First of all, Jane Eyre, unlike her Austen-like fellow characters, is poor. She's an orphan, taken in by wealthier relatives who mistreat here. She is not looking for a man. The book is so much more about her and her character growth than marriage, although that, of course, is included.
She begins as a wholly unlikable, yet pitiable creature. Jane is loud and opinionated and headstrong. But she also has a strong moral center on right and wrong. She is sent to a boarding school and forgotten. She must forge her own way in the world. However, by this point, she has been molded and shaped in her character and, while not necessarily having achieved perfection, knows that as the goal.
She finds employment with the Rochester clan as a governess for Mr. Rochester's ward. This is where the book turns Austen-esque as Jane and Mr. Rochester, twenty years her senior, declare their undying love and intention to marry. Jane is saved by a rich, but unattractive, man who plucks her from obscurity, intending to lavish her with his fortune and make a fine lady of her. As with most Victorian romantic novels, the love is told to the reader and described in voluminous terms, but the reader is never shown the love. Why Mr. Rochester loves Jane is unclear. She's different from the other women who are apparently vacuous and money-grubbing. She is an interesting conversationalist. Even he calls her plain looking, however. She's subservient and clearly his inferior. They have no chemistry or event that bonds them together. It just is that they are mad for each other.
Of course there is a twist and "happily ever after" is abandoned. But 1/3 of the book remains. Jane continues in a very different adventure with a family when she literally collapses on their doorstep. But the story circles around and all ends well.
One thing the book had going for it was a real sense of a life that seemed wholly unfair, yet through it all the thread of God's sovereignty runs. Jane, and consequently those around her, learn to trust in God's plan and call for righteousness, especially when it's hard. Jane spends the book learning the lesson and implementing it. Those around her, including Mr. Rochester, must discover its truth in their own way. The redemption of injustice and trial turn God into the hero of the story. While the moral is clear, Trust God and Do Right, I don't believe it was heavy-handed or overdone. It feels real. It feels hard. But in the end, it feels right.
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