Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a remarkable novel that spans multiple genres and has had a profound influence on them all. It tells the story of a loveless orphan who finally finds a home, a school story, and a gothic romance with mythological undercurrents and an element of horror.

We are introduced to Jane as a scrawny and reviled nine-year-old, living on the heartless charity of her Aunt Reed. She endures the abuse of her loutish cousin John and is punished for his transgressions. The penalty laid on little Jane, being shut in the haunted “Red Room” where her uncle died, is particularly horrifying. Afraid for her life, she pounds on the door, begging for release. The scene sets the stage for the rest of the story, with a cold and dreary world, supernatural presences, and a lonely orphan.

Jane’s life takes another turn when Aunt Reed sends her to Lowood School. There, she learns the academics and skills necessary to become a governess or schoolmarm. However, the sadistic headmaster singles her out, humiliating her in front of her schoolmates. Only a kind older girl, Helen Burns, and the teacher Miss Maria Temple, show her any kindness. Tragically, Helen dies from cholera, and Jane is further traumatized.

After leaving school, Jane embarks on her first adventure as a governess at Thornfield Hall. The hall is an opulent but gloomy place, and there is something off about the servants. Jane hears creepy laughter at night, which she is told is just the servant Grace Poole. One evening, while walking in the forest, she meets a rather obnoxious gentleman who turns out to be Mr. Rochester, the master of the house. They have several conversations, and Jane discovers that Rochester is not as mean as he seems, but rather abrupt and mercurial.

As their relationship develops, Jane becomes aware of a tension between them. One night, she hears the crazed laughter again and follows the sound to Rochester’s room, which is on fire. She saves him, and at this moment, their connection deepens. However, Jane’s happiness is short-lived when she is summoned back to her dying Aunt Reed. There, she discovers that her wealthy uncle John wanted to make her his heir, but Aunt Reed had lied and told him she was dead. Jane forgives her aunt and returns to Thornfield.

Upon her return, Jane finds Rochester entertaining his fellow aristocrats, especially Blanche Ingram. She realizes that she is in love with Rochester, but knows that he is out of her league. She struggles to hide her feelings, but Rochester’s behavior makes it clear that he has feelings for her as well. One night, a guest, Mr. Mason from Jamaica, is attacked, and Jane sits with him while Rochester runs for the doctor. Rochester then decides to play a trick on everyone by disguising himself as an elderly gypsy woman. He tells Blanche something she doesn’t want to hear and tries to trick Jane into praising him, but it doesn’t work.

Despite this, Rochester gets engaged to Blanche, much to Jane’s dismay. However, one day, pushed beyond her endurance, Jane blurts out that she loves him. Rochester admits that he loves her too and calls off his engagement to Blanche. They become engaged, but Jane’s intuition tells her that something is wrong. Rochester’s mood swings and impulsive decisions worry her, and his insistence on her wearing fancy clothes and jewelry makes her uncomfortable.

The night before the wedding, a woman or wraith breaks into Jane’s room and rips her bridal veil in two. In the morning, Rochester insists that it was only a dream, but Jane’s dread increases. When they are about to say their vows, Mr. Mason shows up again, claiming that Rochester is already married. We then learn the truth about the demoniac laughter: Rochester’s wife, Bertha, is a violent madwoman whom he has been keeping in the attic of Thornfield. Horrified and heartbroken, Jane knows she must leave.

Jane runs away and eventually makes it to a village where she is taken in by a kindly young vicar and his two sisters, St. John, Diana, and Mary Rivers. They offer her a job as a teacher at their school, and she accepts. Things go smoothly for several months, but then St. John proposes marriage to her. He is in love with another woman, but believes that Jane would be a better missionary’s wife. Jane refuses, and soon after, she leaves the Rivers’ house.

Jane has a spiritual experience where she hears Rochester crying out for her, and she decides to return to Thornfield. She finds the place in ruins, having been burned down by Bertha. She learns that Bertha set the house on fire and jumped to her death, while Rochester lost his eyesight and his right hand trying to save her. Jane reunites with Rochester, forgives him, and they get married. In the epilogue, we learn that they have at least one child and Rochester has regained some of his sight.

