But what is so headstrong as youth? What so blind as inexperience?
Chapter 22 · Narrator
Context
As Jane approaches Thornfield, she tries to remind herself that Rochester is not thinking of her and that their separation is imminent. Despite this rational self-warning, she cannot suppress her eagerness to see him again.
Analysis
The paired rhetorical questions use anaphora ('What so...') to mimic the rhythm of proverbs, as if Jane is reaching for timeless wisdom to excuse her behavior. But calling youth 'headstrong' and inexperience 'blind' also distances her older narrating self from her younger feeling self—she's simultaneously living the emotion and judging it from outside. This double perspective lets Brontë show passion and self-awareness at once, making Jane both swept up and critically alert.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Jane's retrospective narration creates dramatic irony: the older Jane knows what the younger one doesn't, and uses generalizations like this to hint at coming mistakes without fully spoiling them—keeping the reader suspended between sympathy and foreknowledge.