Everyone has the right to govern themselves on how to act, where to live and with whom to associate. In Jane Eyre, Jane is controlled and structured by an underlying social and economic critique of conventional patriarchal authority. We will first look at the various patriarchs that Jane encounters with John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester, and St. John. So, we can turn our attention to the economics of social class and how Jane behaves where she resides, rather than in Gateshead, Lowood or Thornfield, and then we will see how Jane becomes her equal. After receiving a huge fortune from her uncle, Jane abandons her inferior role and travels to Ferndean to reunite with Rochester as equals. Jane Eyre's mother decided to marry into a lower social class than herself and as a result did not inherit any of her family's wealth. . John Reed, Jane's maternal cousin, however inherited the family's wealth and therefore thought himself superior to Jane. John has made it clear that his position as the sole male heir gives him absolute power to harass his dependent cousin. This can be seen when he finds her hiding behind the curtains reading a book, John Reed tells Jane: “You're an addict, says mother; you have no money; your father left you no one; you should beg, and not live here with gentlemen's sons like us... I will teach you to search my shelves: for they are mine; the whole house belongs to me” (Bronte 23). John then proceeds to ask Jane to come and stand by the door, which she complied with because she is considered his inferior. John then threw her the book he found Jane reading to her. She fell and hit her head on the door, causing her to bleed. Jane verbally lashes out at John Reed, and... middle of paper... tion, volume 31, no. 4. (March 1977) 397-420 JSTOR. Network. November 11, 2011. .Wyatt, Jean. "Everyone's Patriarch: Jane Eyre and Romantic Love." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Volume 4, No. 2. (1985) 199-216 JSTOR. Network. November 9, 2011. .Roy, Parama. “Unaccommodated Women and the Poetics of Property in Jane Eyre.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, volume 29, no. 4. Nineteenth century (autumn 1989) 713-727. JSTOR. Network. November 11, 2011. .Monahan, Melodies. "Leaving Doesn't Mean Going Home: Jane Eyre." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, volume 28, no. 4. Nineteenth century (autumn 1988) 589-608. JSTOR. Network. November 11, 2011. .Bronte, Charlotte. “Jane Eyre” Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, (1996) Print.