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Jane Eyre
Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.
A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Bront毛's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.
Charlotte Bront毛 tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.
A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Bront毛's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.
Charlotte Bront毛 tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.
590 pages, Paperback
First published October 16, 1847
84.9k people are currently reading
1m people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Bront毛
1,788听books18.1k听followersCharlotte Bront毛 was an English novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Bront毛 sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also and .
Charlotte Bront毛 was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Bront毛 (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Bront毛 children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Bront毛 died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Bront毛 girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Bront毛 - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children 鈥� Branwell, Emily, and Anne 鈥� continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Bront毛 later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Bront毛 and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Bront毛 left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Bront毛 and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
Charlotte Bront毛 was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Bront毛 (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Bront毛 children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Bront毛 died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Bront毛 girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Bront毛 - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children 鈥� Branwell, Emily, and Anne 鈥� continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Bront毛 later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Bront毛 and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Bront毛 left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Bront毛 and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
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February 4, 2020
鈥溾€楯ane, be still; don't struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its desperation.鈥�
鈥業 am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.鈥欌€�
I am glad that in 1847 Charlotte Bronte made the decision to publish her novel under a male pseudonym. Currer Bell had a much better chance of being published than Charlotte Bronte and, with reviewers and readers assuming that she was in fact a male writer, allowed the novel a chance to be weighed properly without prejudice. Jane Eyre became a bestseller. The question is, of course, would the novel have been so successful or even published at all if CHARLOTTE BRONTE had been emblazoned on the cover? I like to think that some editor would have realized the bloody brilliance of the story and would have published it anyway, even if they didn鈥檛 spend any money on promoting it. Would readers have bought it? Hopefully, word would have trickled out about how compelling the plot was, and people would have overcome their natural prejudice for reading a novel by a woman.
So isn鈥檛 it fun that Charlotte tricked everyone, including her own father? She did not confess her efforts to him until she had become successful. Even writing these words, I have a smile on my face thinking of this successful bamboozlement of publishers, editors, and readers.
The story, of course, is larger than the book. Most people with any kind of inquisitive nature have been exposed to the bare bones of this novel without ever reading the book. Maybe they watched a movie based on the book, or maybe they have heard it referenced. Once read, it is impossible for people not to use aspects of this novel as common reference points for other readers.
Take Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester himself, the master of Thornfield Hall. He is a brooding, complicated, dark, and intelligent creature. He is a force of nature who conforms the world around him with every stride he takes or every word that drops from his lips. He is the embodiment of the Lord Byron character. It doesn鈥檛 matter that he is not handsome. He is powerful. Women swoon in his presence and, after a carefully administered smelling salt, might start calculating what he is worth a year.
Rochester is completely taken by Jane Eyre, practically from the moment they meet. The drama of their meeting is one of those great cinematic scenes in the history of literature. Bronte incorporates many scenes into the novel that are, frankly, gifts to future movie renditions. Rochester has never met anyone quite like her. He is not alone. Everyone who comes into contact with Jane Eyre knows they have met a unique person. She is a kind and pleasant person, but she will not brook any discriminations against her character.
Mrs. Reed (her aunt), Mr. Brocklehurst (director of Lowood School attended by Jane), Mr. St John Eyre Rivers (minister who asks to marry her), and even Mr. Rochester, all attempt to conform Jane to the acceptable, deferring Victorian woman of the time. To call this a feminist novel does put it in a box which constrains it too tightly. Jane or Charlotte, either one, would loosen those bindings and let it breath as Charlotte鈥檚 intentions with this novel go well beyond the confines of any specific genre. I found her ideas of female equality, embodied so wonderfully in the character of Jane, inspiring. 鈥漌omen 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 effort, 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.鈥�
I hear you, Charlotte.
Can you imagine the impact of such words on your typical, Victorian housewife? A woman who has lived her whole life being the daughter of her father, the wife of her husband, the mother of her sons. She has been passed from the care of one man after another. If she were fortunate enough to be born pretty, she has that brief moment of power when suiters contend for her hand, but probably, ultimately, her father would decide who was best for her to marry. How about the impact of reading this novel on the typical, Victorian man? Did he look up from this book and peer over at his wife, she looking rosy in the firelight, knitting away at some frivolous thing, and think...does she want more? Or maybe he sees his pretty daughter enter the room on the verge of womanhood, and does he consider the possibility that she wants or deserves more?
There is no spark of revolution inspired by this book, but I do hope that this book may have chipped away at some of the archaic ideas of inequality. Maybe a few women readers realized that some of those secret desires they have harbored their whole life were not such strange concepts. When Jane stands up to the conformists she encounters, she is willing to take the punishment because she knows in her soul that what she believes about herself is incontestable.
This is no better illustrated than in her interactions with (I鈥檓 sorry to say this because it isn鈥檛 completely fair) the odious St. John Eyre Rivers. He wants to marry her but only for the sake that he believes she will make a wonderful, useful, missionary wife. He doesn鈥檛 love her. She is willing to go, but only as a 鈥渟ister,鈥� not as a wife. Jane refuses to compromise, but there is this moment where she is teetering in the balance. I鈥檓 mentally screaming to her at this point. 鈥滻 shuddered as he spoke: I felt his influence in my marrow--his hold on my limbs.鈥� He is a cold man who would have gladly marched OUR Jane off to some godforsaken part of the world to die some horrible death from disease or from simple neglect.
I know the plot; and yet, I鈥檓 still completely invested in every scene. There is always the possibility that I鈥檝e fallen into an alternative universe and I am reading some other version of Jane Eyre with a completely different ending. I can assure everyone this did not happen.
When Jane is residing with Mrs. Read, she describes her place to sleep as a 鈥渟mall closet.鈥� I can鈥檛 help but think of the closet under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive. Like Harry Potter, she is also an orphan but still with a rebellious streak because she is also sure that she is supposed to be someone other than who she is currently perceived to be. The relief she experiences when she learns she is getting away from the condescending attitude of the Read house and going away to school at Lowood also reminds me of Harry鈥檚 relief to discover he, too, is escaping to Hogwarts. Though I must say Harry, despite the trials and tribulations he experiences, draws a better straw than Miss Jane.
I really enjoyed the gothic elements; those were, to a degree, completely unexpected. 鈥濃€橭h sir, I never saw a face like it! It was a discoloured face--it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation of the lineaments!鈥�
鈥楪host are usually pale, Jane.鈥�
鈥楾his, sir, was purple: the lips were swelled and dark; the brow furrowed: the black eyebrows widely raised over the bloodshot eyes. Shall I tell you of what it reminded me?鈥�
鈥榊ou may.鈥�
鈥極f the foul German spectre--the Vampyre.鈥欌€�
There are noises in the night at Thornfield Hall. There is an unknown tenant locked away in the rafters of the house. There are secrets. There are unexpected fires. There are scandals waiting to be known. In fact, the twists of the plot were considered so outrageous for the time that the book acquired a reputation for being 鈥渋尘辫谤辞辫别谤.鈥� This helped to boost sales further.
The Bronte family was very close. They grew up conceiving their own stories and fantasies and acting them out in impromptu plays. All three girls and the brother, Branwell, were writers. Tragically, they all died young. Charlotte outlived them all, dying in 1855 at the age of 38 with her unborn child. Branwell (31) and Emily (30) both passed away in 1848, and Anne died the following year at the age of 29. Can you imagine having to bury all your siblings? It must have felt like the spectre of death was stalking the Brontes.
What makes Rochester unique is that he does eventually see Jane the way she sees herself. 鈥滷air as a lily, and not only the pride of his life, but the desire of his eyes.鈥� I will remember that line 鈥漝esire of his eyes鈥� for a long time. She is a hidden gem in rooms full of people. Charlotte Bronte makes some good points through Jane鈥檚 eyes at how unaware wealthy people are of the true natures of those who serve them.
I would talk about the love story, but what is there to say. It is one for the ages. I would say that Charlotte Bronte never found her Rochester in real life, but some letters have come to light, written to a man named Constantin H茅ger, that suggests that maybe she did. He was married to someone else, and when Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the biography of her friend, she carefully edited out those very revealing letters of a love that could never be.
Jane Eyre, may you always find the readers you deserve.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:
鈥業 am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.鈥欌€�
I am glad that in 1847 Charlotte Bronte made the decision to publish her novel under a male pseudonym. Currer Bell had a much better chance of being published than Charlotte Bronte and, with reviewers and readers assuming that she was in fact a male writer, allowed the novel a chance to be weighed properly without prejudice. Jane Eyre became a bestseller. The question is, of course, would the novel have been so successful or even published at all if CHARLOTTE BRONTE had been emblazoned on the cover? I like to think that some editor would have realized the bloody brilliance of the story and would have published it anyway, even if they didn鈥檛 spend any money on promoting it. Would readers have bought it? Hopefully, word would have trickled out about how compelling the plot was, and people would have overcome their natural prejudice for reading a novel by a woman.
So isn鈥檛 it fun that Charlotte tricked everyone, including her own father? She did not confess her efforts to him until she had become successful. Even writing these words, I have a smile on my face thinking of this successful bamboozlement of publishers, editors, and readers.
The story, of course, is larger than the book. Most people with any kind of inquisitive nature have been exposed to the bare bones of this novel without ever reading the book. Maybe they watched a movie based on the book, or maybe they have heard it referenced. Once read, it is impossible for people not to use aspects of this novel as common reference points for other readers.
Take Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester himself, the master of Thornfield Hall. He is a brooding, complicated, dark, and intelligent creature. He is a force of nature who conforms the world around him with every stride he takes or every word that drops from his lips. He is the embodiment of the Lord Byron character. It doesn鈥檛 matter that he is not handsome. He is powerful. Women swoon in his presence and, after a carefully administered smelling salt, might start calculating what he is worth a year.
Rochester is completely taken by Jane Eyre, practically from the moment they meet. The drama of their meeting is one of those great cinematic scenes in the history of literature. Bronte incorporates many scenes into the novel that are, frankly, gifts to future movie renditions. Rochester has never met anyone quite like her. He is not alone. Everyone who comes into contact with Jane Eyre knows they have met a unique person. She is a kind and pleasant person, but she will not brook any discriminations against her character.
Mrs. Reed (her aunt), Mr. Brocklehurst (director of Lowood School attended by Jane), Mr. St John Eyre Rivers (minister who asks to marry her), and even Mr. Rochester, all attempt to conform Jane to the acceptable, deferring Victorian woman of the time. To call this a feminist novel does put it in a box which constrains it too tightly. Jane or Charlotte, either one, would loosen those bindings and let it breath as Charlotte鈥檚 intentions with this novel go well beyond the confines of any specific genre. I found her ideas of female equality, embodied so wonderfully in the character of Jane, inspiring. 鈥漌omen 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 effort, 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.鈥�
I hear you, Charlotte.
Can you imagine the impact of such words on your typical, Victorian housewife? A woman who has lived her whole life being the daughter of her father, the wife of her husband, the mother of her sons. She has been passed from the care of one man after another. If she were fortunate enough to be born pretty, she has that brief moment of power when suiters contend for her hand, but probably, ultimately, her father would decide who was best for her to marry. How about the impact of reading this novel on the typical, Victorian man? Did he look up from this book and peer over at his wife, she looking rosy in the firelight, knitting away at some frivolous thing, and think...does she want more? Or maybe he sees his pretty daughter enter the room on the verge of womanhood, and does he consider the possibility that she wants or deserves more?
There is no spark of revolution inspired by this book, but I do hope that this book may have chipped away at some of the archaic ideas of inequality. Maybe a few women readers realized that some of those secret desires they have harbored their whole life were not such strange concepts. When Jane stands up to the conformists she encounters, she is willing to take the punishment because she knows in her soul that what she believes about herself is incontestable.
This is no better illustrated than in her interactions with (I鈥檓 sorry to say this because it isn鈥檛 completely fair) the odious St. John Eyre Rivers. He wants to marry her but only for the sake that he believes she will make a wonderful, useful, missionary wife. He doesn鈥檛 love her. She is willing to go, but only as a 鈥渟ister,鈥� not as a wife. Jane refuses to compromise, but there is this moment where she is teetering in the balance. I鈥檓 mentally screaming to her at this point. 鈥滻 shuddered as he spoke: I felt his influence in my marrow--his hold on my limbs.鈥� He is a cold man who would have gladly marched OUR Jane off to some godforsaken part of the world to die some horrible death from disease or from simple neglect.
I know the plot; and yet, I鈥檓 still completely invested in every scene. There is always the possibility that I鈥檝e fallen into an alternative universe and I am reading some other version of Jane Eyre with a completely different ending. I can assure everyone this did not happen.
