Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre ( /ˌdʒeɪn ˈɛər/) is a famous and influential novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell". The first American edition came out the following year, published by Harper & Brothers of New York.
Plot introduction
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel goes through five distinct stages:
- Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins;
- her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations;
- her time as the governess of Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester;
- her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her;
- and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism. It is a novel considered ahead of its time. In spite of the dark, brooding elements, it has a strong sense of right and wrong, of morality at its core.
Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters and most editions are at least 400 pages long (although the preface and introduction on certain copies are liable to take up another 100). The original was published in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century,
Chapters 1–4: Jane's childhood at Gateshead
A ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre is living with her uncle's family, the Reeds, because her mother and father died of typhus. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her intensely because she is seen as the enemy to her own children in Mr. Reed's affection. Her uncle died when she was only a few years old, after eliciting a promise from Sarah Reed that she would keep the child and raise her as her own. Her aunt and the three Reed children become physically and emotionally abusive. When violently attacked for no reason by her cousin John, Jane retaliates but is punished for the ensuing fight and is locked in the "red room," the room where Mr. Reed died. As night falls, Jane begins to have visions of her uncle Reed's ghost,and begins to emit panicked screams that rouse the house, but Mrs. Reed will not let her out. Jane faints and Mr. Lloyd, an apothecary, is summoned. He talks with Jane and sympathetically suggests that she should go away to school. No matter what she does she just cannot be accepted by this new family. After two months of waiting for arrangements to be made for her schooling Jane finds out that she will be attending Lowood School For Girls. However, Sarah Reed tells the school's clergyman Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane is a wicked child, ruining future chances of happiness for her niece.
Chapters 5–10: Jane's education at Lowood School
Jane arrives at Lowood Institution, a charity school, with the accusation on her head that she is deceitful. During an inspection, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, and Mr. Brocklehurst, the self-righteous clergyman who runs the school, brands her as a liar and shames her before the entire assembly.
Jane is comforted by her friend, Helen Burns. Miss Temple, a caring teacher, facilitates Jane's self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd whose reply agrees with Jane's. Ultimately, Jane is publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.
While the Brocklehurst family lives in luxury, the eighty pupils are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes. Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms.
When Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and conditions at the school improve dramatically.
Chapters 11–26: Jane's time as governess at Thornfield Hall
Eight years later, Jane has become a teacher at Lowood, at a salary of 15 pounds per year. After her confidante and friend Miss Temple marries, Jane finds herself longing for liberty, or change or stimulus, or at least for a new servitude. She advertises her services as a governess, and receives only one reply. The reply is from Alice Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position of governess for Adèle Varens, a young French girl. Out walking one winter's day, Jane encounters a horseman riding up the road. As his horse comes upon Jane, it slips on the icy road and the rider is thrown. When he rises from the ground he realizes that he has sprained his ankle, at which point in time he calls Jane a witch and accuses her of bewitching his horse.[1] Upon her return to Thornfield Hall, she discovers that the horseman is Edward Rochester, Master of Thornfield Hall. Rochester is a moody, self-willed man nearly twenty years older than Jane, and has travelled the world. Adèle is his ward, the daughter of a French "opera dancer," his former mistress, who raised Adèle to be as vain as herself, caring only to sing and dance and have pretty dresses and toys . Rochester does not believe himself to be Adelé's father, but after her mother abandons her, he brings her to England to raise her there, hoping that more healthy and wholesome circumstances, and a good English education, will rid her of these faults.
Mr. Rochester seems quite taken with Jane, and she enjoys his company, spending many evening hours talking with him and learning about the things he has seen in his travels. However, odd things begin to happen: a strange laugh is heard in the halls, a near-fatal fire mysteriously breaks out, and a guest named Mason is attacked.
Jane receives word that Mrs. Reed has suffered a stroke and is asking for her. Returning to Gateshead, she remains for over a month while her aunt lies dying. Mrs. Reed rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, but does give her a letter previously withheld out of spite. The letter is from John Eyre, Jane's uncle, notifying her that he wanted her to live with him in Madeira. Mrs. Reed tells Jane that she had told her uncle that she had died of the fever at Lowood. Very soon after, she dies. Jane stays a short while longer, helping her cousin Eliza with funeral arrangements and settling the household business, before Eliza leaves to become a nun.
After returning to Thornfield, Jane broods over Rochester's apparently impending marriage to Blanche Ingram. But on a midsummer evening, he proclaims his love for Jane and proposes. As she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr Rochester attributes the incident to drunkenness on the part of Grace Poole, one of his servants.
During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer burst in and declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is already married to Mr. Mason's sister. Mr. Rochester bitterly admits the truth, explaining that his wife is a violent madwoman. He was tricked by Mr. Mason and his father into marrying her after knowing her only a short while, never having seen her alone or had much conversation with her. Her madness soon becomes apparent, however, and he decides to bring her home with him to England to confine her safely, with an attendant-nurse, Grace Poole, to look after her needs. When Grace occasionally drinks too much, it gives his wife a chance to escape, and she is the true cause of Thornfield's strange events.
Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.
Chapters 27–35: Jane's time with the Rivers family
Jane travels to the north of England by coach, using the little money she has saved. After accidentally leaving the bundle with her few possessions in the coach, she sleeps on the moor and attempts to trade her scarf or gloves for food, but is turned away as a beggar, a thief, or worse. Exhausted, she makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but the housekeeper turns her away, believing she is up to no good. She nearly faints on the doorstep, speaking aloud as she makes herself ready for death, but is saved by St. John Rivers, a young clergyman, and brother to Diana and Mary. She gives them a false name and no clues as to her past or identity, to prevent Mr. Rochester from finding her. As she regains her health, St. John finds her a teaching position at a nearby charity school. Jane becomes warm friends with Mary and Diana, but St. John is too reserved for her to relate to, despite his efforts on her behalf. Jane sees that the brother and sisters have money-related worries, but does not inquire further.
When the sisters leave for governess jobs in London, St. John becomes more comfortable around Jane, evidencing his own conflicts of the heart, which involve the beautiful and wealthy Rosamond Oliver. When Jane confronts him about his feelings for Miss Oliver, he confesses that he has turned away from them, because he feels called to be a missionary, and he knows that Miss Oliver would not accept such a life.
St. John discovers Jane's true identity, and astounds her by showing her a letter stating that her uncle John has died and left her his entire fortune of £20,000, equivalent to £1,560,000 in today's pounds.[2] When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance, but have since resigned themselves to nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding her family, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come home to Moor House to stay.
St. John asks Jane to accompany him to India as his wife. He asks solely because he wishes a good missionary's wife, a role in which he believes Jane will excel. She agrees to go, but refuses marriage, believing his reserve and reason incompatible with her warmth and passion. However, his powers of persuasion eventually begin to convince her to change her mind.
However, at that very moment, she suddenly seems to hear Mr. Rochester calling her name. The next morning, she leaves for Thornfield to ascertain Mr. Rochester's well-being.
Chapters 36–38: Jane's reunion with Mr. Rochester
Jane arrives at Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Jane_Eyre ]
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