Answer:
While Jane thinks too little of herself, even questioning Edward's decision to marry her, Edward puts the question forward in such a way that she has already been his all along. The pride and ego that he has in trying to maintain his conduct clashes with Jane's inferiority complex.
Explanation:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte revolves around the story of Jane Eyre from her childhood to her marriage to Mr. Edward Rochester. Narrated in the first-person point of view, Jane tells us about her life of misery, struggle, and eventually falling in love with her student's guardian Mr. Rochester.
Chapter 23 of the story is when Mr. Rochester decided to tell Jane about his decision to get married. When at first Mr. Rochester told her about his decision to marry someone, she thought that she would have to move on. She did not think that it was she that he was marrying nor did he tell her about it in the first place.
Moreover, even after she knew about the truth, she felt it hard to accept that a lowly girl like her would be loved by him. She questions "me who have not a friend in the world but you—if you are my friend: not a shilling but what you have given me?" And Edward, for his part, did not think much into making it easier for her. Rather, he asked as if she is already hers to take, which presents a rather contrasted point of view in both characters.