When Jane is residing with Mrs. Read, she describes her place to sleep as a 鈥渟mall closet.鈥� I can鈥檛 help but think of the closet under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive. Like Harry Potter, she is also an orphan but still with a rebellious streak because she is also sure that she is supposed to be someone other than who she is currently perceived to be. The relief she experiences when she learns she is getting away from the condescending attitude of the Read house and going away to school at Lowood also reminds me of Harry鈥檚 relief to discover he, too, is escaping to Hogwarts. Though I must say Harry, despite the trials and tribulations he experiences, draws a better straw than Miss Jane.
I really enjoyed the gothic elements; those were, to a degree, completely unexpected. 鈥濃€橭h sir, I never saw a face like it! It was a discoloured face--it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation of the lineaments!鈥�
鈥楪host are usually pale, Jane.鈥�
鈥楾his, sir, was purple: the lips were swelled and dark; the brow furrowed: the black eyebrows widely raised over the bloodshot eyes. Shall I tell you of what it reminded me?鈥�
鈥榊ou may.鈥�
鈥極f the foul German spectre--the Vampyre.鈥欌€�
There are noises in the night at Thornfield Hall. There is an unknown tenant locked away in the rafters of the house. There are secrets. There are unexpected fires. There are scandals waiting to be known. In fact, the twists of the plot were considered so outrageous for the time that the book acquired a reputation for being 鈥渋尘辫谤辞辫别谤.鈥� This helped to boost sales further.
The Bronte family was very close. They grew up conceiving their own stories and fantasies and acting them out in impromptu plays. All three girls and the brother, Branwell, were writers. Tragically, they all died young. Charlotte outlived them all, dying in 1855 at the age of 38 with her unborn child. Branwell (31) and Emily (30) both passed away in 1848, and Anne died the following year at the age of 29. Can you imagine having to bury all your siblings? It must have felt like the spectre of death was stalking the Brontes.
What makes Rochester unique is that he does eventually see Jane the way she sees herself. 鈥滷air as a lily, and not only the pride of his life, but the desire of his eyes.鈥� I will remember that line 鈥漝esire of his eyes鈥� for a long time. She is a hidden gem in rooms full of people. Charlotte Bronte makes some good points through Jane鈥檚 eyes at how unaware wealthy people are of the true natures of those who serve them.
I would talk about the love story, but what is there to say. It is one for the ages. I would say that Charlotte Bronte never found her Rochester in real life, but some letters have come to light, written to a man named Constantin H茅ger, that suggests that maybe she did. He was married to someone else, and when Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the biography of her friend, she carefully edited out those very revealing letters of a love that could never be.
Jane Eyre, may you always find the readers you deserve.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:
March 17, 2023
Yes, I suppose you can view this book mostly as a love story. That's what I did at age 13 - but that's why I was left disappointed back then鹿.
Or you can view this as an story of formation of a strong and independent female protagonist, a nineteenth-century feminist, light-years ahead of its time. And that's what left my now-closer-to-thirty-than-twenty self very satisfied and, quite frankly, rather impressed.虏
Jane Eyre has a good idea of her self-worth. And she has a good idea about her own morals. And, unlike many in her situation, she sticks to her morals and her idea of what is wrong or right regardless of what outcome is in it for her. Here is the prime example:
But here's the thing. It's not just for the moral lesson for the readers that Bronte has Jane firmly say 'no'. It's not for the sake of mere societal appearance. It's for the sake of Jane, and Jane alone. MARRYING governesses was uncommon. Having them as mistresses - probably not as rare. In her society, protecting her virtue and reputation was not only the matter of religious views or stigma - it was the question of her future, as she had nobody to stand up for her if her reputation was ruined. And it was a question of her integrity - the quality that she maintains through thick and thin, refusing to fall head over heels for love, refusing to let love justify all the mistakes and wrong choices, refusing to let love blind her to everything else that was important for her sense of self-worth.
By refusing Rochester, Jane stays so true to herself without ever betraying herself. Jane refuses to take the steps that would destroy her integrity in her own eyes, and for that she has my strongest and most sincere respect and admiration. What Rochester did is unthinkable to her - not because of how others view it but because of her morals and convictions - and she shows unbelievable courage in sticking up for what she believes in, even if it is to her own material and soul-wrecking detriment. She will not give herself fully to something - or someone - that would destroy her integrity, tarnish her own self. And I love her for this unwavering determination to stay true to herself!
And finally, the atmosphere of this story. Oh, the wonderfully gothic atmosphere written so well, with intense moods palpable in every paragraph. So colorful, so vivid, so immersing - every room, every moor, every tree. Every description of landscape or interior actually serves a purpose to establish the mood of the scene, and it is very well-done.
.................................
All that said, I'm giving a condescending pat on the shoulder to my teenage self from the 'wisdom' of another fifteen years. Sorry, teen Nataliya, you little annoying know-it-all - you just needed to grow up to appreciate this story. 4.5 stars and high recommendation.
Or you can view this as an story of formation of a strong and independent female protagonist, a nineteenth-century feminist, light-years ahead of its time. And that's what left my now-closer-to-thirty-than-twenty self very satisfied and, quite frankly, rather impressed.虏
鹿When I read it for the first time as a young and opinionated teen, I thought Jane Eyre was a boring and meek protagonist, too clingy to her 'outdated' morals, too afraid to do what I thought was a brave thing to do - say 'yes' to the apparent happiness that poor tragic Mr. Rochester was offering. (Oh naive young me, putting way too much stock in Rochester's woes after his , sleeping with everyone in Europe and rejecting them probably because they were not English enough for him!) Wow, was there ever a way to misunderstand a book more than I did this one? Sometimes life experience does matter indeed.
虏 "I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience."
Sing it, Jane. You tell him, you strong and awesome woman, you!
Jane Eyre has a good idea of her self-worth. And she has a good idea about her own morals. And, unlike many in her situation, she sticks to her morals and her idea of what is wrong or right regardless of what outcome is in it for her. Here is the prime example:
"Gentlemen in his station are not accustomed to marry their governesses."The emphasis in this well-intentioned advice by Mrs. Fairfax is on the word MARRY. Ah, silly old lady, one may think, cautioning the young woman in such a prudish way. Ah, silly young woman, taking the advice of the old lady and acting prudishly. Ah, silly young woman, eventually rejecting the sincere love and offer of happiness for a seemingly prudish reason - not wanting to be a mistress. So old-fashioned and weak and caged-up, screamed my thirteen-year-old self.
But here's the thing. It's not just for the moral lesson for the readers that Bronte has Jane firmly say 'no'. It's not for the sake of mere societal appearance. It's for the sake of Jane, and Jane alone. MARRYING governesses was uncommon. Having them as mistresses - probably not as rare. In her society, protecting her virtue and reputation was not only the matter of religious views or stigma - it was the question of her future, as she had nobody to stand up for her if her reputation was ruined. And it was a question of her integrity - the quality that she maintains through thick and thin, refusing to fall head over heels for love, refusing to let love justify all the mistakes and wrong choices, refusing to let love blind her to everything else that was important for her sense of self-worth.
By refusing Rochester, Jane stays so true to herself without ever betraying herself. Jane refuses to take the steps that would destroy her integrity in her own eyes, and for that she has my strongest and most sincere respect and admiration. What Rochester did is unthinkable to her - not because of how others view it but because of her morals and convictions - and she shows unbelievable courage in sticking up for what she believes in, even if it is to her own material and soul-wrecking detriment. She will not give herself fully to something - or someone - that would destroy her integrity, tarnish her own self. And I love her for this unwavering determination to stay true to herself!
"Reader, I married him" may be one of the most famous phrases from this book (actually, the most famous, come to think of it) - but it is her refusal to marry him in the first place that allows her to keep her integrity and remain true to self, and continue developing into the amazing person she becomes. Jane has too much self-worth to have Rochester until he redeems himself in her eyes, until he repents. That's the point, not the marriage part.Despite self-proclaimed meekness, Jane Eyre is far from weak or scared. She has been forced to make her own way in life without the luxury of relying on a rich male relative - father, brother, husband. And she did this in the world where being attached to a man was the best choice for a woman (just remember Jane Austen's heroines a few decades earlier reaching happiness only after finding a suitable gentleman!). She is a rebel - setting out to have her own career in a male-dominated world, refusing to let a man rule her life (that applies to both Rochester and St. John here), and making statements that may have not had the most sympathetic audience back in her day:
"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, to 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."And here's what else I enjoyed about this book - its attempts to subvert the tropes, the same tropes that we still heavily rely on in literature. Bronte gets rid of the 'faultless' heroine - instead of being perfect (or having an imaginary flaw, like many literary heroines are prone to nowadays) Jane has a real one (for her time, at least) - her occasional temper. And she is not beautiful - not fake flaws, either but a consensus by many impartial observers that she is not a beauty. And to take it a step further - Mr. Rochester, our romantic lead, is quite frankly, rather ugly. This is not a beautiful couple (and Hollywood managed to "fix" that in all the movie adaptations, by the way - a slap in Bronte's face, I guess?). Jane is not in love with a pretty fa莽ade of Rochester - since he has none (a thing that contemporary writers should learn, by the way - writing love that stems from something else that simple attraction to physical beauty).
And finally, the atmosphere of this story. Oh, the wonderfully gothic atmosphere written so well, with intense moods palpable in every paragraph. So colorful, so vivid, so immersing - every room, every moor, every tree. Every description of landscape or interior actually serves a purpose to establish the mood of the scene, and it is very well-done.
.................................
All that said, I'm giving a condescending pat on the shoulder to my teenage self from the 'wisdom' of another fifteen years. Sorry, teen Nataliya, you little annoying know-it-all - you just needed to grow up to appreciate this story. 4.5 stars and high recommendation.
April 28, 2020
Reader, I gave it five stars. Please let me tell you why.
Jane Eyre is the quintessential Victorian novel. It literally has everything that was typical of the period, but, unlike other novels, it has all the elements in one story. At the centre is the romance between Jane and Rochester, which is enhanced by gothic elements such as the uncanniness of the doppleganger and the spectre like qualities of Bertha. In addition, it is also a governess novel; these were an incredibly popular type of storytelling in the age and for it to be combined with gothic elements, which are interposed with a dualistic relationship between realism and romance, is really quite unique. The correct term for this is a hybrid, in which no genre voice is dominant; they exist alongside each other creating one rather special book.
And this is so, so, special; it鈥檚 an excellent piece of literature. Jane鈥檚 journey is gut wrenching and emotional. Through her life she experiences real sorrow, the kind that would make a lesser person give up. She also experiences real friendship, the type that comes across perhaps once in a lifetime. But, most significantly, she experiences true love and the development of independence to form he own ending. I really do love this book. Bronte utilises the first person narrative, which creates a high degree of intimacy with her character; it makes me feel like I know Jane as well as she comes to know her own self.
鈥淚 am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.鈥�
Jane鈥檚 a strong willed individual. From a very young age she had the clarity of intelligence to recognise the injustice that was her life; yes, she is narrating her story retrospectively, though she still had the perceptiveness to realise how mistreated she was. I love the pathetic fallacy Bronte uses at the beginning. The child Jane looks out the window, shielded by the curtain, and witnesses the horrible weather. It is cold and bleak; it is windy and morose; thus, we can immediately see the internal workings of Jane鈥檚 mind. The weather reflects her feelings throughout the novel, and at the very beginning the situation was at its worse. This can also be seen with the fire imagery that represents her rage when she is shoved in the red room; it later mirrors that of Bertha鈥檚 fury.
Everybody needs love, children especially so. These early experiences help to define her later character, and, ultimately influence how she sees the world; she still hides behind a curtain in Rochester鈥檚 house when he flirts with Miss Ingrum. These experiences set her on an almost perpetual quest for love, for belonging and for the independence to make her own decisions. She finds friendship in the form of Helen Burns; she gives her some sound advice, but Jane cannot fully accept such religious fatalism. However, it does inspire her, a little, to continue with life; she realises, no matter what happens, she will always have the love of her greatest friend. Jane clings to this idea, but, ultimately, has to seek a more permanent solution to her loneliness. She needs a vocation, one that will fulfil her and give her life meaning; thus, she becomes a governess and crosses paths with the downtrodden, miserable wretch that is Mr Rochester.
Sometimes I feel like Rochester didn鈥檛 know quite what he wanted. When he sees Jane he sees a woman with strength, blunt honesty and integrity: he sees an emotional equal. This attracts her to him, which develops into love. However, when he tries to express his love he does it through trying to claim her as his own. Through doing so, not only does he show the nature of Victorian marriage, he shows his own deep vulnerability. He loves her mind, her intelligence, and he too wants to be loved. He longs for it with a frightening passion. So, instead of doing things the way Jane would have wanted him to do, he overwhelms her with expensive affection. By doing so he almost loses her. All Jane wanted was his heart, nothing more nothing less.
