I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, and finely developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so pale, and had features so irregular and so marked.
Chapter 11 · Narrator
Context
Getting dressed in her new room, Jane reflects candidly on her physical appearance, listing the ways she falls short of conventional beauty standards and acknowledging her wish to be more attractive.
Analysis
The repetition of 'I sometimes'—used three times—creates a rhythm of accumulated longing, each clause adding another feature Jane lacks, until the list becomes almost obsessive. Her specific catalogue of desired traits ('rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and small cherry mouth') echoes the language of romance novels, suggesting that Jane has internalized a literary ideal of femininity she knows she can never embody. The frank admission 'I felt it a misfortune' is striking in its lack of false modesty—Jane doesn't pretend not to care about beauty, nor does she apologize for wanting it, which makes her self-awareness more honest and therefore more painful.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Jane's feminism includes acknowledging the real constraints of physical appearance—she doesn't reject beauty standards as irrelevant but admits their power over her life, even as she refuses to let them define her worth.