My cottage is clean and weather-proof; my furniture sufficient and commodious. All I see has made me thankful, not despondent. I am not absolutely such a fool and sensualist as to regret the absence of a carpet, a sofa, and silver plate; besides, five weeks ago I had nothing – I was an outcast, a beggar, a vagrant; now I have acquaintance, a home, a business. I wonder at the goodness of God; the generosity of my friends; the bounty of my lot. I do not repine.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 31. After a long series of ups and downs, including being homeless and reduced to beggary, Jane is happy with her new home at Morton. God has been good to her, he believes. Home is a very important theme in Jane Eyre. It isn’t just a place to rest your head at night, but somewhere you can feel safe and comfortable and in a loving relationship with other people. That has been Jane’s lifelong quest. In this passage she is speaking to St. John Rivers.