Social issues that are questioned in the novel are:
- class distinctions - oppression
- situation of governesses - women’s rights
- law - religion
- the institution of marriage
The problem of social class is an important theme of the novel, especially a particular class of women in Victorian society: governesses. They are middle class and poor.
Jane is a governess but she is not a conventional character. She has her own personal morality which is at odds with the conventions of her society.
Governesses as a class have an ambiguous standing in society: They have the culture of aristocracy but they are servants.
She struggles against a world whose expectations she is unable and unwilling to fulfill.
