nt?'
             'No, you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep.' (Jane Eyre, 44)
             In this way, the maid has pointed to the fact that Jane has no secure place in the social organization, not even that of a servant. Thus, Jane sees that she is relegated to the position of a "rebel slave" (Jane Eyre, 44) and fights against this in her quest for freedom from the oppression imposed on her by a class system that restricts her options as an orphaned and penniless female. Lucy also feels oppressed by her roots in slavery and seeks to rise above this enslavement. Her story begins as she arrives in America as an au pair-a subservient position that she underscores throughout the novel: "I was a young woman from the fringes of the world, and when I left my home I had wrapped around my shoulders the mantle of a servant." (Lucy, 95)
             As governess at Thornfield, Jane is treated kindly by Mr. Rochester; similarly, Lucy is treated kindly by her employer, and, to a great extent, they are both treated as equals by their r
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