Jane Eyre is a classic novel that deserves its exalted status. The character of Jane is exceptionally strong, brave, disciplined, and noble. Her moral fortitude is unequalled, and she endures many hardships throughout the story. Brontë’s use of mythology and Scripture adds depth to the book, and the story follows the pattern of Hades and Persephone in many ways. The 2011 movie adaptation starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska is also well worth watching. Overall, Jane Eyre is a wonderful book that has stood the test of time and continues to be loved by readers today.

Plain Jane is a story that represents millions of girls. When a sentence steps out from the pages of a book into real life, our heroine, who we encounter every day without realizing her length, has succeeded. She lived as an orphan, needy, and strange. However, she had a high sense of dignity and pride. Through dozens of temptations, she managed many times to balance between her duties and her desires. Jane, an orphan, poor, and ordinary-looking, was born in a harsh environment with her aunt. She went to work as a governess for a very mysterious and rich man. With that family, she faced many tests. So, did she succeed in maintaining her principles until the end? Bronte wrote this novel to resolve the eternal conflict between love and freedom. Therefore, this novel has become the standard that romance novel writers around the world follow. The low rating is only because I had to study it in high school, and this is the unfair rating that I gave to most of what I studied. But it is an excellent novel. She put Jane in a conflict between the rich Rochester and the open world of Rivers, or the common mold that every girl is in at some point: this is what you should do, and this is what you like and desire. Which one will she choose?

"I love reading", says a 15-year-old girl in class today.

This is so unusual that I smile like a maniac.

"Really? I am so glad to hear that. What are you reading at the moment?"

"Jane Eyre, and it is very hard to understand, but I am 100 pages into it now, and I think it is great!"

"Jane Eyre? Jane Eyre?"

I feel like a young woman who thought she was dedicated to an old, grumpy, blind man and realises there is a vital, young Mr Rochester waiting to be adored again and again underneath the surface.

Can this be true? Is a classic really a classic? Can an idealist school librarian go home and keep the faith in Reader Heaven for once?

Yes!

As long as young readers find the time and the space and the leisure and the pleasure of reading about the trials of Jane Eyre, there is a place for us faithful guardians of bookish love.

When I came home, I found my own copy of Jane Eyre on my daughter's bed. She finds it hard, but good.

"When you make it through the first 100 pages, you will love it", I say confidently. "A student of mine told me so!"

"And since when do you listen to your students, mum?"

"Since they make perfect sense!"

Today, a 15-year-old girl in my class made a statement that truly made my day. She said, "I love reading." This is not something you hear every day from a teenager, so I couldn't help but smile like a maniac. I was so glad to hear her say that. I immediately asked her what she was reading at the moment. She replied that she was reading "Jane Eyre" and although it was hard to understand, she was already 100 pages into it and thought it was great. When she said "Jane Eyre", it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. I could relate to her experience of reading this classic novel. I felt like I was that young woman who thought she was dedicated to an old, grumpy, blind man but then realised there was a vital, young Mr Rochester waiting to be adored beneath the surface. It made me wonder if a classic is really a classic and if an idealist school librarian like me could go home and keep the faith in Reader Heaven for once. The answer is yes! As long as young readers like this girl find the time, space, leisure, and pleasure in reading about the trials of Jane Eyre, there will always be a place for us faithful guardians of bookish love. When I got home, I found my own copy of "Jane Eyre" on my daughter's bed. She told me she was finding it hard but good. I confidentially told her that when she made it through the first 100 pages, she would love it. I even told her that a student of mine had said so. She then asked me since when I started listening to my students. I replied that I started listening to them when they made perfect sense!

