_I_ care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.
Chapter 27 · Jane Eyre
Context
Jane, resisting Rochester's pleas, asserts to herself that the more isolated and unsupported she is, the more fiercely she will uphold her self-respect and moral principles.
Analysis
The anaphoric repetition of 'the more' creates a paradoxical logic: isolation does not weaken Jane's resolve but strengthens it. Each clause adds another layer of abandonment—'solitary,' 'friendless,' 'unsustained'—and each is met with an answering assertion of self-respect. The structure itself enacts defiance: Jane is not claiming she will endure *despite* being alone, but *because* she is alone. The final sentence, 'I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man,' grounds her autonomy in obedience to a higher authority, not in rebellion. This is crucial: Jane's independence is not secular self-assertion but religious duty.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Jane's feminism is inseparable from her religious faith—she claims authority over her own life not by rejecting external law, but by obeying a moral framework she trusts more than any individual man, including Rochester.