By showering her with such flattery and expensive items, he insults her independence. He risks destroying the thing that attracted him to her in the first place, their equality; their mutual respect and love. He takes away her dignity. I really don鈥檛 think the original marriage would have worked. Ignore the existence of the mad woman in the attic; I just think Rochester would have spoilt it. It would have become too awkward. They needed to be on the same societal level as well as one of intellect and character. The ending is touching and a little sad, but it is the only one that could ever have worked for these two characters. Without the tragedy there could never have be rejuvenation and the chance for them to be together on equal terms, no matter what it cost to get there.
If that wasn鈥檛 enough reason for me to love this book, there are also elements of fantasy and desire. This is a realism novel, it pertains to credible events, but the suggestions of fantasy only add to the strong romantic notions. Rochester is enamoured by Jane; he cannot believe that a woman like her actually exists. All his misguided notions are brushed away in an instant. Whilst he views Jane as special, it is clear that he realises that other women may also have a similar rebellious voice, only hidden. He considers her an elf, a witch, an improbable woman that has captured his desire, his heart, his soul, his life. He knows he will never be the same again. From Jane鈥檚 point of view, her first encounter with him is otherworldly. She had grown bored with her governess role, and when she sees the approach of Rochester and his dog Pilot, she sees the gytrash myth; she wants to see something fantastical instead she finds her heart, which is something much rarer.
Then there are also the feminist elements. Jane transgresses the boundary associated with her gender in the Victorian age. For a woman to be recognised as having equal intellect to that of a man was sadly a rare thing. Women could actually attend university, but the downside was they could never get the full degree. They could spend months studying, though never be recognised as actually having gained the qualification. It was just another attempt to keep women under the thumb, so for Bronte to portray the truth of Jane鈥檚 equal intellect is a great step for the recognition of women, and women writers. This book received a whole host of negative reviews at the time of its publication for this element alone. Stupid really, but that鈥檚 misogyny for you.
Reader, I love this book. I really could go on, but this is getting kind of long. I hope I鈥檝e made it clear why I love this story so much. I shall be reading this again later this year to correspond with my exams, which I鈥檓 already looking forward to- the reading that is, not the exams. I don鈥檛 think will ever have read this story enough though.
___________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via .
__________________________________
Jane Eyre is the quintessential Victorian novel. It literally has everything that was typical of the period, but, unlike other novels, it has all the elements in one story. At the centre is the romance between Jane and Rochester, which is enhanced by gothic elements such as the uncanniness of the doppleganger and the spectre like qualities of Bertha. In addition, it is also a governess novel; these were an incredibly popular type of storytelling in the age and for it to be combined with gothic elements, which are interposed with a dualistic relationship between realism and romance, is really quite unique. The correct term for this is a hybrid, in which no genre voice is dominant; they exist alongside each other creating one rather special book.
And this is so, so, special; it鈥檚 an excellent piece of literature. Jane鈥檚 journey is gut wrenching and emotional. Through her life she experiences real sorrow, the kind that would make a lesser person give up. She also experiences real friendship, the type that comes across perhaps once in a lifetime. But, most significantly, she experiences true love and the development of independence to form he own ending. I really do love this book. Bronte utilises the first person narrative, which creates a high degree of intimacy with her character; it makes me feel like I know Jane as well as she comes to know her own self.
鈥淚 am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.鈥�
Jane鈥檚 a strong willed individual. From a very young age she had the clarity of intelligence to recognise the injustice that was her life; yes, she is narrating her story retrospectively, though she still had the perceptiveness to realise how mistreated she was. I love the pathetic fallacy Bronte uses at the beginning. The child Jane looks out the window, shielded by the curtain, and witnesses the horrible weather. It is cold and bleak; it is windy and morose; thus, we can immediately see the internal workings of Jane鈥檚 mind. The weather reflects her feelings throughout the novel, and at the very beginning the situation was at its worse. This can also be seen with the fire imagery that represents her rage when she is shoved in the red room; it later mirrors that of Bertha鈥檚 fury.
Everybody needs love, children especially so. These early experiences help to define her later character, and, ultimately influence how she sees the world; she still hides behind a curtain in Rochester鈥檚 house when he flirts with Miss Ingrum. These experiences set her on an almost perpetual quest for love, for belonging and for the independence to make her own decisions. She finds friendship in the form of Helen Burns; she gives her some sound advice, but Jane cannot fully accept such religious fatalism. However, it does inspire her, a little, to continue with life; she realises, no matter what happens, she will always have the love of her greatest friend. Jane clings to this idea, but, ultimately, has to seek a more permanent solution to her loneliness. She needs a vocation, one that will fulfil her and give her life meaning; thus, she becomes a governess and crosses paths with the downtrodden, miserable wretch that is Mr Rochester.
Sometimes I feel like Rochester didn鈥檛 know quite what he wanted. When he sees Jane he sees a woman with strength, blunt honesty and integrity: he sees an emotional equal. This attracts her to him, which develops into love. However, when he tries to express his love he does it through trying to claim her as his own. Through doing so, not only does he show the nature of Victorian marriage, he shows his own deep vulnerability. He loves her mind, her intelligence, and he too wants to be loved. He longs for it with a frightening passion. So, instead of doing things the way Jane would have wanted him to do, he overwhelms her with expensive affection. By doing so he almost loses her. All Jane wanted was his heart, nothing more nothing less.
By showering her with such flattery and expensive items, he insults her independence. He risks destroying the thing that attracted him to her in the first place, their equality; their mutual respect and love. He takes away her dignity. I really don鈥檛 think the original marriage would have worked. Ignore the existence of the mad woman in the attic; I just think Rochester would have spoilt it. It would have become too awkward. They needed to be on the same societal level as well as one of intellect and character. The ending is touching and a little sad, but it is the only one that could ever have worked for these two characters. Without the tragedy there could never have be rejuvenation and the chance for them to be together on equal terms, no matter what it cost to get there.
If that wasn鈥檛 enough reason for me to love this book, there are also elements of fantasy and desire. This is a realism novel, it pertains to credible events, but the suggestions of fantasy only add to the strong romantic notions. Rochester is enamoured by Jane; he cannot believe that a woman like her actually exists. All his misguided notions are brushed away in an instant. Whilst he views Jane as special, it is clear that he realises that other women may also have a similar rebellious voice, only hidden. He considers her an elf, a witch, an improbable woman that has captured his desire, his heart, his soul, his life. He knows he will never be the same again. From Jane鈥檚 point of view, her first encounter with him is otherworldly. She had grown bored with her governess role, and when she sees the approach of Rochester and his dog Pilot, she sees the gytrash myth; she wants to see something fantastical instead she finds her heart, which is something much rarer.
Then there are also the feminist elements. Jane transgresses the boundary associated with her gender in the Victorian age. For a woman to be recognised as having equal intellect to that of a man was sadly a rare thing. Women could actually attend university, but the downside was they could never get the full degree. They could spend months studying, though never be recognised as actually having gained the qualification. It was just another attempt to keep women under the thumb, so for Bronte to portray the truth of Jane鈥檚 equal intellect is a great step for the recognition of women, and women writers. This book received a whole host of negative reviews at the time of its publication for this element alone. Stupid really, but that鈥檚 misogyny for you.
Reader, I love this book. I really could go on, but this is getting kind of long. I hope I鈥檝e made it clear why I love this story so much. I shall be reading this again later this year to correspond with my exams, which I鈥檓 already looking forward to- the reading that is, not the exams. I don鈥檛 think will ever have read this story enough though.
___________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via .
__________________________________
June 17, 2024
I am a very pretentious person.
I try to seem 鈥渉ip鈥� and 鈥渃ool鈥� and 鈥渞elatable鈥� and 鈥渄own with the teens鈥� - and of course I totally am all of those things - but also I have my tendencies toward pretension. It鈥檚 who I am. Just last night I shuddered at the idea of popular music, like some kind of eight-hundred-year-old gremlin.
I am not proud of this side of me, but it鈥檚 who I am. And also it is important background information for you, dear Reader, going into this review. (That direct address to you as an audience member was me emulating this book, not an example of my pretension. Or was it???)
Anyway. It鈥檚 important that you know my capacity to be pretentious so that I can make this statement:
I don鈥檛 get how any reader can say they don鈥檛 like classics.
Oof. A doozy, right? Aren鈥檛 you glad I warned you? Now you know that that wasn鈥檛 just a one-off of self-serious condescension but rather a pattern of my personality and oh sh*t actually my explanation probably made the whole thing a million times worse. Now I鈥檝e painted my insufferability as consistent.
Come back, everyone!!!! Let me explain!
What I need to explain is that this book is excellent, and also a classic. It is very very old but sometimes old stuff is still worth it! (I should know. I have the mannerisms of the type of grumpy old man that gets endearingly profiled in Scandinavian bestsellers.)
This is not the classic I would recommend that someone start with if they鈥檙e looking to get into the genre. It is very, very slow, and very wordy, and the language takes some settling in. But also this book is a literal gem.
It was published in 19th century England, which is no one鈥檚 idea of Progressive Central. But this book is jarringly feminist when the constraints it (and Jane) were working in are taken into account. Jane is an independent woman, and this book from eighteen freakin鈥� forty-seven tells her story.
Now, I love Jane Austen books as much as the next girl (if the next girl is pretty damn obsessed with Jane Austen), but that鈥檚 something not even all her books can say.
Here鈥檚 the thing about this book: I love nineteenth century fiction (or what I鈥檝e read of it), but even if you didn鈥檛 you鈥檇 probably love this book. So much of this is unique, by the standards of then but also even the standards of today. It鈥檚 a romance, yes, which: extremely normal. But it鈥檚 a romance between two characters who are not conventionally beautiful, which is unbelievably rare.
It鈥檚 also not a romance that acts as basically the sole option for its female character. I love Pride & Prejudice, and I of course think Lizzie Bennet is a feminist (and awesome) character, but there鈥檚 no way for that book to end, really, that doesn鈥檛 include marriage for her. Three of the five Bennet sisters get married over the course of that book. It鈥檚 either that or old maid status, baby.
But not lil Jane Eyre. She does not allow marriage to be the only prospect for her!! She goes away and makes a life for herself and then decides whether she wants to follow that path. We don鈥檛 even see that in every 21st century romance.
Plus, Jane is an excellent character, and of a type we RARELY see. She鈥檚 serious and upstanding and smart and moral. She has a strong mind and she doesn鈥檛 shy away from that. She lacks the requisite features of today鈥檚 female subjects of romance: the quirkiness or the humor or the adorkable way she trips and falls/spills coffee/etc. She also lacks the nineteenth-century version of a lot of those traits. And it is so goddamn refreshing I can鈥檛 even tell you.
And on top of all that, the language in this book is so gorgeous I want the whole manuscript tattooed on me.
Which would be wild, because this is about a million pages long. And speaking of, yes, it is very slow and hard to get into and basically you have to adjust to a whole new reading experience. So I wouldn鈥檛 recommend starting off your nineteenth century fiction binge with this book.
But I would recommend getting into nineteenth century fiction solely for the purpose of reading this book.
Bottom line: IT鈥橲 JUST SO DAMN GOOD, YOU GUYS.
-------------
pre-review
hey um...i love this book so stupid much???
if you've got a free few hours over the course of the next few months i HIGHLY recommend rereading this book at a snail's pace. worked out for me very well.
i should probably shout about my adoration of this book for several pages so. full review 2 come
I try to seem 鈥渉ip鈥� and 鈥渃ool鈥� and 鈥渞elatable鈥� and 鈥渄own with the teens鈥� - and of course I totally am all of those things - but also I have my tendencies toward pretension. It鈥檚 who I am. Just last night I shuddered at the idea of popular music, like some kind of eight-hundred-year-old gremlin.
I am not proud of this side of me, but it鈥檚 who I am. And also it is important background information for you, dear Reader, going into this review. (That direct address to you as an audience member was me emulating this book, not an example of my pretension. Or was it???)
Anyway. It鈥檚 important that you know my capacity to be pretentious so that I can make this statement:
I don鈥檛 get how any reader can say they don鈥檛 like classics.
Oof. A doozy, right? Aren鈥檛 you glad I warned you? Now you know that that wasn鈥檛 just a one-off of self-serious condescension but rather a pattern of my personality and oh sh*t actually my explanation probably made the whole thing a million times worse. Now I鈥檝e painted my insufferability as consistent.
Come back, everyone!!!! Let me explain!
What I need to explain is that this book is excellent, and also a classic. It is very very old but sometimes old stuff is still worth it! (I should know. I have the mannerisms of the type of grumpy old man that gets endearingly profiled in Scandinavian bestsellers.)
This is not the classic I would recommend that someone start with if they鈥檙e looking to get into the genre. It is very, very slow, and very wordy, and the language takes some settling in. But also this book is a literal gem.
It was published in 19th century England, which is no one鈥檚 idea of Progressive Central. But this book is jarringly feminist when the constraints it (and Jane) were working in are taken into account. Jane is an independent woman, and this book from eighteen freakin鈥� forty-seven tells her story.