The 19th century was a time of intense changes and profound revolutions in various fields. Railways were spreading across countries, and scientific progress was one of the areas that had witnessed the most improvements. As expected, literature was not immune to all these transformations. The Romantic movement advocated by Goethe and Schiller at the end of the 18th century was about to reach its peak in the middle of the next century, giving rise to several literary forms and subgenres that enriched the literature of all countries.
The explosion of Romanticism occurred almost simultaneously in several countries in 1830, when literary gatherings were in vogue and people would come together to read the increasing amount of literature that flowed almost continuously. This boom in Romantic literature reached its highest point in France and England and spread to Italy, Russia, Spain, and many more. It was only around 1850 that Realism emerged in France, led by Flaubert and Balzac, breaking with a style and form of reading to move on to a completely different one, transforming the most passionate subjectivity into a colder and more intentional objectivity.
At the beginning and middle of the 19th century, England was a hotbed of authors whose literary legacy still accompanies us today, and the most characteristic thing is that most of them were men. Women had a lesser weight and influence in literature, both in authorship and in the protagonism of fictional characters, although there were already female authors who would leave deep marks and take for granted their surname of great importance and weight. I specifically highlight the name of Mary Shelley, who in 1818 would give birth to an eternal creature: Frankenstein.
Shelley was the daughter of another writer, Mary Wollstonecraft, who in the previous century had written a book that would lay the foundation for women's rights in society, I am referring to "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", published in 1792, and it is to this point that I wanted to arrive. The Brontë sisters were destined to take this stance to impose in literature that the characters who ruled in their novels were women and not men. In them, they showed that women had a clear place in society and, above all, that they could come to have a real and true power.
The books that the Brontë sisters published under the pseudonym Bell (Charlotte became Currer Bell, Anne became Acton Bell, and Emily edited her only novel under the name of Ellis Bell) and not with their own surname were decisive for women to be the ones in charge of the action and not simple maidens persecuted by misfortune waiting for a man to free them from torment. The Brontë characters were in a certain sense women "armed for battle", of decision and of an iron character who do not succumb in the face of adversity but fight until the end.
It is no small detail that three novels by the Brontë sisters were published in 1847, namely "Wuthering Heights" by Emily, this novel, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte, and "Agnes Grey" by Anne, the youngest of the Brontës, to name just a few of their titles. The case of the novel "Villette", also by Charlotte, with very autobiographical characteristics but published in 1853, after the success of "Jane Eyre", is also significant and is in a certain way similar to this novel.
And it must also be mentioned that the true protagonists of those stories are women. Moreover, in "Wuthering Heights", Catherine's protagonism overshadows Heathcliff at times in intensity and passion. This type of story was a true challenge to the male literary world. They had a violent impact, and it is worth highlighting that they are written by women of great personality who complement the literary with the personal.
Charlotte Brontë wrote "Jane Eyre" under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, but the success of the novel forced her publisher to reveal the true name of the author, especially after the laudatory reviews of the writer William Thackeray, and everything contributed to her receiving the just recognition. I must also admit that I do not know the characters in the novels of Jane Austen nor have I read "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy, nor can I venture if there is a connection with those of the Brontë sisters because it is not my style to give an opinion on what I have not read, which is why I have only focused on the novels that I was able to enjoy.
Jane is a unique and special woman. Everything that happens to her in life is faced with total stoicism, even when she is a child. Living in Gateshead Hall with her wicked aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins Georgiana, Eliza, and John, as having a lower status than a simple servant, despite being a direct niece and a 10-year-old girl, her very hard days at the Lowood school, where she will be the object of the cruelest punishments, insults, and injustices for eight years until her moment of emancipation when she decides to become even more of a woman in life, choosing to become a governess for the little Adèle in the mansion of the Fairfax Rochester in Thornfield, until her flight to experience the hard experiences of Moor House with St. John Rivers and his sisters Mary and Diana.
Jane has a series of unalterable values throughout the novel, something that makes her strengthen her personality, as she is brave, bold, enterprising, decisive, risky, tenacious, hardworking, tireless, and of course, passionate. But also, at times, her inextricable pride or her excessive stubbornness in certain situations will force her to suffer all kinds of sorrows and hardships that I will not reveal for that reader who has not yet read the book. Jane suffers from contempt, punishment, ridicule, hunger, abandonment, misery, disrespect, deceptions, and very few joys, in part because of her relationships with other characters and in part because of her own wrong decisions.
Her relationship with men is, beyond being strong, somewhat conflictive, although it only involves two people with completely different connotations such as Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers, and it is worth highlighting the intelligence of the author for giving the narration elements of a supernatural character or psychological twists that disorient the reader (especially in certain scenes of her childhood and in the mansion of Thornfield) that are fundamental to maintaining both the suspense of the plot and what happens between the characters of the house.
It is also worth highlighting that it gives the impression that the Brontë sisters had the idea of immortalizing the nature of the locality where they lived (I am specifically referring to Yorkshire), due to a special predilection for highlighting all the inhospitable, wild, and desolate aspects of the landscapes in which the stories take place, both that of Emily with her "stormy" heights and that of Charlotte with the mansion located in Thornfield, which literally means "field of thorns". It seems that the characteristics of those areas defined the tortuous nature of the experiences that the characters go through.
Charlotte Brontë achieved a novel with a captivating life story from beginning to end, endearing and unique characters, with almost no weak points (it is difficult to find one really), an unforgettable love story, unexpected and dark twists, and above all, a story with a clear example of anticipation of female emancipation that would only begin to manifest itself in the next century, because in some way, it is thanks to authors like Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, or the Brontë sisters that the flag of protofeminism was definitely raised never to be lowered again. And that, is more than fair.

