How is Jane Eyre presented as a strong female character throughout the novel?

Jane Eyre is a coming-of-age story that follows young Jane, an orphan living with her aunt as she adjusts to life in a dismal boarding school and accepts her first position as a governess in a nearby family estate. After finding comfort in her position and after falling in love with the owner of the estate, shocking revelations cause her to flee the home and seek a new life. Ultimately, she is reunited with her love, Edward Rochester, but not before she proves her own independence and discovers the value of her own perspective.
Jane exhibits her strength in several points throughout her journey. As a child, she stands up for herself when her cousins abuse her and lie about her to their mother. This insistence upon the truth ironically earns her the reputation of being a liar, and her aunt, as well as her teacher at Lowood, condemns her for not being more submissive. While at Lowood, Jane meets Helen, a sickly classmate who teaches her the value of forgiveness and humility in the face of injustice, taking Jesus as an example of the power of love over vengeance. After Helen's death, Jane dedicates herself to imitating Helen's disposition, and in the remainder of the novel, she is noticeably more reserved in her passions, although she is no less resolute.
After Jane leaves Lowood and becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, she falls in love with Edward Rochester, an older wealthy man who has had experiences with many different kinds of women. Once their relationship begins, Jane proves herself to be more than a trophy to Rochester, rejecting his lavish gifts and ridiculous pet names and insisting on his respect and consideration. Her resolution is strongly tested when she learns that Rochester has not only been previously married, his wife is still living in a secret room in the very house where she has been working. Rochester offers her every temptation to reject tradition, reject religion, reject convention, and reject the opinions of her friends at Thornfield. He begs for her to live with him and to be his partner in all things even though they cannot be legally married. Jane chooses instead to leave Thornfield out of respect for herself, and she runs away, slipping out of the window at night in pursuit of a new life. With no prospects of work or shelter, she ventures out, trusting God to guide her.
In her new situation, Jane is taken in by some kindly strangers, who she later discovers are her lost relatives. One of the strangers, St. John Rivers, offers to marry her. But this would be a marriage of convenience, a way for them to travel together doing missionary work with no involvement of emotional attachment unless the Lord inspired some love between them. This disgusts Jane. She is still very passionate, even if Rivers has not noticed yet, and the idea of a loveless marriage goes against everything she hopes for herself. She rejects Rivers's offer, again insisting on her perspective rather than submitting to a man who wishes to change her. This decision prompts her to return to Thornfield and to Rochester, whose wife has since died. They are able to marry, and her commitment to her ideals is rewarded with a loving, happy marriage.