Now, I love Jane Austen books as much as the next girl (if the next girl is pretty damn obsessed with Jane Austen), but that鈥檚 something not even all her books can say.
Here鈥檚 the thing about this book: I love nineteenth century fiction (or what I鈥檝e read of it), but even if you didn鈥檛 you鈥檇 probably love this book. So much of this is unique, by the standards of then but also even the standards of today. It鈥檚 a romance, yes, which: extremely normal. But it鈥檚 a romance between two characters who are not conventionally beautiful, which is unbelievably rare.
It鈥檚 also not a romance that acts as basically the sole option for its female character. I love Pride & Prejudice, and I of course think Lizzie Bennet is a feminist (and awesome) character, but there鈥檚 no way for that book to end, really, that doesn鈥檛 include marriage for her. Three of the five Bennet sisters get married over the course of that book. It鈥檚 either that or old maid status, baby.
But not lil Jane Eyre. She does not allow marriage to be the only prospect for her!! She goes away and makes a life for herself and then decides whether she wants to follow that path. We don鈥檛 even see that in every 21st century romance.
Plus, Jane is an excellent character, and of a type we RARELY see. She鈥檚 serious and upstanding and smart and moral. She has a strong mind and she doesn鈥檛 shy away from that. She lacks the requisite features of today鈥檚 female subjects of romance: the quirkiness or the humor or the adorkable way she trips and falls/spills coffee/etc. She also lacks the nineteenth-century version of a lot of those traits. And it is so goddamn refreshing I can鈥檛 even tell you.
And on top of all that, the language in this book is so gorgeous I want the whole manuscript tattooed on me.
Which would be wild, because this is about a million pages long. And speaking of, yes, it is very slow and hard to get into and basically you have to adjust to a whole new reading experience. So I wouldn鈥檛 recommend starting off your nineteenth century fiction binge with this book.
But I would recommend getting into nineteenth century fiction solely for the purpose of reading this book.
Bottom line: IT鈥橲 JUST SO DAMN GOOD, YOU GUYS.
-------------
pre-review
hey um...i love this book so stupid much???
if you've got a free few hours over the course of the next few months i HIGHLY recommend rereading this book at a snail's pace. worked out for me very well.
i should probably shout about my adoration of this book for several pages so. full review 2 come
June 10, 2021
Old books get a bad rap...but do they deserve it? Check out my latest - all about the fabulous (and not so fabulous) Olde Bois.
The Written Review
"Though you have a man's vigorous brain, you have a woman's heart and--it would not do."Oh Jane, you wondrously bold and beautiful gal.
"It would do," I affirmed with some disdain, "perfectly well.
After she was orphaned, Jane Eyre was sent to live with her maternal uncle and his wife (Mrs. Reed). When her uncle dies, he forces his wife to swear to love, nurture and care for Jane as if she was their own child.
Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Reed is not pleased in the least with this arrangement and does the absolute bare minimum towards Jane. She spoils her three biological children but sees Jane as a wicked, conniving and devilish child (despite ample evidence against).
I know that had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child鈥攖hough equally dependent and friendless鈥擬rs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feelingJane is sent off to boarding school where life is harsher than before (threadbare clothes, small rations) but she prefers it for she has finally found what she's been missing.
There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort.At the end of her time there, she sets off to be a governess. She takes a job for a Mr. Rochester and tutors his young ward, Adel.
Only, when she arrives at the house, she starts to notice certain things. The servants know something is up and won't tell her. Mr. Rochester is hiding a huge mystery and despite the danger, and the difference in social standing, Jane Eyre is falling ever faster in love.
An absolutely stunning book.
This is my third time through, and each time I am blown away by Jane's strength of character. With every twist life hurled at her, Jane merely straightened her shoulders, adjusted her pack and trudged on.
Each time I read this novel, I notice something different. This time, it was how much Charlotte Bronte slipped her own beliefs into the novel:
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...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.It made for a truly eye-opening reread
The ABC Reading Challenge - J
Audiobook Comments
Read by Nadia May. I may be the only one with this - but whenever I read a really old novel, I find it much easier to listen to (opposed to reading a copy). I spend less time puzzling out the language and unfamiliar terms and more time enjoying the story. I highly recommend listening to this book if you've tried reading it and just couldn't get into it.
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May 9, 2017
FIVE REASONS WHY JANE EYRE WOULD NEVER BE A BESTSELLER IN OUR TIMES:
5. Four hundred-odd pages of purely descriptive writing
4. Overt religious themes and moral preaching
3. A plain-Jane heroine who stays plain. No makeovers to reveal a hitherto hidden prettiness that only needed an application of hydrogen peroxide and some eyebrow plucking to emerge full-blown.
2. The world is not well-lost for love. In the war between self-respect and grand passion, principles win hands down. Rousing, yet tender speeches do not make our heroine forsake her creed to fall swooning and submissive into her alpha's arms.
1. NO SEX!!!
When I was a little girl, I had a doll named Saloni. Now Saloni wasn't a particularly attractive specimen as dolls go, especially since, over the years, I had drilled a hole in her little rosebud mouth in order to 'feed' her, I had 'brushed' her hair till all the poor synthetic threads had fallen out and I had dragged her around with me so much, one of her big blue eyes had fallen off. But in my eyes, Saloni was the best doll ever created. She was my comfort, my mainstay in a world filled with confusing new things like school and daycare and other little people. Jane Eyre is my grown-up version of Saloni. Comfort food for my brain.
There are two authors I will read over and over and over again, until the day I die. One of them is Charlotte Bronte, the other one is Georgette Heyer. I have read Jane Eyre a million times, but I never tire of the story. Every time I reach the scene where she professes her love to Mr. Rochester, I come out in goosebumps. Every single time. Age and experience have taught me to spot the flaws in the story and the characters. The ineffable belief in English superiority. The condescending attitude towards servants and people of the lower class. The ill-treatment of mentally disabled people. The almost Quaker-ish sentiments of Jane Eyre. But all of this detracts not a whit from one of the greatest love stories ever told.
And there are a lot of things to admire in this book as well. Edward Rochester, ugly as sin, but powerful and dominant and unbelievably attractive in spite of his looks. A love that grows and strengthens on the basis of mutual sympathy, respect and a meeting of the minds, that a lot of our authors would do well to learn from. Jane Eyre, who does not think that her great love excuses acts of selfishness and immorality. Despite being drawn as a somewhat submissive personality, Jane manages to hold her own with quiet fortitude, never loudly asserting her intelligence or talent, but nonetheless displaying a strength of character that would put the Bellas and Noras of out time to shame.
Jane Eyre would never, as I have said above, be a bestseller if it had been written in our times. And that is a loss we must take upon ourselves. That we have put such prime value on lust and looks and power that we have forgotten to be real in our writing. There is a reason why millions of people the world over remember and revere a book written a hundred and fifty-odd years ago while the bestsellers of our times slip quickly and quietly from our memories. Jane Eyre is more than just a beautiful book about a love story that transcends all boundaries; it is a testament to the power of pure emotion, that can be felt through the ages and across all barriers of time and culture.
5. Four hundred-odd pages of purely descriptive writing
4. Overt religious themes and moral preaching
3. A plain-Jane heroine who stays plain. No makeovers to reveal a hitherto hidden prettiness that only needed an application of hydrogen peroxide and some eyebrow plucking to emerge full-blown.
2. The world is not well-lost for love. In the war between self-respect and grand passion, principles win hands down. Rousing, yet tender speeches do not make our heroine forsake her creed to fall swooning and submissive into her alpha's arms.
1. NO SEX!!!
When I was a little girl, I had a doll named Saloni. Now Saloni wasn't a particularly attractive specimen as dolls go, especially since, over the years, I had drilled a hole in her little rosebud mouth in order to 'feed' her, I had 'brushed' her hair till all the poor synthetic threads had fallen out and I had dragged her around with me so much, one of her big blue eyes had fallen off. But in my eyes, Saloni was the best doll ever created. She was my comfort, my mainstay in a world filled with confusing new things like school and daycare and other little people. Jane Eyre is my grown-up version of Saloni. Comfort food for my brain.
There are two authors I will read over and over and over again, until the day I die. One of them is Charlotte Bronte, the other one is Georgette Heyer. I have read Jane Eyre a million times, but I never tire of the story. Every time I reach the scene where she professes her love to Mr. Rochester, I come out in goosebumps. Every single time. Age and experience have taught me to spot the flaws in the story and the characters. The ineffable belief in English superiority. The condescending attitude towards servants and people of the lower class. The ill-treatment of mentally disabled people. The almost Quaker-ish sentiments of Jane Eyre. But all of this detracts not a whit from one of the greatest love stories ever told.
And there are a lot of things to admire in this book as well. Edward Rochester, ugly as sin, but powerful and dominant and unbelievably attractive in spite of his looks. A love that grows and strengthens on the basis of mutual sympathy, respect and a meeting of the minds, that a lot of our authors would do well to learn from. Jane Eyre, who does not think that her great love excuses acts of selfishness and immorality. Despite being drawn as a somewhat submissive personality, Jane manages to hold her own with quiet fortitude, never loudly asserting her intelligence or talent, but nonetheless displaying a strength of character that would put the Bellas and Noras of out time to shame.
Jane Eyre would never, as I have said above, be a bestseller if it had been written in our times. And that is a loss we must take upon ourselves. That we have put such prime value on lust and looks and power that we have forgotten to be real in our writing. There is a reason why millions of people the world over remember and revere a book written a hundred and fifty-odd years ago while the bestsellers of our times slip quickly and quietly from our memories. Jane Eyre is more than just a beautiful book about a love story that transcends all boundaries; it is a testament to the power of pure emotion, that can be felt through the ages and across all barriers of time and culture.
January 4, 2020
I feel like an ass saying this but... who actually thinks this is a cute romance!? What the actual f!!
Now that this is out of the way.
I did like Jane as a character and I also liked the portion of the book about her childhood but the two RoMaNcEs were train wrecks and if I hear anyone say they love M. Rochester I will forever judge you.
Pride and Prejudice > Jane Eyre
There I said it.
Now that this is out of the way.
I did like Jane as a character and I also liked the portion of the book about her childhood but the two RoMaNcEs were train wrecks and if I hear anyone say they love M. Rochester I will forever judge you.
Pride and Prejudice > Jane Eyre
There I said it.
January 16, 2021
Certainly one of the best novels ever written.
September 17, 2023
My friend told me this book is kinky and she isn鈥檛 wrong. This was much weirder and darker than I thought it was going to be. All the edgy contemporary lit girlies wish they were doing it like her.
January 7, 2025
The kind of novel that makes one believe in love (again) - or at least desire to hold on to the illusion.
Likely my favourite read for 2020.
For the time being, just basking and swooning.
Inebriated.
Speechless.
I know it's out of fashion
And a trifle uncool
But I can't help it
I'm a romantic fool
(Illustration by Louisa Albani)
"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!鈥�
Likely my favourite read for 2020.
For the time being, just basking and swooning.
Inebriated.
Speechless.
I know it's out of fashion
And a trifle uncool
But I can't help it
I'm a romantic fool
(Illustration by Louisa Albani)
"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!鈥�
April 30, 2024
If there is such a thing as the perfect book. For me 鈥楯ane Eyre鈥� would define it.
5 鉁� brooding, uncompromising, passionate, but tormenting stars, for my favourite book of all time. I love this book for the way it depicts the strength of the human spirit, the importance of being yourself, the rights of women, and the explicit yet beautiful way the story is told. Dramatic, uninhibited, and evocative.
Jane Eyre is best known or described as a 鈥榞othic love story鈥� but for me it is so much more. It is an emotional life story that contrasts the extremities of love and hate, where the principled and incorruptible mind battles the unscrupulous and most brutal of beasts and rules. Jane Eyre is an unapologetic feminist story, like no other. It is an emotional story where one woman鈥檚 soul was forever tormented by the people she tried to love and cursed by those who did not deserve to own nor judge her. However, the standout is the rawness in which the author expresses Jane鈥檚 feelings of love, hurt, and anguish, and the many themes it embraces particularly for its time.
A burning question is 鈥榳hy do I love this book so much?鈥� The storyline? the love story? the many themes it embraces? or is it Jane Eyre, the character I love the most? All will be revealed, but first the plot.
The Plot
The story begins with Jane, orphaned after the death of her parents and further isolated when her uncle dies leaving her in the hands of his heartless family. After an unpleasant and bloody exchange with her cousin, and then aunt, Jane is sent to Lowood. A charitable but educational institution.
It is at this point in the book that we get an early insight into the character of the 10-year-old Jane, her principles and unwavering determination to speak up for what is right and just, when she admonishes her aunt
鈥淚 am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed鈥�.. 鈥淗ow dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. 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鈥�. you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!鈥�.
