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Description edit
Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt and later attends a charity school with a harsh regime, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds a position as governess at... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character, a small, plain-faced, intelligent and honest English orphan. The novel goes through distinct stages in Jane's life: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Miss Jane Eyre: The protagonist and title character, orphaned as a baby. The book revolves around the trials and tribulations to which she is subjected. Jane is headstrong and fights for what she believes in; she stands up for her rights and retaliates when harassed. She can be passionate and determined. Her disposition is, however sometimes melancholy. She is a plain-featured, small and reserved women who is talented, honest, and morally upright. Jane is supposedly a parallel to Charlotte Bronte.
- Edward Fairfax Rochester: The owner of Thornfield Manor and guardian of Adèle. He possesses a strong physique and great wealth, but his moods prone to frequent change. He is not a superficial man.
- Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle. He adopts Jane when her parents die. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane. He is dead and never acts in the story.
- Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin who is both beautiful and vain and helps her brother John torment Jane during her childhood.
- Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin who is quiet, plain, and extremely religious in later years.
- Bessie Leaven: Jane's childhood nursemaid.
- Blanche Ingram: A beautiful but self-absorbed, cruel and shallow socialite whom Mr. Rochester courts. She is from an old family, is well-travelled, can sing and play piano beautifully, is fluent in multiple languages, and lives nearby, but she despises the rather dowdy protagonist because she is a governess.
- Mrs. Sarah Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who resides at Gateshead. Because her husband insists, Mrs. Reed adopts Jane. Jane, however, receives nothing but neglect and abuse at her hands. She is extremely biased towards her own children and allows them to bully Jane.
- Bertha Antoinetta Mason: Daughter of a wealthy Creole Jamaican family.
- Helen Burns: An angelic fellow-student and best friend of Jane's at Lowood School. Several years older than the ten-year-old Jane, she stoically accepts all the cruelties of the teachers and the deficiencies of the school's room and board. She refuses to complain, believing in the New Testament teaching that one should love one's enemies and turn the other cheek.
- Alice Fairfax: The housekeeper at Thornfield who becomes a friend to Jane. A kind, helpful woman.
- Mr. Brocklehurst: The arrogant, hypocritical clergyman who serves as headmaster and treasurer of Lowood School. His family leads an opulent lifestyle. At the same time, he preaches a doctrine of Christian austerity and self-sacrifice to everyone in hearing. He mistreats his students at Lowood.
- Céline Varens: Adele's mother.
- Miss Maria Temple: The kind, attractive young superintendent of Lowood School. She recognizes Mr. Brocklehurst for the cruel hypocrite he is, and she treats Jane, Helen, and the other students with respect and compassion.
- Mr. St. John Rivers: A clergyman, he is a devout, almost fanatical Christian of Calvinistic leanings. He is charitable, honest, patient, forgiving, scrupulous, austere and deeply moral; with these qualities alone, he would have made a saint. But he is also proud, cold, exacting, controlling and unwilling to listen to dissenting opinions.
- Adèle Varens: A naive, vivacious and rather spoiled French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield.
- Mary Rivers: St. John's and Diana's sister. Is very kind and simple.
- John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle.
- Rosamond Oliver: A beautiful and rich girl, beloved by St. John Rivers.
- John Reed: Jane's cousin, Mrs Reed's son, who constantly harasses and bullies her.
- Diana Rivers: Another inhabitant of St. John Rivers's house, who became Jane's good friend over her stay; sister of St. John.
- Hannah: Loyal housekeeper of the Rivers home, Moor House.
- Leah: Servant at Thornfield Manor.
- Sophie: Adele's French nursemaid.
- Mrs. Eshton: One of the guests at Thornfield Hall when Mr. Rochester throws a house party
- Grace Poole: Seemingly creepy houseworker who keeps to herself.
- Mr. Lloyd: The apothecary.
- Mr. Carter: A surgeon of Millcote.
- Mr. Briggs: Mr Mason's lawyer. Also Jane's uncle Mr. Eyre's lawyer.
- Richard Mason: Brother of Bertha Mason.
- Carlo: Edward Rochester's loyal dog?
- Louisa Eshton: Add a description of this character.
