Bessie Leaven

Bessie is the servant at Gateshead who represents the one bright thread of human kindness woven through Jane Eyre's miserable childhood. Though she is obliged to carry out the discipline and requirements of Mrs. Reed's household, Bessie shows Jane Eyre a tenderness that marks her as fundamentally different from her mistress. When Jane Eyre is sent away to school, it is Bessie who helps her dress, packs biscuits for her journey, and clings to her at parting with genuine affection. Bessie later marries Robert Leaven, the coachman, and builds a domestic life of her own, becoming a mother. She remains loyal to Jane Eyre even in adulthood, and it is through Bessie that important news reaches Jane Eyre in later years.