Jane鈥檚 early battle with life鈥檚 cruel reality was to continue with the death of a beautiful and kind pupil Helen, but her resolve saw her through 8 years at Lowood at which point and now educated, she applies to Thornfield Hall for the position of governess. The home that is to become hers after falling in love with its master, Edward Rochester. Yet lady fate was to have her day again when Jane discovers in the most humiliating wedding scene that Rochester鈥檚 wife still lives, but insane.
After one of the most touching exchanges between these two very different lovers. The characters of Jane and Rochester are laid bare; their passions, principles, and virtues are exposed for us to savour and appraise. He a brooding and selfish man asks Jane to live on as his mistress, while Jane鈥檚 honour prevents her from embracing such an immoral life, which would be contrary to her principles. She wants more for herself, not driven by ambition but by virtue and the right to think and love freely.
Fleeing Thornfield Hall, Jane finds solace in the sequestered Moor home, with St John and his sisters. St John, a devoutly religious man also seeks Jane鈥檚 affections and help as a missionary, but not love. Once again we hear the painful and agonising words from Jane, that can only but leave an imprint on the mind and the heart of the reader鈥�
鈥淒o you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! 鈥� I have as much soul as you 鈥� and full as much heart鈥�
And yes, she does. Jane Eyre is one of the most fascinating characters in fictional history, and if you don鈥檛 love the book, you will at least love this character.
Review and Comments
This is my sixth time reading Jane Eyre (although twice at school) and every time I read it, I get something different from the story. However, this is the first time reviewing and the first time I have challenged myself to explaining why this story means so much to me, apart from it being the first classic book I ever fell in love with, which will always have its rightful place in my book history. No film adaption has done it justice and no words that I write can capture the beauty that lies within these pages. Of course, I can write words, so inspiring is this book, but cannot express how I truly feel with this book the way Charlotte Bronte can write with such rawness. I also need to restrict myself to covering the key themes and elements otherwise I would be writing a book about a book. So first up is the character development.
鈥楯ane Eyre鈥� sets the bar in character development and is one of the best I have ever read for this. There is nothing left to the imagination and the explicit way emotions and feelings are portrayed is remarkable, sentimental but also appropriate. The character traits of the two key male characters, Rochester and St John are evocative and ignite frustration and even slight anger in the reader. One man would turn his back on the laws of God and society for the love of the young Jane, whilst the other obsessive and devout has expectations of self-sacrifice for God, his own vanity and ambition.
Whilst different, both men possess the same unwavering sense of entitlement, and lack humility and understanding when they offer Jane a life contrary to her beliefs, honour, and feelings. St John says to her
鈥溾€� you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary鈥檚 wife you must鈥攕hall be. You shall be mine: I claim you鈥攏ot for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign鈥檚 service.鈥�
While Rochester鈥檚 disregard of what Jane represents is equally as distasteful, he does draw sympathy from the reader because there are displays of kindness towards others and his love for Jane is unquestionable if not selfish.
Religion and Class are constant themes through the novel. However when Jane meets St John, religion is central and crucial to the story and once again it is Jane鈥檚 response that was to ignite a wave of emotions in me
鈥淟aws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour鈥�
Feminism is one of the most important themes through the novel where the eponymous Jane tells her own story. If you consider the period in which this book was written; the content and storyline, the uninhibited expressions of love and anger as well as the uncensored view of feminism, then you can begin to appreciate just how incredibly provocative this book might have been for the times. On many occasions, Jane describes herself as someone鈥檚 鈥榚qual鈥� not to be caged in a social class nor defined by society鈥檚 expectation of the role of women. It is this freedom of expression, independence of mind, and moral commitment that consumed me so much in this story.
鈥淚 am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.鈥�
For its times, image how the male readers felt when reading this next quote. Fabulous鈥�.
It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: 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, to 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.
At this point I reveal that the reason I love this book so much is because of Jane Eyre鈥檚 character. It is the most extraordinary story about an ordinary young woman, although a heroine in my eyes. A woman guided by honour, influenced, and dedicated but not cosseted by religion. An independent woman who is highly principled and determined yet loving and generous, and passionate but not vindicative. A young woman who wants to live, love, and think freely, and in that lies the beauty of this book. How groundbreaking, daring, and courageous from the incredibly gifted Charlotte Bronte.
Second to that is the uninhibited depiction of the characters, their emotions, and the inner battles they must conquer in the face of temptation. All of this of course is brought to life with Bronte's perfectly chosen words, vivid descriptions and unbridled but elegant prose. There is such a rawness to the writing, although some would say overly dramatic but for me it is another beautiful and remarkable aspect to this book, because it works.
Jane Eyre is a book that is bold for the way it inspires feminism, courageous in the way it challenges the accepted norms of society and religion but is also respectful. There is beauty in the storytelling, sincerity in these righteous but flawed characters, and artistry in the way the themes have been woven into the story 鈥� an epic masterpiece in literature.
鈥淚 have for the first time found what I can truly love鈥擨 have found you. You are my sympathy鈥攎y better self鈥� my good angel.鈥� Says Rochester.
And my GR friends, I too have found (in books) what I truly love, and it is this timeless classic that is likely to remain as my #1 book of all time, for all time. In the dawn of a new year in books, what better way to have started my new reading year than with Jane Eyre, the principled, loving feminist, and her story.
_____________________________
I just finished 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys, a prequel or retelling of sorts that I would highly recommend for readers and lovers of Jane Eyre. It is an accompaniment to Jane Eyre and provides some context to the events leading up to and the marriage of Bertha to Rochester, which Jane Eyre does not explore in any depth. Haunting, vividly depicted and a lens on Bertha that is somewhat different to the image created by Rochester. Fabulous.
5 鉁� brooding, uncompromising, passionate, but tormenting stars, for my favourite book of all time. I love this book for the way it depicts the strength of the human spirit, the importance of being yourself, the rights of women, and the explicit yet beautiful way the story is told. Dramatic, uninhibited, and evocative.
Jane Eyre is best known or described as a 鈥榞othic love story鈥� but for me it is so much more. It is an emotional life story that contrasts the extremities of love and hate, where the principled and incorruptible mind battles the unscrupulous and most brutal of beasts and rules. Jane Eyre is an unapologetic feminist story, like no other. It is an emotional story where one woman鈥檚 soul was forever tormented by the people she tried to love and cursed by those who did not deserve to own nor judge her. However, the standout is the rawness in which the author expresses Jane鈥檚 feelings of love, hurt, and anguish, and the many themes it embraces particularly for its time.
A burning question is 鈥榳hy do I love this book so much?鈥� The storyline? the love story? the many themes it embraces? or is it Jane Eyre, the character I love the most? All will be revealed, but first the plot.
The Plot
The story begins with Jane, orphaned after the death of her parents and further isolated when her uncle dies leaving her in the hands of his heartless family. After an unpleasant and bloody exchange with her cousin, and then aunt, Jane is sent to Lowood. A charitable but educational institution.
It is at this point in the book that we get an early insight into the character of the 10-year-old Jane, her principles and unwavering determination to speak up for what is right and just, when she admonishes her aunt
鈥淚 am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed鈥�.. 鈥淗ow dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. 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鈥�. you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!鈥�.
Jane鈥檚 early battle with life鈥檚 cruel reality was to continue with the death of a beautiful and kind pupil Helen, but her resolve saw her through 8 years at Lowood at which point and now educated, she applies to Thornfield Hall for the position of governess. The home that is to become hers after falling in love with its master, Edward Rochester. Yet lady fate was to have her day again when Jane discovers in the most humiliating wedding scene that Rochester鈥檚 wife still lives, but insane.
After one of the most touching exchanges between these two very different lovers. The characters of Jane and Rochester are laid bare; their passions, principles, and virtues are exposed for us to savour and appraise. He a brooding and selfish man asks Jane to live on as his mistress, while Jane鈥檚 honour prevents her from embracing such an immoral life, which would be contrary to her principles. She wants more for herself, not driven by ambition but by virtue and the right to think and love freely.
Fleeing Thornfield Hall, Jane finds solace in the sequestered Moor home, with St John and his sisters. St John, a devoutly religious man also seeks Jane鈥檚 affections and help as a missionary, but not love. Once again we hear the painful and agonising words from Jane, that can only but leave an imprint on the mind and the heart of the reader鈥�
鈥淒o you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! 鈥� I have as much soul as you 鈥� and full as much heart鈥�
And yes, she does. Jane Eyre is one of the most fascinating characters in fictional history, and if you don鈥檛 love the book, you will at least love this character.
Review and Comments
This is my sixth time reading Jane Eyre (although twice at school) and every time I read it, I get something different from the story. However, this is the first time reviewing and the first time I have challenged myself to explaining why this story means so much to me, apart from it being the first classic book I ever fell in love with, which will always have its rightful place in my book history. No film adaption has done it justice and no words that I write can capture the beauty that lies within these pages. Of course, I can write words, so inspiring is this book, but cannot express how I truly feel with this book the way Charlotte Bronte can write with such rawness. I also need to restrict myself to covering the key themes and elements otherwise I would be writing a book about a book. So first up is the character development.
鈥楯ane Eyre鈥� sets the bar in character development and is one of the best I have ever read for this. There is nothing left to the imagination and the explicit way emotions and feelings are portrayed is remarkable, sentimental but also appropriate. The character traits of the two key male characters, Rochester and St John are evocative and ignite frustration and even slight anger in the reader. One man would turn his back on the laws of God and society for the love of the young Jane, whilst the other obsessive and devout has expectations of self-sacrifice for God, his own vanity and ambition.
Whilst different, both men possess the same unwavering sense of entitlement, and lack humility and understanding when they offer Jane a life contrary to her beliefs, honour, and feelings. St John says to her
鈥溾€� you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary鈥檚 wife you must鈥攕hall be. You shall be mine: I claim you鈥攏ot for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign鈥檚 service.鈥�
While Rochester鈥檚 disregard of what Jane represents is equally as distasteful, he does draw sympathy from the reader because there are displays of kindness towards others and his love for Jane is unquestionable if not selfish.
Religion and Class are constant themes through the novel. However when Jane meets St John, religion is central and crucial to the story and once again it is Jane鈥檚 response that was to ignite a wave of emotions in me
鈥淟aws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour鈥�
Feminism is one of the most important themes through the novel where the eponymous Jane tells her own story. If you consider the period in which this book was written; the content and storyline, the uninhibited expressions of love and anger as well as the uncensored view of feminism, then you can begin to appreciate just how incredibly provocative this book might have been for the times. On many occasions, Jane describes herself as someone鈥檚 鈥榚qual鈥� not to be caged in a social class nor defined by society鈥檚 expectation of the role of women. It is this freedom of expression, independence of mind, and moral commitment that consumed me so much in this story.
鈥淚 am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.鈥�
For its times, image how the male readers felt when reading this next quote. Fabulous鈥�.
It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: 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, to 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.
At this point I reveal that the reason I love this book so much is because of Jane Eyre鈥檚 character. It is the most extraordinary story about an ordinary young woman, although a heroine in my eyes. A woman guided by honour, influenced, and dedicated but not cosseted by religion. An independent woman who is highly principled and determined yet loving and generous, and passionate but not vindicative. A young woman who wants to live, love, and think freely, and in that lies the beauty of this book. How groundbreaking, daring, and courageous from the incredibly gifted Charlotte Bronte.
Second to that is the uninhibited depiction of the characters, their emotions, and the inner battles they must conquer in the face of temptation. All of this of course is brought to life with Bronte's perfectly chosen words, vivid descriptions and unbridled but elegant prose. There is such a rawness to the writing, although some would say overly dramatic but for me it is another beautiful and remarkable aspect to this book, because it works.
Jane Eyre is a book that is bold for the way it inspires feminism, courageous in the way it challenges the accepted norms of society and religion but is also respectful. There is beauty in the storytelling, sincerity in these righteous but flawed characters, and artistry in the way the themes have been woven into the story 鈥� an epic masterpiece in literature.
鈥淚 have for the first time found what I can truly love鈥擨 have found you. You are my sympathy鈥攎y better self鈥� my good angel.鈥� Says Rochester.
And my GR friends, I too have found (in books) what I truly love, and it is this timeless classic that is likely to remain as my #1 book of all time, for all time. In the dawn of a new year in books, what better way to have started my new reading year than with Jane Eyre, the principled, loving feminist, and her story.
_____________________________
I just finished 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys, a prequel or retelling of sorts that I would highly recommend for readers and lovers of Jane Eyre. It is an accompaniment to Jane Eyre and provides some context to the events leading up to and the marriage of Bertha to Rochester, which Jane Eyre does not explore in any depth. Haunting, vividly depicted and a lens on Bertha that is somewhat different to the image created by Rochester. Fabulous.
