“A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the curtain this time, reader, you must fancy you see in a room

By speaking to the reader, Bronte’s novel leaves the bubble in which it could exist. Without statements so blatantly directed at the reader, Jane’s words would have no home. She is not writing in a diary, or speaking to anyone in particular so it seems, until this statement is made. Through engaging the reader, Bronte draws them into Jane’s tale. They are no longer outside observers, but instead participants throughout the protagonist’s life.