- Mrs. Dent
- Barbara
- Mr. Mason
- Miss Smith
- Bobby
- Mr. Bates
- Mr. Frederick Lynn
- Lord Ingram
- Miss Miller
- Robert
- Madame Pierrot
- Miss Scatcherd
- Dowager Ingram
- Mrs. Fairfax
- Mr. Oliver
- Sam
- Miss Adèle
- Mary Ann Wilson
- George Lynn
- Samson
- Amy Eshton
- Mary Ingram
- Mr. Gibson
- Theodore
- Mr. Eshton
- Mr. Henry Lynn
- Sarah Reed
- Mr. Rowland Rochester
- Julia Severn
- Martha Abbot
- Mr. Wood
- Mr. Eyre
- Mary Garrett
Quotes edit
-
“If I ever did a good deed in my life-if ever I thought a good thought-if ever I wished a righteous wish-I am rewarded now! To be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth.”
Jane -
“If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust; the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse.”
Jane Eyre -
“If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.”
Helen Burns -
“'I knew,' he continued, 'you would do me good in some way, at some time; - I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not ... strike delight to my inmost heart so for nothing.'”
Mr. Rochester -
“You must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your converse. Teachers, you must watch her: keep your eyes on her movements, weight well her words, scrutinize her actions, punish her body to saver her soul; if indeed, such salvation be possible for (my tongue falters while I tell it) this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut - this girl is - a liar!”
Mr. Brocklehurst -
“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.”
Jane Eyre -
“God and nature intended you for a missionary's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary's wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service.”
St. John Rivers -
“I am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying young I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.”
Helen Burns -
“I could not help it; the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes. Then my sole relief was to walk along the corridor of the third story, backwards and forwards, safe in the silence and solitude of the spot, and allow my mind’s eye to dwell on whatever bright visions rose before it—and, certainly, they were many and glowing; to let my heart be heaved by the exultant movement . . . and, best of all, to open my inward ear to a tale that was never ended—a tale my imagination created, and narrated continuously; quickened with all of incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence. It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth.”
Jane Eyre -
“'Shall I?' I said briefly; and I looked at his features, beautiful in their harmony, but strangely formidable in their still severity; at his brow, commanding, but not open; at his eyes, bright and deep and searching, but never soft; at his tall imposing figure; and fancied myself in idea his wife. Oh! it would never do! As his curate, his comrade, all would be right: I would cross oceans with him in that capacity; toil under Eastern suns, in Asian deserts with him in that office; admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour: accommodate quietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition. . . . I should suffer often, no doubt, attached to him only in this capacity: my body would be under a rather stringent yoke, but my heart and mind would be free. I should still have my unblighted self to turn to: my natural unenslaved feelings with which to communicate in moments of loneliness.”
Jane Eyre -
“I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty. . . . You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back—roughly and violently thrust me back—into the red-room, and locked me up there, to my dying day; though I was in agony; though I cried out, while suffocating with distress, ‘Have mercy! Have mercy, aunt Reed!’ And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing. I will tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale. People think you are a good woman, but you are bad; hard-hearted. YOU are deceitful!”
Jane Eyre -
“Beauty is in the eye of the gazer”
-
“Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss Eyre; remorse is the poison of life.”
Mr. Rochester -
“Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine! May you never appeal to Heaven in prayers so hopeless and so agonized as in that hour left my lips; for never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love!”
Jane Eyre -
“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”
Jane Eyre -
“But I tell you—and you may mark my words—you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the whole of life’s stream will be broken up into whirl and tumult, foam and noise: either you will be dashed to atoms on crag points, or lifted up and borne on by some master-wave into a calmer current—as I am now”
-
“How dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth.”
Jane Eyre -
“There is a thought that for strength should avail me, Though both of shelter and kindred despoiled; Heaven is a home, and rest will not fail me; God is a friend to the poor orphan child.”
Bessie
-
Free Audio Book Download: (must use PC/Mac to download and listen to audiobook file) Go Here! [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23077]
Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers -
Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI Chapter XII
Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers -
human beings must love something, and, in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Thornfield Manor: Home of Edward Rochester, where Jane is employed to teach Adele. In this mansion Mrs Fairfax is the keeper.
