How much of Jane Eyre was influenced by the debate of equality between sexes that emerged at the end of the 1700s?
For a bit of context Mary Woolstonecaft aka Mary Shelley’s mother in her philosophical paper Vindication on the rights on women in 1792 argued “that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men.”

Is the treatment of Bertha a woman with mental health problems cruel even by the standards of the 19th century? Debate Rochester’s motives in locking her up.

Also a good book to read that tells the story from Bertha’s perspective and gives her a voice is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.