# Jane — Our Nig character guide

> Jane in Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Jane

**First appearance:** 0005-iii-a-new-home-for-me

## Snapshot

A Bellmont daughter caught between her mother's plans and her own heart, Jane sits with Aunt Abby and quietly measures the distance between duty and desire.

## Who they are

Jane moves through the Bellmont household as the softer sister, the one who sits with Aunt Abby and shows Frado a measure of ordinary kindness. When George Means's attentions expose how little she feels for the suitor her mother has chosen, her private dissatisfaction becomes a family storm she cannot control. Her struggle to answer a letter, and to answer for her own affections, gives the early household its clearest picture of how Mrs. Bellmont's will presses on everyone beneath her roof.

## Relationships

### [George Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/george_means)

_romantic_

George Means is Jane's suitor, and their relationship represents a potential escape for Jane from her family.

### [Henry Reed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/henry_reed)

_romantic_

Henry Reed is Jane's eventual husband, offering her a loving marriage and escape from her family.

### [Aunt Abby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/aunt_abby)

_family_

Aunt Abby is Jane's aunt, and she acts as a maternal figure and protector to Jane.

### [Aunt Abby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/aunt_abby)

_family_

Aunt Abby is Jane's aunt, and she acts as a maternal figure and protector to Jane.

### [George Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/george_means)

_romantic_

George Means is Jane's suitor, and their relationship represents a potential escape for Jane from her family.

### [Henry Reed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/henry_reed)

_romantic_

Henry Reed is Jane's eventual husband, offering her a loving marriage and escape from her family.

### [Aunt Abby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/aunt_abby)

_family_

Aunt Abby is Jane's aunt, and she acts as a maternal figure and protector to Jane.

### [Henry Reed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/henry_reed)

_romantic_

Henry Reed is Jane's eventual husband, offering her a loving marriage and escape from her family.

### [George Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/george_means)

_romantic_

George Means is Jane's suitor, and their relationship represents a potential escape for Jane from her family.

## In the story

### [III: A New Home for Me](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/iii-a-new-home-for-me)

Jane is an invalid daughter who remains largely uninterested in the family's discussion about Frado.

### [Departures](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/v-departures)

Torn between Henry Reed and George Means; breaks her engagement to Henry with her father's support and marries George, moving to Vermont.

### [X: Perplexities.—Another Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/x-perplexities-another-death)

Jane returns home with her family but soon leaves for the West with Jack, unable to endure her mother's oppression, abandoning Frado.

### [XII: The Winding Up of the Matter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/xii-the-winding-up-of-the-matter)

Now has silver locks but retains Henry's love and has no regrets.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters/jane
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/our_nig_se/characters