- Lowood Institution: This is a charity school that Mrs Reed sends Jane to. Mr Brocklehurst is the headmaster and the conditions are horrible, sometimes leading to students' deaths. Eventually - through benefactors - becomes a better school and one where Jane begins her teaching career.
- Gateshead: Home to Jane's aunt, late uncle, and horribly spoiled cousins.
- Moor House: The Rivers' residence.
First Sentence edit
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Table of Contents edit
There are 37 untitled chapters and chapter 38 is entitled "Conclusion".
Glossary edit
- Burgh: An incorporated town with some degree of independence.
- Charnel: A room in which dead bodies and bones are deposited.
- Convolvuli: Any plant belonging to the Morning Glory family, characterized by twining plants and trumpet-shaped flowers.
- Interlocutrice: A female individual who takes part in a conversation.
- abode: home
- acrid: irritating to the senses
- acrimonious: bitter in nature
- affable: pleasant
- benignant: kind
- bilious: irritable
- brackish: salty
- burgh: an incorporated town with some degree of independence
- calico: a cotton fabric with a printed pattern
- canzonette: a song for voice and accompaniment
- caviller: an individual who makes unnecessary and irritating objections
- celerity: speed
- charnel: a room in which dead bodies and bones are deposited
- chiding: scolding
- consternation: amazement or fear that causes confusion
- consumption: a nineteenth-century term for tuberculosis
- dictum: dictate
- Soliloquise: Talk to oneself
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Passion versus Reason: Passion versus reason is a major theme in Jane Eyre. This conflict is presented in various ways, mostly through the conflict between Rochester and St.John.
- Bildungsroman: a coming-of-age novel about the moral and psychological development of the main character.
- Love Versus Autonomy: Describe this theme.
- Religion: There are numerous religious references in the text and religion comes into play several times in Jane's story. Religion is seen as both a sanctuary and a source of discomfort and hypocrisy in the text.
- Fire and Ice: Both fire and ice imagery/symbolism come into the story a lot. Fire stands for Jane's passion and sometimes anger, while ice represents when she is lonely and in a bad situation.
- Female Empowerment
- Self-Discovery, Independence, Empowerment
Series & Lists edit
This is book 87 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2004. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Guilty Pleasures, and followed by Kill and Tell.
This book is in Usborne Classics Retold. (community list)
This is book 41 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by The Help, and followed by Holes.
This book is in Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics. (publisher series)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)
This book is in Arcturus Paperback Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Reader's Digest Best Loved Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Well-Designed Book Covers. (community list)
This is book 10 of 196 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
Preceded by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and followed by Catch-22.
This is book 52 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2007. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Saving Grace, and followed by When He Was Wicked.
This is book 32 of 113 in Book Smart Reading List. (community list)
Preceded by The Handmaid's Tale.
This is book 3 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)
Preceded by The Lord of the Rings, and followed by Harry Potter Boxed Set (Books 1-7).
This is book 52 of 91 in The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time, 2004. (authoritative list)
Preceded by The Trial, and followed by The Red Badge of Courage.
This is book 32 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Eat, Pray, Love, and followed by Water for Elephants.
This is book 104 of 200 in Newman and Jones 200 Best Horror Novels. (community list)
Preceded by A Christmas Carol, and followed by The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.
This is book 904 of 1272 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Agnes Grey, and followed by Vanity Fair.
This is book 1 of 4 in Popular Classics. (community list)
This is book 37 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Lord of the Flies, and followed by The Secret Life of Bees.
This is book 37 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2010. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Welcome to Temptation, and followed by Whitney, My Love.
This book is in Movie Tie-Ins 2011. (community list)
This book is in Movie Tie-Ins 1997. (community list)
This book is in Book Lover's Cook Book, The. (authoritative list)
This book is in Gothic-Lite. (community list)
This is book 2 of 9 in Ten Essential Penguin Classics. (authoritative list)
Preceded by Of Mice and Men, and followed by Pride and Prejudice.
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This book is in Penguin Classic Deluxe Edition Book Covers. (community list)
This is book 39 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Lord of the Flies, and followed by Wuthering Heights.
This book is in Penguin Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Movie Tie-Ins 1996. (community list)
This is book 77 of 146 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Passion, and followed by The Bourne Dominion.