April 29, 2020
mr. rochester walked so every other tall, dark, handsome, and broody male character could run. and thats the that on that.
i really dont have much else to add that hasnt already been said about this book, considering its been around for 150+ years. but i will admit how impressed i am with how modern this story feels. i think thats a key factor in why i enjoyed this so much - because it doesnt feel like a classic to me.
not only is the writing very accessible and incredibly easy to read, which i dont find to the case for most books written during this time period, but the dialogue between characters is very forward thinking. the conversations between jane and mr rochester are very much similar to conversations that are happening today. i really admire how bronte incorporates feminist ideals into this story. and i honestly didnt expect the low-key thriller vibes present in some parts, so that was fun.
overall, this is a great story. 10/10 would recommend.
鈫� 4.5 stars
i really dont have much else to add that hasnt already been said about this book, considering its been around for 150+ years. but i will admit how impressed i am with how modern this story feels. i think thats a key factor in why i enjoyed this so much - because it doesnt feel like a classic to me.
not only is the writing very accessible and incredibly easy to read, which i dont find to the case for most books written during this time period, but the dialogue between characters is very forward thinking. the conversations between jane and mr rochester are very much similar to conversations that are happening today. i really admire how bronte incorporates feminist ideals into this story. and i honestly didnt expect the low-key thriller vibes present in some parts, so that was fun.
overall, this is a great story. 10/10 would recommend.
鈫� 4.5 stars
May 27, 2020
Child neglect, near death, a dash of magical realism, the power of love, the powerlessness of the poor, sexual rivalry, mystery, madness and more. It is as powerful as ever - but is it really a love story, given Rochester's Svengali-tendencies, or is it a life story? His downfall and her inheritance make them more equal, but is it really love on his part? I'm not sure, which is what makes it such a good book (just not necessarily a love story). I also like the tension between it being very Victorian in some obvious ways, and yet controversially modern in others: an immoral hero, a fiercely independent and assertive heroine, and some very unpleasant Christians (it's not that I think Christians are bad or like seeing them portrayed in a nasty way - it's Bronte's courage in writing such characters I admire).
Childhood
About the first quarter of the book concerns the tremendous hardship and abuse that Jane suffers growing up. It's often heavily cut from film, TV and stage adaptations, but despite the fluff about this being a great love story, I think there is merit in paying attention to her formative years as an essential element of explaining what makes Jane the person she becomes.
The Red Room, where young Jane is banished shortly before being sent to Lowood, is a very short episode in the book, but its significance is probably greater than its brevity implies. The trauma of the Red Room is not just because Mr Reed died there, but because of the associations of red = blood = death, compounded by cold, silence, blinds that are always closed and a bed like a sacrificial altar. Is it also some sort of reference to Bertha's attic?
Jane endures dreadful hardships: she is orphaned; her aunt says she is "less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep" and invokes the wrath of God who "might strike her dead in the midst of one of her tantrums"; she endures injustice as she strives to be good, but is always condemned, while the faults of her cousins are indulged or ignored. So, she is sent to Lowood, where she sees the hypocritical tyranny of Brocklehurst, survives cold and near starvation and witnesses her best friend's death. Nevertheless, "I would not have exchanged Lowood with all its privations for Gateshead and its daily luxuries." There is a dreadful irony in the fact that the first time a relative demonstrates any interest in her (John Eyre), it seems to ruin everything.
Villains and Christianity
Who is the worst villain: John Reed, Aunt Reed, Mr Brocklehurst, Blanche Ingram, St John Rivers or even Rochester?
Christianity gets a very mixed press in the book: Mr Brocklehurst is cruel and comically hypocritical (curly hair is evil vanity in poor girls, who "must not conform to nature", but fine for his pampered daughters); St John Rivers thinks his devoutness selfless, but is actually cold and selfish (his motive being to gain glory in Heaven for himself); Helen Burns is a redemptive Christ figure who accepts her punishments as deserved, helps Jane tame herself ("Helen had calmed me") and, of course, dies.
Jane's own beliefs (or lack) are always somewhat vague (though she's very moral) and controversially feisty. When, as a small girl, the nasty Brocklehurst asks her what she should do to avoid going to Hell, she replies, "I must keep in good health, and not die"!
Aspects the way Christianity is portrayed may make it more accessible to modern readers from more secular backgrounds, but might have been shocking to devout Victorians. Perhaps they were placated by the fact that despite the cruelty, Jane forgives Aunt Reed for trying to improve her errant niece, even though "it was in her nature to wound me cruelly".
Male Power, Feminism, and Relevance Today
Men had most of the power and respect in Bronte's time and often Jane has to go along with that. However, Bronte does subvert that to some extent by making Jane so assertive, determined and independent.
The story of Jane Eyre has parallels with the story of Bluebeard, albeit with a very different ending, in which the woman takes charge of her own destiny. Bluebeard was well-known in Victorian fables as a rich and swarthy man who locked discarded wives in an attic (though he killed them first). He took a new young wife and when she discovered her predecessors, he was about to kill her, but she was rescued by her brothers, rather as Mason wants to rescue Bertha. Jane even likens an attic corridor to one in "some Bluebeard's castle", so Bronte clearly knew the story and assumed he readers did too. See .
Despite her minimal contact with men, right from the outset Jane instinctively knows how to respond to the man she describes as "changeful and abrupt". When they first meet in the house and he is quizzing her, she consciously mirrors his tone ("I, speaking as seriously as he had done") and "His changes of mood did not offend me because I saw I had nothing to do with their alteration". Like many bullies, he enjoys a bit of a fight, rather than the nervous, prompt and unquestioning obedience his manner normally elicits, and Jane isn't afraid to answer him back and speak her mind. It isn't long before she can say "I knew the pleasure of vexing him and soothing him by turns". When Blanche arrives, Jane realises "he had not given her his love" and that "she could not charm him" (as she could). At this point, she realises her self-delusions in overlooking his faults and merely considering them as "keen condiments".
What should modern women make of this book? Bronte is radical in that neither Jane nor Rochester is conventionally attractive (it is personality that matters) and Jane is fiercely independent and assertive, even when she gives the impression of being submissive. She even says, "Women are supposed to feel 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... precisely as men would suffer." On the other hand, Rochester's treatment of Jane, Bertha, Blanche and C茅line is hard to justify (other than the fact he keeps Bertha alive - why not kill her?). Does disappointment and disability truly changed him, and does that, coupled with her independent wealth make them equals? Will they live happily ever after?
Rochester
What were Rochester's plans and motives for his relationship with Jane? Why does he insist that Jane appears in the drawing room every evening while Blanche and friends are staying, even though he fully understands and comments on how depressed it makes Jane? And would Rochester have married Blanche if Mason hadn't turned up, making a big society wedding impossible? If so, was Jane always in his mind as a mistress and backup in case marriage to Blanche was not possible, or did he only decide to marry her much later? What sort of basis for a happy marriage is that, and can the equalising effect of his later disability and her inheritance really conquer it? It's true that Rochester tells Jane "I feigned courtship of Miss Ingram, because I wished to render you as madly in love with me as I was with you", but that is after Mason's visit, so is it true?
Rochester's treatment of Bertha is even more problematic: divorce wasn't viable, and yet he didn't want to leave her behind in the Caribbean... very odd. In a funny sort of way, he might have felt he was doing the right thing by her, or at least, not the wrong thing.
In a society which condemns divorce and cohabitation, is Rochester's planned bigamy justifiable? As Rochester hints to Jane early on, "Unheard-of combinations of circumstances demand unheard-of rules". He also knows that Jane's integrity means she must be unaware of the details if he is to be with her (he says that if he asked her to do something bad, she would say "no sir... I cannot do it, because it is wrong"), though in fact there is a bigger tussle between her head and heart than he might have expected. Later, he ponders the fact that she is alone in the world as being some sort of justification, "It will atone" and extends to the more blasphemous and deluded "I know my Maker sanctions what I do. For the world's judgement - I wash my hands thereof."
St John
Jane's bond with St John is very different, and she realise it, "I daily wished more to please him; but to do so, I felt daily more and more that I must disown half my nature". His proposal is positively alarming, "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"! Under the guise of serving God and man, he is irredeemably self-serving.
Magic Realism?
The strangest element is the small but hugely significant ethereal message from Rochester that might now be called magical realism. It sits oddly with the rest of the book, but I can never decide whether this is it a strength or a weakness.
Who Knows What?
A constant theme is "who knows what?". Is Aunt Reed ignorant of how awful Lowood is and has she truly convinced herself that her treatment of Jane is appropriate? How much does Mrs Fairfax know (and tell) about Rochester's wives, current and intended? Does Rochester know whether or not Adele is really his daughter, and what does Jane believe? Blanche appears to know very little, but is she only seeing what she wants to see?
Love?
Overall, there is so much in this book, it is well worth rereading, but I am not convinced that it is a love story. It is the easiest label to apply, and although Jane certainly finds love, I am not sure that love finds her. They're intellectually well-matched, and the sparring and physical attraction bode well. On the other hand, my doubts about his motivations when he was juggling Blanche and Jane make me uneasy.
Incidentally, I first read this book at school (a naive mid-teen enjoys and appreciates it for very different reasons than an adult). One day, we were at a point when Jane was with the Rivers and possibly being courted by St John. We were told to read to page x for homework, so I turned to that page to mark it and saw the famous words (not that I knew they were), "Reader, I married him" and was shocked to assume it referred to St John.
Jane's Place in My Life
There are many reasons I love this book, including - but not limited to:
1. The clich茅 of first reading this at an impressionable age (15).
2. Coming with no preconceptions, other than knowing it was a classic - so I had a couple of big surprises in the plot.
3. Being at a boarding school myself at the time - though fortunately not (much) like Lowood.
4. Questioning my faith and the role of religion - then and since.
5. Questioning the roles and rights of women - then and since.
6. Jane, herself. That's a major one.
7. The fact the book is daringly subversive for its time (most of the Christians are bad, and Jane is fiercely outspoken and independent - most of the time).
8. I get something new from it each time.
Like many, I first read this at school. I was captivated from the outset. Jane was wild, and brave, and rebellious - all things we weren't supposed to be, and yet we had to read and write about her. I vaguely knew about the wedding scene, but everything about her time with the Rivers was new and unexpected. For all that I had doubts about Rochester, I felt (in a naive, teenage way) I shared a passion for him. When I thought Jane would end up with St John, I was devastated. The actual ending was a happy relief - all the more so because it had been unexpected.
I thought I understood the book, and got good marks for essays about it (apart from the injustice of being deducted marks for a comment a teacher refused to believe I hadn't copied from Brodie's Notes - a study guide I'd only ever heard of!).
But like all great works of art, it speaks differently on each encounter, and the more I've read it, aided by a bit of maturity along the way, and now discussions with GR friends, the more I've seen in it.
So no, this not a love story - on the pages. But there is a love story: between the reader and Jane.
Prequel
I finally read Jean Rhys' prequel "Wide Sargasso Sea", reviewed here:
2011 Film
I was disappointed with the . Mia Waskikowska was good as Jane, and it looked right, but Fassbender as Rochester was awful. He didn't brood enough for my liking, but what I think is less excusable is that he didn't really change during the course of the story. Just as bad, Jamie Bell was too nice to be St John. In fact the whole episode at the Rivers' was very poorly done. Overall, it removed all ambiguity, making a complex story of truth and lies, divided loyalty and mixed emotions boringly straightforward.
Childhood
About the first quarter of the book concerns the tremendous hardship and abuse that Jane suffers growing up. It's often heavily cut from film, TV and stage adaptations, but despite the fluff about this being a great love story, I think there is merit in paying attention to her formative years as an essential element of explaining what makes Jane the person she becomes.
The Red Room, where young Jane is banished shortly before being sent to Lowood, is a very short episode in the book, but its significance is probably greater than its brevity implies. The trauma of the Red Room is not just because Mr Reed died there, but because of the associations of red = blood = death, compounded by cold, silence, blinds that are always closed and a bed like a sacrificial altar. Is it also some sort of reference to Bertha's attic?
Jane endures dreadful hardships: she is orphaned; her aunt says she is "less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep" and invokes the wrath of God who "might strike her dead in the midst of one of her tantrums"; she endures injustice as she strives to be good, but is always condemned, while the faults of her cousins are indulged or ignored. So, she is sent to Lowood, where she sees the hypocritical tyranny of Brocklehurst, survives cold and near starvation and witnesses her best friend's death. Nevertheless, "I would not have exchanged Lowood with all its privations for Gateshead and its daily luxuries." There is a dreadful irony in the fact that the first time a relative demonstrates any interest in her (John Eyre), it seems to ruin everything.
Villains and Christianity
Who is the worst villain: John Reed, Aunt Reed, Mr Brocklehurst, Blanche Ingram, St John Rivers or even Rochester?
