Why, you have saved my life!--snatched me from a horrible and excruciating death! and you walk past me as if we were mutual strangers! At least shake hands." He held out his hand; I gave him mine: he took it first in one, them in both his own. "You have saved my life: I have a pleasure in owing you so immense a debt. I cannot say more. Nothing else that has being would have been tolerable to me in the character of creditor for such an obligation: but you: it is different;--I feel your benefits no burden, Jane."
Jane has just rescued Rochester from ceratin death or injury when a then unknown assassin (Rochester's wife) sets Rochester's bed on fire while he is sleeping. Jane heard a noise, left her room, and awakened Rochester to douse the fire with her. After Rochester returns from reprimanding Grace Poole for not watching his wife better, he dismisses Jane. Jane walks by him casually and he is shocked at her calm and unassuming mood. He demands she shake his hand and tells her that he owes her a great debt for saving his life. In this time period women were expected to be subservient to men, whether it be their husbands or a stranger. They were seen as second class citizens essentially. When Rochester shakes Jane's hand and animatedly states he is in her debt he is acknowledging that they are equals in his mind. This was a revolutionary, almost blasphemous thought for this era. Recently, studies have shown that a woman receives only seventy-seven cents for every dollar a man earns. When will the modern man and woman shake hands when it comes to wages?
"Did You Know That Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men?" The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.