This book is in Readers Digest Press. (edition-based publisher list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Charlotte Brontë (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Sara Thomson (Adapter)
- Kaarina Ruohtula (Translator) - Translated from English to Finnish and wrote the foreword
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Smith, Elder & Co.
Country: London, Eng., UK
Publication Date: 1847
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 455
Publisher: Smith, Elder & Co.
Country: London, Eng., UK
Publication Date: 1847
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 455
Classification edit
- Copyright Status: Public Domain
- Library of Congress: PR4167 .J3
- Dewey: 823.8
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsClassic, uses some vocabulary that is hard for kids. Includes a mad woman.
Subjects edit
Popular Tags
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Project Gutenberg: Free e-book, full text
- Librivox: Free audio book read by Elizabeth Klett (Total running time: 18:36:29)
Movie Connections edit
- Jane Eyre (I) (1910) (IMDb)
- The Mad Lady of Chester (II) (1910) (IMDb): Jane Eyre (original title)
- Jane Eyre (I) (1914) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (II) (1914) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (1915) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (1921) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (1934) (IMDb): Jane Eyre is an orphan who was raised by her aunt until she came to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. But Jane is attracted by the intelligent and energetic Sir Rochester, a man of almost twice her age. But just when Sir Rochester seems to pay attention to her, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram to stay at his house. Written by Volker Boehm
- Jane Eyre (1943) (IMDb): After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house to care for his young daughter.
- Sangdil (1952) (IMDb): aka: Jane Eyre. A loose adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic, Jane Eyre. In this version childhood sweethearts are separated and grow up in different worlds. The girl is brought up to be a 'pujaaran' (priestess) while the boy grows up to be a dejected 'thakur', turned vindictive by life's injustices. Fate inevitably brings them together at a later juncture, and all seems happy and perfect for the young couple, until she discovers his deep, dark secret.
- Jane Eyre (TV Series 1955) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (TV Series 1956) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (TV 1958) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (TV 1961) (IMDb): This live hour long show has Young Jane Eyre, fresh from the orphanage looking forward to her job as governess to a little girl at Thornfield Hall. Edward Rochester the cold forbidding master of Thornfield Hall brings on a terrifying secret. Written by VTC
- Jane Eyre (TV Series 1963) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (1968) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (TV 1970) (IMDb): Jane Eyre is an orphan, sent to Lowood school, and eventually becomes a governess at Thornfield hall to a girl named Adele. While she is there, many strange things happen and eventually she and Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfeild and Adele's guardian, fall in love. Suddenly, when Jane is about to win the happiness she deserves, a dark secret comes to light, and it will take all of her courage, love and understanding to triumph. Written by Julianna Peterson
- Jane Eyre (TV mini-series 1973) (IMDb)
- Jane Eyre (1996) (IMDb): Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs. Fairfax. Written by Volker Boehm Jane Eyre, orphaned, is left to live under the charity of her Aunt Reed. After living ten years of mistreatment and segregation in her Aunt's home, she is then sent to Lowood- a boarding school for young girls. Jane grows up both physically and mentally at Lowood and becomes a teacher at age eighteen. She then advertises for the position of a governess and is called upon by Mrs Fairfax at Thornfield. At Thornfield, Jane falls in love with the master, Mr Rochester, and he with her. However, he yields a terrible and dark secret that threatens to tear them apart for good. Written by Emily
- Jane Eyre (TV 1997) (IMDb): Charlotte Bronte's classic novel is filmed yet again. The story of the Yorkshire orphan who becomes a governess to a young French girl and finds love with the brooding lord of the manor is given a standard romantic flare, but sparks do not seem to happen between the two leads in this version. Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
- Jane Eyre (TV mini-series 1983) (IMDb): The story of Jane Eyre, the plain quakerish governess is told from her childhood until she arrives at Thornfield Hall to tutor the young Adele. She finds herself intrigued by and attracted to Thornfield's owner, the dark, sardonic (natch) Mr. Rochester. But a dread secret resides in Thornfield Hall. Written by Kathy Li
- Jane Eyre (TV mini-series 2006) (IMDb): A young governess falls in love with her brooding and complex master. However, his dark past may destroy their relationship forever.
- Jane Eyre (2011) (IMDb): A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
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