclipse, marble, volcanic hills.
Chapters: Ch 15, Ch 20, Ch 27, Ch 36
Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. (Ch 14, para 71)
you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the whole of life’s stream will be broken up into whirl and tumult, foam and noise (Ch 15, para 6)
He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. (Ch 24, para 184)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 52%, sound 25%, touch 18%, taste 5%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 1390 |
| sound | 655 |
| touch | 474 |
| taste | 125 |
| smell | 23 |
All five senses used. Sight dominates (portraits, faces, the mysterious woman). Sound crucial (laughter, Rochester's voice across moors, cries in night). Touch in moments of connection. Taste and smell minimal but present in domestic scenes.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 12, Ch 15, Ch 20, Ch 25, Ch 35
While I paced softly on, the last sound I expected to hear in so still a region, a laugh, struck my ear. It was a curious laugh; distinct, formal, mirthless. (Ch 11, para 112)
This was a demoniac laugh—low, suppressed, and deep—uttered, as it seemed, at the very keyhole of my chamber door. (Ch 15, para 32)
The night—its silence—its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a shrilly sound (Ch 20, para 3)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
246 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 1.31 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Patterns of three appear in character groupings (Diana, Mary, Jane as sisters; three antagonists: Mrs. Reed, Brocklehurst, St. John). Repetition of key phrases: 'I must leave him', 'wherever you are is my home'. Lists used sparingly but effectively in descriptions.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 23, Ch 28, Ch 33, Ch 34
I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. (Ch 4, para 81)
Thank you, Mr. Rochester, for your great kindness. I am strangely glad to get back again to you: and wherever you are is my home—my only home. (Ch 22, para 34)
I have a woman’s heart, but not where you are concerned; for you I have only a comrade’s constancy (Ch 34, para 143)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: ere, whence, nay, thither, anon, thee.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| ere | 41 |
| whence | 19 |
| nay | 9 |
| thither | 8 |
| anon | 4 |
| thee | 3 |
| thy | 3 |
| hither | 2 |
| art | 2 |
| whilst | 2 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Strong showing through dialogue and action. Jane's character revealed through her confrontations with Mrs. Reed (chapter 4) and St. John (chapter 34) rather than narration. The red-room trauma shown through Jane's terror, not explained. Rochester's past revealed gradually through hints and revelations.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 14, Ch 20, Ch 26
Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, for ever condemned? (Ch 2, para 26)
I heard her sweeping away; and soon after she was gone, I suppose I had a species of fit: unconsciousness closed the scene. (Ch 2, para 44)
Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot. There was such deep remorse in his eye, such true pity in his tone, such manly energy in his manner (Ch 27, para 10)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description often precedes action but is woven throughout. Chapter 11 describes Thornfield before Jane explores it. Chapter 25 describes the mysterious woman before revealing her identity. Generally description serves action rather than halting it.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 25, Ch 28, Ch 36
A snug small room; a round table by a cheerful fire; an arm-chair high-backed and old-fashioned, wherein sat the neatest imaginable little elderly lady (Ch 11, para 22)
It was a discoloured face—it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes (Ch 25, para 77)
on the carpet—I saw what gave the distinct lie to my hypothesis,—the veil, torn from top to bottom in two halves! (Ch 25, para 96)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 6.28 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 256 |
| seemed | 210 |
| saw | 187 |
| heard | 180 |
| felt | 161 |
| knew | 112 |
| watched | 34 |
| noticed | 17 |
| wondered | 16 |
| realised | 5 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from gothic horror (chapters 1, 2, 15, 20) to romantic tenderness (chapters 23, 24) to moral severity (chapters 27, 34, 35) to quiet contentment (chapter 38). First-person narration allows intimate shifts in Jane's voice reflecting her emotional state.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 15, Ch 23, Ch 27, Ch 38
I heard her sweeping away; and soon after she was gone, I suppose I had a species of fit: unconsciousness closed the scene. (Ch 2, para 44)
You have saved my life: I have a pleasure in owing you so immense a debt. I cannot say more. (Ch 15, para 67)
Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot. There was such deep remorse in his eye, such true pity in his tone, such manly energy in his manner (Ch 27, para 10)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is dry and restrained. Jane's resistance to Rochester's flattery in chapter 24 creates humour through her plain speech. The gypsy fortune-teller scene (chapter 19) uses irony. Adèle's French affectations provide light moments. Overall tone is serious; comedy serves character rather than entertainment.
Chapters: Ch 19, Ch 24, Ch 31
Don’t address me as if I were a beauty; I am your plain, Quakerish governess. (Ch 24, para 21)
I feigned courtship of Miss Ingram, because I wished to render you as madly in love with me as I was with you (Ch 24, para 60)
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