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Jane Eyre

reviewed Charlotte Bronte · 1847 · novel

The reading

The bead. That a plain, poor, unnoticed woman — the one the world never picks — is wanted utterly, for her self, by the man who could have anyone, and chosen as his equal.

Engines

The bundle. Single dominant wish (to be wanted as oneself), with a liberation/autonomy thread — "I am a free human being with an independent will" — that serves the spine: Jane insists on being desired as an equal, not kept as a dependent. Spine is being-desired.

Dual-use read. Being-desired's counterfeit is the conquest fantasy — being wanted as a possession, a thing won. Jane refuses exactly that: she walks out rather than be a kept mistress, and returns only when she can come as an equal with means of her own. The bright pole, un-run.

Verdict. Being-desired, clean — the canonical text for the plain woman wanted for her self.

Evidence. ~ reviewed — Project Gutenberg #1260; slot quotes confirmed against the text.