“I resisted all the way: a new thing for me, and a circumstance which greatly strengthened the bad opinion Bessie and Miss Abbot were disposed to entertain of me. The fact is, I was a trifle beside myself; or rather out of myself, as the French would say: I was conscious that a moment’s mutiny had already rendered me liable to strange penalties, and, like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.”
— Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Technique
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë uses a technique of character agency to show growing urgency in Jane.
The above passage demonstrates the technique by leading with direct words (“I resisted all the way”), referencing a mutiny, and continues by comparing herself to a a courageous slave (“rebel slave”). The second sentence is longer than the first, figuratively and literally going to length.
Use
- The main goal of this technique is to show the character taking steps forward to grow, whether reacting to or creating a plot point.
- If this technique will be used in first-person, declarative statements can help with progressing the character’s agency.
- In third-person, the character has to display agency with action that must be shown to the reader, so they can see it from outside-in.
The Periplous 