In Charlotte Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre, the characters of Jane and Mr. Rochester can easily be considered a dichotomy of each other; they are dissimilar and separate, almost like polar opposites, not only due to the obvious gender differences, but also in terms of position; Mr. Rochester is a privileged, educated man and Jane's employer, while Jane herself, whose only education comes from a girls' boarding school, is her employee and Mr. Rochester's subordinate. Mr. Rochester has "more" than Jane; he is better educated, more experienced, more traveled and more prosperous. With Bronte's novel, we understand that this abundance in which Rochester lives is not based solely on his status, but also on his sex; he also has the ability, if he wishes, to further improve his position because he is a man. Jane, unlike Mr. Rochester, is completely fixed in her position; her gender and her occupation as a housekeeper limit her and what she could achieve. For Bronte, Jane was innately given the motivation and drive to want more than she has; for the author, Bronte, must absolutely have been influenced by the social order of her time and the challenge of increasing one's position. What Rochester and Jane have in common is that, despite their difference in position, they can both be considered misfits. Although Rochester is a rich and powerful man, he can be considered something of a thief; his fall from grace in youth assigns him being of the world but not truly in it: “….I have a past existence, a series of actions, a color of life to contemplate in my breast, which may well recall my sneers and my censures from my neighbors to myself...I began, or rather was pushed to......middle of paper......warning to Jane. Traditional roles of etiquette are not respected in Jane Eyre, Jane travels alone to Thronfield, spending time with Mr Rochester alone both inside and outside its walls; these practices in which Jane participated would not be considered good observation or good form for any woman, but, because Jane is a housekeeper, a subordinate, a hired help, she breaks with traditional conventionality in applying these rules; because she is a woman, the same rules apply but, due to her position, Jane does not fit into the system. Ultimately, Jane will break even further with convention by becoming not just a servant of the house, but the mistress of the house. Works Cited Bronte, Charlotte, Margaret Smith and Sally Shuttleworth. Jane Eyre. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. 63, 109,134-35, 317,319. Press.