Christianity gets a very mixed press in the book: Mr Brocklehurst is cruel and comically hypocritical (curly hair is evil vanity in poor girls, who "must not conform to nature", but fine for his pampered daughters); St John Rivers thinks his devoutness selfless, but is actually cold and selfish (his motive being to gain glory in Heaven for himself); Helen Burns is a redemptive Christ figure who accepts her punishments as deserved, helps Jane tame herself ("Helen had calmed me") and, of course, dies.
Jane's own beliefs (or lack) are always somewhat vague (though she's very moral) and controversially feisty. When, as a small girl, the nasty Brocklehurst asks her what she should do to avoid going to Hell, she replies, "I must keep in good health, and not die"!
Aspects the way Christianity is portrayed may make it more accessible to modern readers from more secular backgrounds, but might have been shocking to devout Victorians. Perhaps they were placated by the fact that despite the cruelty, Jane forgives Aunt Reed for trying to improve her errant niece, even though "it was in her nature to wound me cruelly".
Male Power, Feminism, and Relevance Today
Men had most of the power and respect in Bronte's time and often Jane has to go along with that. However, Bronte does subvert that to some extent by making Jane so assertive, determined and independent.
The story of Jane Eyre has parallels with the story of Bluebeard, albeit with a very different ending, in which the woman takes charge of her own destiny. Bluebeard was well-known in Victorian fables as a rich and swarthy man who locked discarded wives in an attic (though he killed them first). He took a new young wife and when she discovered her predecessors, he was about to kill her, but she was rescued by her brothers, rather as Mason wants to rescue Bertha. Jane even likens an attic corridor to one in "some Bluebeard's castle", so Bronte clearly knew the story and assumed he readers did too. See .
Despite her minimal contact with men, right from the outset Jane instinctively knows how to respond to the man she describes as "changeful and abrupt". When they first meet in the house and he is quizzing her, she consciously mirrors his tone ("I, speaking as seriously as he had done") and "His changes of mood did not offend me because I saw I had nothing to do with their alteration". Like many bullies, he enjoys a bit of a fight, rather than the nervous, prompt and unquestioning obedience his manner normally elicits, and Jane isn't afraid to answer him back and speak her mind. It isn't long before she can say "I knew the pleasure of vexing him and soothing him by turns". When Blanche arrives, Jane realises "he had not given her his love" and that "she could not charm him" (as she could). At this point, she realises her self-delusions in overlooking his faults and merely considering them as "keen condiments".
What should modern women make of this book? Bronte is radical in that neither Jane nor Rochester is conventionally attractive (it is personality that matters) and Jane is fiercely independent and assertive, even when she gives the impression of being submissive. She even says, "Women are supposed to feel 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... precisely as men would suffer." On the other hand, Rochester's treatment of Jane, Bertha, Blanche and C茅line is hard to justify (other than the fact he keeps Bertha alive - why not kill her?). Does disappointment and disability truly changed him, and does that, coupled with her independent wealth make them equals? Will they live happily ever after?
Rochester
What were Rochester's plans and motives for his relationship with Jane? Why does he insist that Jane appears in the drawing room every evening while Blanche and friends are staying, even though he fully understands and comments on how depressed it makes Jane? And would Rochester have married Blanche if Mason hadn't turned up, making a big society wedding impossible? If so, was Jane always in his mind as a mistress and backup in case marriage to Blanche was not possible, or did he only decide to marry her much later? What sort of basis for a happy marriage is that, and can the equalising effect of his later disability and her inheritance really conquer it? It's true that Rochester tells Jane "I feigned courtship of Miss Ingram, because I wished to render you as madly in love with me as I was with you", but that is after Mason's visit, so is it true?
Rochester's treatment of Bertha is even more problematic: divorce wasn't viable, and yet he didn't want to leave her behind in the Caribbean... very odd. In a funny sort of way, he might have felt he was doing the right thing by her, or at least, not the wrong thing.
In a society which condemns divorce and cohabitation, is Rochester's planned bigamy justifiable? As Rochester hints to Jane early on, "Unheard-of combinations of circumstances demand unheard-of rules". He also knows that Jane's integrity means she must be unaware of the details if he is to be with her (he says that if he asked her to do something bad, she would say "no sir... I cannot do it, because it is wrong"), though in fact there is a bigger tussle between her head and heart than he might have expected. Later, he ponders the fact that she is alone in the world as being some sort of justification, "It will atone" and extends to the more blasphemous and deluded "I know my Maker sanctions what I do. For the world's judgement - I wash my hands thereof."
St John
Jane's bond with St John is very different, and she realise it, "I daily wished more to please him; but to do so, I felt daily more and more that I must disown half my nature". His proposal is positively alarming, "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"! Under the guise of serving God and man, he is irredeemably self-serving.
Magic Realism?
The strangest element is the small but hugely significant ethereal message from Rochester that might now be called magical realism. It sits oddly with the rest of the book, but I can never decide whether this is it a strength or a weakness.
Who Knows What?
A constant theme is "who knows what?". Is Aunt Reed ignorant of how awful Lowood is and has she truly convinced herself that her treatment of Jane is appropriate? How much does Mrs Fairfax know (and tell) about Rochester's wives, current and intended? Does Rochester know whether or not Adele is really his daughter, and what does Jane believe? Blanche appears to know very little, but is she only seeing what she wants to see?
Love?
Overall, there is so much in this book, it is well worth rereading, but I am not convinced that it is a love story. It is the easiest label to apply, and although Jane certainly finds love, I am not sure that love finds her. They're intellectually well-matched, and the sparring and physical attraction bode well. On the other hand, my doubts about his motivations when he was juggling Blanche and Jane make me uneasy.
Incidentally, I first read this book at school (a naive mid-teen enjoys and appreciates it for very different reasons than an adult). One day, we were at a point when Jane was with the Rivers and possibly being courted by St John. We were told to read to page x for homework, so I turned to that page to mark it and saw the famous words (not that I knew they were), "Reader, I married him" and was shocked to assume it referred to St John.
Jane's Place in My Life
There are many reasons I love this book, including - but not limited to:
1. The clich茅 of first reading this at an impressionable age (15).
2. Coming with no preconceptions, other than knowing it was a classic - so I had a couple of big surprises in the plot.
3. Being at a boarding school myself at the time - though fortunately not (much) like Lowood.
4. Questioning my faith and the role of religion - then and since.
5. Questioning the roles and rights of women - then and since.
6. Jane, herself. That's a major one.
7. The fact the book is daringly subversive for its time (most of the Christians are bad, and Jane is fiercely outspoken and independent - most of the time).
8. I get something new from it each time.
Like many, I first read this at school. I was captivated from the outset. Jane was wild, and brave, and rebellious - all things we weren't supposed to be, and yet we had to read and write about her. I vaguely knew about the wedding scene, but everything about her time with the Rivers was new and unexpected. For all that I had doubts about Rochester, I felt (in a naive, teenage way) I shared a passion for him. When I thought Jane would end up with St John, I was devastated. The actual ending was a happy relief - all the more so because it had been unexpected.
I thought I understood the book, and got good marks for essays about it (apart from the injustice of being deducted marks for a comment a teacher refused to believe I hadn't copied from Brodie's Notes - a study guide I'd only ever heard of!).
But like all great works of art, it speaks differently on each encounter, and the more I've read it, aided by a bit of maturity along the way, and now discussions with GR friends, the more I've seen in it.
So no, this not a love story - on the pages. But there is a love story: between the reader and Jane.
Prequel
I finally read Jean Rhys' prequel "Wide Sargasso Sea", reviewed here:
2011 Film
I was disappointed with the . Mia Waskikowska was good as Jane, and it looked right, but Fassbender as Rochester was awful. He didn't brood enough for my liking, but what I think is less excusable is that he didn't really change during the course of the story. Just as bad, Jamie Bell was too nice to be St John. In fact the whole episode at the Rivers' was very poorly done. Overall, it removed all ambiguity, making a complex story of truth and lies, divided loyalty and mixed emotions boringly straightforward.
February 12, 2013
Reader, gaze upon my tortured physiognomy and answer me one question that I shall pose to thee in the languid torpor of the drooping, sinister twilight of my soul, one which surely reveals more of my own humble, Quakerish origins, unappealing countenance and begs you as my interlocutrice to satisfy my curiosity: why?
I can understand intellectually why this book would have been important when it was written and how its pivotal place in the history of the novel has shaped modern literature &c. but holy GOD it is like reading 507 pages of needlepoint. In which precious little happens except that you start to realize that editing must be a fairly young profession and that perhaps if you really hated your English students you could pick out one of the sentences that is roughly the same length as the Gettysburg Address and make them diagram it? For reals, you'd get these honking paragraphs that would start, "There was..." and then if you were diagramming you'd have a frightfully kudzu-covered six-story scaffold of indirect objects and modifiers trailing behind it.
What is it about Jane Eyre that seems to be an educated female rite of passage? I was somewhat looking forward to this book as it's an example of a strong woman who knows herself, but no. She's basically being ping-ponged between a couple of over-verbose dweebs who both have frightfully controlling tendencies and her only hope of independence is getting a windfall through the mother of all deus ex machina.
Ladies: Jane is holding you back.
Protip: if a guy twice your age who freely admits his proclivity for continental floozies, gruffly dismisses his own possible child except to underpay staff to deal with her, is intense and flies into passions, makes you mop up after and keep silent about assaults in your home and then fails to mention until you're at the altar that oh, he's married and the psycho who tried to kill you in your bed is actually his WIFE, you get gone and stay gone.
Seriously, if I wanted to read about a teenager who spent half her time complaining about her looks and then dithering around about whether to go with the dark brooding intense hottie or the fair,marble-faced Greek god, I would go read Twilight.
I can understand intellectually why this book would have been important when it was written and how its pivotal place in the history of the novel has shaped modern literature &c. but holy GOD it is like reading 507 pages of needlepoint. In which precious little happens except that you start to realize that editing must be a fairly young profession and that perhaps if you really hated your English students you could pick out one of the sentences that is roughly the same length as the Gettysburg Address and make them diagram it? For reals, you'd get these honking paragraphs that would start, "There was..." and then if you were diagramming you'd have a frightfully kudzu-covered six-story scaffold of indirect objects and modifiers trailing behind it.
What is it about Jane Eyre that seems to be an educated female rite of passage? I was somewhat looking forward to this book as it's an example of a strong woman who knows herself, but no. She's basically being ping-ponged between a couple of over-verbose dweebs who both have frightfully controlling tendencies and her only hope of independence is getting a windfall through the mother of all deus ex machina.
Ladies: Jane is holding you back.
Protip: if a guy twice your age who freely admits his proclivity for continental floozies, gruffly dismisses his own possible child except to underpay staff to deal with her, is intense and flies into passions, makes you mop up after and keep silent about assaults in your home and then fails to mention until you're at the altar that oh, he's married and the psycho who tried to kill you in your bed is actually his WIFE, you get gone and stay gone.
Seriously, if I wanted to read about a teenager who spent half her time complaining about her looks and then dithering around about whether to go with the dark brooding intense hottie or the fair,marble-faced Greek god, I would go read Twilight.
September 2, 2017
I read this book back in High School. I hated it. I thought it was boring and stupid and all I wanted to do was spread the word that this book was terrible and no one should read it. I had it marked one star on 欧宝娱乐 and it had a home on my least favorite shelf.
Well, I have been waiting years to find the perfect place to use this gif:
I reread in late August, early September 2017. I have to say that I should probably reread everything I read bank in High School to get a better perspective.
I enjoyed the book quite a bit this time. The story in intricate and dark. Jane Eyre is a tragic hero who does her best through the whole book but keeps encountering unfortunate situation after unfortunate situation. The story held my interest a lot more than some other classic novels I have read.
My only complaint was a few times certain plot points were belabored. I found myself saying, "Okay, I get it, let's move on."
So, everyone, if you remember a book from your youth with less than enthusiastic fondness, it might be worth giving it another shot. You never know what you might find!
Well, I have been waiting years to find the perfect place to use this gif:
I reread in late August, early September 2017. I have to say that I should probably reread everything I read bank in High School to get a better perspective.
I enjoyed the book quite a bit this time. The story in intricate and dark. Jane Eyre is a tragic hero who does her best through the whole book but keeps encountering unfortunate situation after unfortunate situation. The story held my interest a lot more than some other classic novels I have read.
My only complaint was a few times certain plot points were belabored. I found myself saying, "Okay, I get it, let's move on."
So, everyone, if you remember a book from your youth with less than enthusiastic fondness, it might be worth giving it another shot. You never know what you might find!
September 20, 2022
2019: 5/5
2022: 5/5
Nie istniej膮 s艂owa, kt贸re mog膮 wyrazi膰 to jak bardzo uwielbiam t臋 ksi膮偶k臋.