The one star is for Bertha.

Bertha is a remarkable individual. She has a kind heart and a gentle spirit.

People are always drawn to her warmth and friendliness.

She goes out of her way to help those in need, whether it's a small favor or a major task.

Her actions speak louder than words, and she is an inspiration to all who know her.

The one star represents her unique qualities and the impact she has on the lives of others.

It is a symbol of her goodness and the love she spreads.

Bertha truly deserves this recognition, and we are all fortunate to have her in our lives.

She is a shining example of how one person can make a difference in the world.

Let us all strive to be more like Bertha and spread kindness and love wherever we go.

I don't have a penchant for love stories. However, I delved into this book simply because I have a profound admiration for the Brontë sisters. Regrettably for me, I must confess that I took a liking to it, despite it not being my all-time favorite genre.

I am truly enamored with how Charlotte描绘了简；她在各个方面都是一个极其坚强的人，非常倔强（是那种好的倔强），尤其是她为了自己一生的挚爱而奋斗的样子，她小时候甚至长大后所遭受的痛苦，她多少次哭泣并几乎要放弃……但不，在与命运以及（为何不呢）她自己进行了一场漫长的斗争之后，她最终获得了幸福。在我看来，夏洛特的信息很明确：如果你有一个梦想，就去追求它！

这也描述了夏洛特的一生，所以我理解她是如何能够写出这样一本好书的。简·爱：一个被描绘得非常出色的角色，从任何意义上来说都是一个了不起的女人。

Here!

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I felt an overwhelming sense of pity for Jane when she was a child enduring the harsh treatment of her stepmother and three stepsiblings. They were truly abhorrent, hitting her and verbally abusing her. It was as if they took pleasure in making her life miserable.



When Jane was at her lowest point, on the verge of a mental breakdown from all the trauma, a kind-hearted man named Mr. Lloyd visited her. He asked her many questions, including one about her desire to go to school. His series of inquiries and acts of kindness led to Jane being placed in the Lowood school for charity cases. At the school, Jane learned a great deal. However, when she first arrived, it was run by some rather unpleasant people. Over time, though, they either left her alone or simply went away. The overseer of the school, Mr. Brocklehurst, was an absolute nightmare. I detested him with a passion. He would come in and spout nonsense about God not liking girls with curls or braids and that they could never dress up, even though they had no means to do so. He was a truly horrid man who made the girls get all of their hair cut. Seriously, God couldn't care less about how girls style their hair. Instead, he should be worried about his own eternal destination!



Jane had a wonderful friend named Helen Burn, and it broke my heart when she passed away. Many of the girls died when a disease swept through the school. The only silver lining was that some people finally started paying attention to the school and ensured that the children were properly fed and cared for.



When Jane was eighteen, she ended up teaching some of the younger girls until she obtained a job teaching a young girl named Adele at Thornfield Hall. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jane's time there, although things took a bit of a turn when she discovered some shocking secrets about the owner of the house, Mr. Rochester. He seemed like a strange man to me, but he and Jane fell deeply in love. They were set to be married... but then some unexpected and rather tragic events intervened.



Jane ended up leaving for a while and assisting St. John in his ministry. Some things happened between them, and Jane was off again. She returned to Thornfield Hall only to find out about the misfortunes that had befallen the place.



In the end, Jane did reunite with some old friends and lost loves. It was a bittersweet ending, filled with both joy and sadness.



MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

This is truly on the mount Olympus of romantic literature. I simply did not want this book to come to an end. It is beautiful in every single detail, with characterizations that are of such depth. The story is so rich, filled with both hope and melancholy. At times, I found myself unable to see the text because my eyes were so full of tears. Wowowow! It is truly a remarkable piece of work. I know that if I ever become doubtful of true romantic love, I will surely return to this book. It has touched my heart in a way that few others have. It is a testament to the power of great literature to move us and make us believe in the beauty of love.