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I think at 18 I'd have found Jane Eyre to be a total prig and Mr Rochester just a pig.
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I don't think age has as much bearing on a person's understanding of a text as you or Bethberry are giving it, Lalwende.
At 16, reading Jane Eyre for a class, I had just such an opinion of the main characters as you describe (if you substitute naive twit for total prig), but my mother, who taught the class at age 36, had much the same opinion.
I think one's ability to understand the nuances and intricacies of a text rests on one's on personality and experience. Orson Scott Card describes a great story as one that forces you to revise the story you tell yourself about yourself and the world around you. And not everyone sees the same stories as great, because everyone's personal stories are so unique.