Connection (pt.2)

"'A part of me you must become' he answered steadily; 'otherwise the whole bargain is void. How can I, a man not yet thirty, take out with me to India a girl of nineteen, unless she be married to me? How can we be for ever together - sometimes in solitudes, sometimes amidst savage tribes - and unwed?'" (415). 

One aspect of social class is also gender. Typically, women are viewed as inferior to men socially and in need of protection because of views instilled during childhood. This quote is St. John speaking to Jane about why she cannot come to India with him because it was scandalous to  have an unmarried man and woman travel together as equal partners. Despite many years passing since Jane Eyre's publication, this idea is still widely held true. If a young  woman were to travel somewhere dangerous to spread an idea that may be fought against, it is difficult to see an older man who's travelling with her as an equal, because he will most likely be seen as her protector, and therefore on a different level socially than her.