Master! How is he my master? Am I a servant?
Chapter 2 · Jane Eyre
Context
After being dragged to the red-room by the servants Bessie and Miss Abbot, Jane reacts to being called Master Reed's servant by questioning the legitimacy of his authority over her.
Analysis
Jane's two rhetorical questions strip the word 'Master' of its assumed authority by asking for its basis rather than accepting it. The second question forces a binary—'Am I a servant?'—that traps her opponent: if she is not a servant, then 'Master' has no meaning. This verbal strategy shows Jane using logic as a form of resistance even when she has no physical power.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Jane's resistance is intellectual as well as physical—this quote shows her using pointed questions to expose the contradiction in her social position, refusing to accept subordination without a rational explanation.