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Cinderella is a classic fairytale almost every person knows. Such
recognition was earned through time and it’s originality. Yet from this wellknown tale, many stories have stemmed into their own interesting aspects
of virtually the same plot with similar characters. One of the related stories
is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Brontë uses the main character Jane as
Cinderella who finds her prince charming. Even though Jane Eyre contains
more about human nature and less of magic, it still resembles the
Cinderella archetype through Jane’s early life and her relationship with
Rochester. This does not, however, help Jane Eyre, but makes it cliché.
Jane’s early life can be defined as the classic Cinderella case beginning with
Jane’s orphaned state, which resembles that of Cinderella. Mrs. Reed and
her children mistreat Jane as the wicked stepmother and stepsisters do in
the fairy tale. The personalities of these characters are almost parallel. One
of Cinderella’s stepsisters is self-indulgent, another is strict and
demanding, these match up with Georgiana and Eliza in the book. Even
though the characters are similar in Jane’s early life to those of Cinderella,
she responds to them quite differently. While Cinderella is very obedient,
Jane is rebellious. This portrays Bronte’s different take on what makes a
character unique and not just another Cinderella. Another correspondence
between the two stories is the relationship patterns between the hero and
heroine.