The Victorians' initial impression of the Gypsies was not a favorable one. At first, the prejudices against Gypsies had obvious sources. Settled society has always had a fear of foreigners, so naturally, "the earliest response to the 'Egyptian' immigrants was rooted, generally, in a xenophobic fear and mistrust of aliens" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Besides being mistrusted as foreigners, the Gypsies fell victim to racial prejudice because of the color of their skin. Even long before the nineteenth century, "the conviction that blackness denotes inferiority was already well-rooted in the Western mind. The nearly black skins of many Gypsies marked them out to be victims of this prejudice" (Kenrick and Puxon 19). Even if Charlotte Bronte never saw a Gypsy, she reflects these perceptions of them in her description of "the Gypsy" that visits Thornfield Hall. The Gypsy's most noticeable feature in Sam's mind as he describes her to the assembled guests is that she is "'almost as black as a crock'" (217; ch. 18). Later, when Jane goes for her interview with the Gypsy, she notes that her face "looked all brown and black" (221; ch. 19). Since the Gypsy turns out to be Mr. Rochester, and there is no indication that he actually blackened his face for his disguise, it may be that the Gypsy's black skin is an imagined product of the characters' preconceived notions about what Gypsies look like. Whatever the case, the fact that Bronte makes the Gypsy's skin color prominent in the characters' description of her reflects the racial prejudice that existed toward Gypsies in Victorian England.

The Gypsies also faced prejudices about their way of life. The Gypsies' travelling lifestyle aroused suspicion because of the common belief that "itinerancy served merely as a cloak for a deviant range of predatory, parasitic, and criminal activities" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). People were distrustful of Gypsies simply because they moved around a lot. Accompanying this mistrust was "a belief in the superiority of the settled over the nomadic culture and the incompatibility between the two" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Nineteenth-century England was the perfect breeding-ground for this notion. As society became more industrialized, the population moved out of the untamed countryside and into the cities. While the rest of society settled down in permanent residences in the cities, the Gypsies continued their nomadic existence in what was now viewed as the wilderness. Thus, "In contrast to the new ways of civilised, industrial society [the Gypsies'] culture was seen as backward and primitive" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 7). As people became more settled, they began to feel that their way of life was normal. The presence of the wandering Gypsies challenged this, and caused many people to view them negatively because they were different. These prejudices are reflected in the guests' reactions to the Gypsy. Lady Ingram calls her "'a low imposter'" (217; ch. 18). Sam observes that she is "'quite troublesome'" and that "'she looks such a rough one'" and "'such a tinkler'" (216-8; ch. 18). Through the unfavorable reaction of her characters towards the Gypsies, Bronte articulates the prejudices of her society against the Gypsies.
The fortune-telling issue was also a source for suspicions about the Gypsies. Fortune-telling has always been associated with pagan ideas, so the presence of Gypsy fortune-tellers in a Victorian society dominated by the Church obviously caused a commotion. Added to the problem was the fact that the Gypsies "failed to practise with any conviction one or the other of the prevalent religions" (Kenrick and Puxon 21). Due to this apparent lack of religion, much of society in general thought Gypsies "to be inflicting their magical and devilish practices on an innocent, Christian society" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Lady Ingram obviously feels this Gypsy will corrupt her innocent daughters as she "wrings her hands" and begs Blanche to "'pause--reflect!'" (218; ch. 18). Some of the guests at Thornfield are certainly skeptical of the Gypsy's powers. The Misses Eshton are not sure, demanding, "'is she a real fortune-teller?'" (219; ch. 18). Blanche Ingram, after hearing an unfavorable fortune, is ready to dismiss the Gypsy as an imposter all together. She condescends to her fellow guests with her observation that their "'organs of wonder and credulity are easily excited'" at the prospect of "'a genuine witch'" (219; ch. 18). She concludes that the Gypsy told her fortune "'in hackneyed fashion'" and told her "'what such people usually tell'" (219; ch. 18). Here, Bronte actually pokes more fun at Blanche than she does at the Gypsy because, unbeknownst to Blanche, what the Gypsy has told her is an exaggerated version of the truth about Mr. Rochester's fortune. But at the time, Blanche views the Gypsy as a complete fraud, thus supporting the prejudiced view of Gypsies.
The prejudices against Gypsies become manifest in scores of discriminatory legislation against Gypsies. The first anti-Gypsy Act in England was passed in 1530, just twenty-five years after the Gypsies' arrival there. The Act's intention was to rid the country of all Gypsies by banning further immigration and requiring the Gypsies already living in England to leave or suffer confiscation of their goods, imprisonment, and execution as felons (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 7). There are reports of deportations throughout the sixteenth century and of executions as late as the seventeenth century (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 7). In 1783, all existing laws directed specifically at Gypsies were repealed, but the discriminatory treatment continued in the form of new laws. Throughout the nineteenth century the various Poor Law, Vagrancy, Hawkers, Highways, Health, Housing and Education Acts resulted in Gypsies, and other nomads, being prosecuted (or threatened with prosecution) for such offenses as setting fires, damaging grass by camping, possessing a dog without a license or collar, fortune-telling, taking sticks and ferns without permission, damaging crops, and begging (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Mr. Eshton, a member of the party assembled at Thornfield, feels it within his duty as a magistrate to threaten the Gypsy with prosecution. He declares, "'Tell her she shall be put in the stocks if she does not take herself off'" (216; ch. 18). Stocks were common instruments of punishment in Victorian England. Mr. Eshton's reaction reflects the discriminatory treatments that the Gypsies were receiving in real life at this time.