Over the course of the classic novel, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Jane exhibits her dignity and integrity through her interactions with other people and even in her everyday living. The author establishes Jane's character early in the novel through her confrontations with John and Mrs. Reed. The development of her character is central to the novel; meaning, practically the entire theme revolves around her personality and her coming of age. She is depicted as having a very opinionated personality toward others. Bronte does a remarkable job of revealing Jane's character through her actions, words, and appearance. .
Many times throughout the book, her outspoken attitude is turned into aggressive acts. At the start of the novel her cousin, John Reed, hurls a book at her just to anger her and make her fight back, creating her to get in trouble. This is the case in many cases when John starts fights with her; she is always the one who gets punished. One afternoon, Jane is peacefully reading in the windowsill when John walks into the room. He begins criticizing her and throws a book at her, which makes her hit her head on the door, cutting it open. Not being able to stand it any longer, Jane erupts and goes flying at him with her fists clenched ready to kill. The two begin fighting and are rolling around on the floor when Mrs. Reed "comes to John's rescue". He, of course, lies and blames the entire thing on Jane, causing her to be scolded and sent to the red-room. Her integrity is shown when Miss Abbott and Bessie Lee are taking her to the red-room and she puts up a fight and refuses to go. Later on in the story, Jane comes across a man, Mr. Rochester, on a horse in the woods. He is thrown from the horse and she helps him up by letting him lean on her until he is able to mount his horse again. Jane exposes an underlying character trait of caring and sensitivity when she lays with her dying friend, Helen, at Lowood.