Jane Eyre is richly intertextual, drawing heavily on literary and theological traditions. Among the most prominent allusions are to John Milton, Lord Byron, and the Bible—each of which shapes the novel’s ethical structure, characterization, and symbolic depth. Charlotte Brontë weaves these sources into her narrative not merely as ornament, but as active frameworks through which Jane’s struggle for identity, autonomy, and moral clarity is expressed.

1. Milton: Paradise Lost and the Moral Cosmos

Charlotte Brontë’s frequent references to Milton’s Paradise Lost help to structure Jane Eyre as a moral and spiritual drama. Jane’s journey mirrors that of Milton’s Adam and Eve: a fall from innocence, exile, and eventual redemption—not through submission, but through moral discernment.

• Rochester is often read as a Miltonic Satan figure—charismatic, tortured, seductive, and rebellious against divine law. Like Satan, he tries to tempt Jane into a morally compromised paradise (bigamous love).
• Jane, like Eve, gains wisdom through suffering and refuses the temptation, choosing a higher ethical path.

“I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.”

— Jane, refusing Rochester’s proposal at Thornfield

This aligns her with the redeemed Eve rather than the fallen, asserting female moral agency in the face of patriarchal transgression.

2. Byron: Gothic Heroism and Dangerous Charisma

Brontë’s Rochester is a quintessential Byronic hero, a literary archetype derived from the works and persona of Lord Byron. This figure is:

• Emotionally intense, brooding, passionate, and tormented by past sins
• Often cynical and defiant, yet yearning for love and redemption
• Morally ambiguous, frequently at odds with social norms

Rochester’s Byronic traits dominate his early portrayal:

• His sardonic humor, secret past, and attempts to control Jane reflect classic Byronic traits.
• His appeal lies not in social virtue but in emotional intensity and vulnerability.

Yet Brontë ultimately tames the Byronic model: Rochester must be humbled—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—before Jane can accept him as an equal. In this way, Brontë transforms the Romantic hero into a morally reconstructed partner.