2022: 5/5
Nie istniej膮 s艂owa, kt贸re mog膮 wyrazi膰 to jak bardzo uwielbiam t臋 ksi膮偶k臋.
February 8, 2019
For years I've been saying that Jane Eyre is my favorite novel of all time--
and that it is. The character of Jane is, to me, one of the most admirable and appealing fictional characters of all time. Poor and plain she may be, but her spirit is indomitable.
In an era when women were expected to be brainless and ornamental, Jane (through the words of Charlotte Bronte) refused to bow to those expectations
and that it is. The character of Jane is, to me, one of the most admirable and appealing fictional characters of all time. Poor and plain she may be, but her spirit is indomitable.
In an era when women were expected to be brainless and ornamental, Jane (through the words of Charlotte Bronte) refused to bow to those expectations
February 22, 2008
SPOILER ALERT. YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU PLAN ON READING JANE EYRE.
I read Jane Eyre for the first time as an adult and I can't help but feel sorry for every junior high or high school student who was forced to read this book.
I thought getting through this book was very difficult. I assumed I would love it since I generally love books by Jane Austen, but I didn't find many similarities at all. Jane Eyre was boring and unbelievable. I did enjoy the first half of the book because I had such hope for her, but then it just became dull and unrealistic. I never bought the romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester, nor did I buy the coincidence of her happening to arrive on the doorstep of the only relations she has in all of England during her time of need. I also find it strange that she dedicates the last paragraphs of the book primarily to St. John Rivers, when he was such a small part of her life, not to mention the fact that the part he did play was primarily negative.
Bronte failed to draw me into the lives of these characters or like them, frankly, which made this a very long read for me.
I read Jane Eyre for the first time as an adult and I can't help but feel sorry for every junior high or high school student who was forced to read this book.
I thought getting through this book was very difficult. I assumed I would love it since I generally love books by Jane Austen, but I didn't find many similarities at all. Jane Eyre was boring and unbelievable. I did enjoy the first half of the book because I had such hope for her, but then it just became dull and unrealistic. I never bought the romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester, nor did I buy the coincidence of her happening to arrive on the doorstep of the only relations she has in all of England during her time of need. I also find it strange that she dedicates the last paragraphs of the book primarily to St. John Rivers, when he was such a small part of her life, not to mention the fact that the part he did play was primarily negative.
Bronte failed to draw me into the lives of these characters or like them, frankly, which made this a very long read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2018
The Brontes fuelled my love for reading and convinced me that the classics weren't all mean, nasty books that fascist teachers made you read in school just to torture you. I grew up with Austen and Dickens, whom I loved, but the Brontes always seemed to come out on top for some reason. Jane Eyre is my second favourite after Wuthering Heights. I love the darkness and sadness of their novels, but the more... quiet style than you'd find in Dickens's wild tales of orphans, drunks and epic family betrayals.
January 25, 2020
Whew! I finished this one this morning, and I'm glad I finally read it. I can't say, however, that I enjoyed it, would recommend it, or will ever read it again.
Not in this lifetime, anyway.
For starters, I didn't like Jane. Yeah, when she was a kid I felt sorry for her, but the older she got the less I liked her. Her religious convictions and the decisions she made because of them had Bertha looking like the picture of sanity by comparison. Speaking of, why in the world did she wander off in the middle of the night with no money?
What did she think would happen? Was manna supposed to drop out of heaven?
And I don't buy that an educated, sensible woman would just run off into the night without taking enough with her to make sure she could survive. An idiot would have better sense than that.
But by the end of the story, I was almost wishing she had wandered off after St John and contracted some disease. The fact that she didn't totally realize what an awful freak St John was nailed the lid on her coffin to me. Even at the very end of the book, she kept talking about all of the great works he was doing for God.
Seriously?
He was an ass, and I would have told him to give me my five thousand pounds back!
At least Bronte had the sense to kill him off at the end. Well, maybe he wasn't quite dead yet, but he was on his way to meet his maker. Ugh.
I also thought it was more than just a teeny bit fishy that she ended up on the doorstep of the only family she had in the entire world.
Exactly how likely is that? Not very.
Then there is the man himself, Mr. Rochester. He wasn't anything to write home about for sure. Let's start with the obvious, shall we? He was cold, condescending, secretive. Wow.
Oh yeah, and he was ugly to boot. Yum.
Can anything else be said about him to make him more of a catch? I know! Just in case, let's have him keep a drooling homicidal wife hidden away in the attic!
Personally, I think Bronte had covered all the bases at this point.
Did he honestly not see anything wrong with letting her marry him while he had that crazy bat of a wife locked upstairs? If he had just told her the situation to start with, I might have liked him a little better.
Nah. Probably not. I never actually figured out what she saw in him. My best guess ended up being low self-esteem coupled with a bad childhood.
The 'gothic mystery' part of the plot ended in the middle of the book, and shortly thereafter ended anything remotely interesting. Say what you will about Looney Bertha, but at least she pumped some life into the story.
And wasn't it just awesome that Bertha burned the house to the ground and then leaped to her death? Nice exit big girl! I gotta say, she was by far my favorite. Lest we forget, she also managed to mangle Rochester's good looks even more before she bowed out. Now Jane's man looks like a one-eyed, one-armed, flying purple people eater. Of course, she doesn't mind, because now she feels she can be of use to him.
Jane, I can tell we will never see eye-to-eye on things, so I'll just let it go. Our friendship was never meant to be. For some, you will forever remain the stoic heroine who finally gets her Happily Ever After. For me, you are just a ninny with bad taste in men. As Adele would say, Adieu.
Reader, this review is over.
Not in this lifetime, anyway.
For starters, I didn't like Jane. Yeah, when she was a kid I felt sorry for her, but the older she got the less I liked her. Her religious convictions and the decisions she made because of them had Bertha looking like the picture of sanity by comparison. Speaking of, why in the world did she wander off in the middle of the night with no money?
What did she think would happen? Was manna supposed to drop out of heaven?
And I don't buy that an educated, sensible woman would just run off into the night without taking enough with her to make sure she could survive. An idiot would have better sense than that.
But by the end of the story, I was almost wishing she had wandered off after St John and contracted some disease. The fact that she didn't totally realize what an awful freak St John was nailed the lid on her coffin to me. Even at the very end of the book, she kept talking about all of the great works he was doing for God.
Seriously?
He was an ass, and I would have told him to give me my five thousand pounds back!
At least Bronte had the sense to kill him off at the end. Well, maybe he wasn't quite dead yet, but he was on his way to meet his maker. Ugh.
I also thought it was more than just a teeny bit fishy that she ended up on the doorstep of the only family she had in the entire world.
Exactly how likely is that? Not very.
Then there is the man himself, Mr. Rochester. He wasn't anything to write home about for sure. Let's start with the obvious, shall we? He was cold, condescending, secretive. Wow.
Oh yeah, and he was ugly to boot. Yum.
Can anything else be said about him to make him more of a catch? I know! Just in case, let's have him keep a drooling homicidal wife hidden away in the attic!
Personally, I think Bronte had covered all the bases at this point.
Did he honestly not see anything wrong with letting her marry him while he had that crazy bat of a wife locked upstairs? If he had just told her the situation to start with, I might have liked him a little better.
Nah. Probably not. I never actually figured out what she saw in him. My best guess ended up being low self-esteem coupled with a bad childhood.
The 'gothic mystery' part of the plot ended in the middle of the book, and shortly thereafter ended anything remotely interesting. Say what you will about Looney Bertha, but at least she pumped some life into the story.
And wasn't it just awesome that Bertha burned the house to the ground and then leaped to her death? Nice exit big girl! I gotta say, she was by far my favorite. Lest we forget, she also managed to mangle Rochester's good looks even more before she bowed out. Now Jane's man looks like a one-eyed, one-armed, flying purple people eater. Of course, she doesn't mind, because now she feels she can be of use to him.
Jane, I can tell we will never see eye-to-eye on things, so I'll just let it go. Our friendship was never meant to be. For some, you will forever remain the stoic heroine who finally gets her Happily Ever After. For me, you are just a ninny with bad taste in men. As Adele would say, Adieu.
Reader, this review is over.
August 12, 2024
Finally!!!!!
Finally, we have a book written in the 1800's about a strong female main character. This book is incredibly moving and unpredictable. Hands down better than Pride and Prejudice.
There were a few sections that did seem to drag a bit.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
Finally, we have a book written in the 1800's about a strong female main character. This book is incredibly moving and unpredictable. Hands down better than Pride and Prejudice.
There were a few sections that did seem to drag a bit.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
November 30, 2022
賰賱賲鬲丕賳 鬲毓亘乇丕賳 毓賳 賲賱丕賷賷賳 丕賱賮鬲賷丕鬲
Plain Jane
毓賳丿賲丕鬲賯賮夭 噩賲賱丞賲賳 亘賷賳 丿賮鬲賷 賰鬲丕亘 廿賱賶 丕賱丨賷丕丞丕賱賷賵賲賷丞 丕匕賳 賮賯丿 賳噩丨
亘胤賱鬲賳丕 賲賳 丕賱賳賵毓 丕賱匕賷 賳賱賯丕賴 賰賱 賷賵賲 亘丿賵賳 丕賳 鬲丿乇賰 亘胤賵賱鬲賴 ..毓丕卮鬲 賷鬲賷賲丞..賲丨鬲丕噩丞..睾乇賷亘丞..丕賱丕 丕賳賴丕 丕賲鬲賱賰鬲 廿丨爻丕爻丕 毓丕賱賷丞 亘丕賱毓夭丞 賵丕賱賰乇丕賲丞
賵 毓亘乇 毓卮乇丕鬲
丕賱廿睾乇丕亍丕鬲 賳噩丨鬲 賲乇丕乇丕 賮賷 丕賱賲賵丕夭賳丞 亘賷賳 賵丕噩亘丕鬲賴丕 賵 丕賴賵丕亍賴丕
噩賷賳 賷鬲賷賲丞.. 賮賯賷乇丞..毓丕丿賷丞 丕賱賲賱丕賲丨 賳卮兀鬲 賮賷 賰乇亘 卮丿賷丿 賱丿賶 毓賲鬲賴丕..鬲匕賴亘 賱鬲毓賲賱 賰賲乇亘賷丞 賱丿賷 孬乇賷 睾丕賲囟 賲乇賷亘 丨賯丕.. .賵 賲毓 鬲賱賰 丕賱毓丕卅賱丞 賵丕噩賴鬲 丕禺鬲亘丕乇丕鬲 毓丿賷丿丞..賮賴賱 賳噩丨鬲 賮賷 丕賱丨賮丕馗 毓賱賶 賲亘丕丿卅賴丕 賱賱賳賴丕賷丞責
亘乇賵賳鬲賷 賰鬲亘鬲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賱鬲丨爻賲 丕賱氐乇丕毓 丕賱丕亘丿賶 亘賷賳 丕賱丨亘 賵 丕賱丨乇賷丞 ..賱賴匕丕 氐丕乇鬲 鬲賱賰 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賴賷 丕賱賳亘乇丕爻 丕賱匕賷 鬲鬲亘毓賴 賰丕鬲亘丕鬲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 丕賱乇賵賲丕賳爻賷丞 毓亘乇 丕賱毓丕賱賲 ..鈽€
賵 丕賱鬲賯賷賷賲 丕賱賲賳禺賮囟 賮賯胤 賱丕賳賷 丿乇爻鬲賴丕 丕噩亘丕乇賷 賮賷 孬丕賳賵賶 賵 賴匕丕 賴賵 丕賱鬲賯賷賷賲 丕賱馗丕賱賲 丕賱匕賷 丕賲賳丨賴 賱賲毓馗賲 賲丕 丿乇爻鬲賴. .賵 賱賰賳賴丕 乇賵丕亍賷丕 : 賲賲鬲丕夭丞
賮賯丿 賵囟毓鬲 噩賷賳 賮賷 氐乇丕毓 亘賷賳 丕賱孬乇賶 乇賵卮爻鬲乇 賵 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱賲鬲賮鬲丨 乇賷賮乇夭. .丕賵 丕賱賲胤亘 丕賱賲毓鬲丕丿 丕賱匕賷 鬲賯毓 賮賷賴 賰賱 賮鬲丕丞 賮賷 賮鬲乇丞 賲丕 :賴匕丕 賲丕 賷噩亘 丕賳 鬲賮毓賱賴..賵 賴匕丕 賲丕 鬲丨亘賴 賵 鬲乇睾亘 賮賷賴
賮丕賷賴賲丕 爻鬲禺鬲丕乇責
Plain Jane
毓賳丿賲丕鬲賯賮夭 噩賲賱丞賲賳 亘賷賳 丿賮鬲賷 賰鬲丕亘 廿賱賶 丕賱丨賷丕丞丕賱賷賵賲賷丞 丕匕賳 賮賯丿 賳噩丨
亘胤賱鬲賳丕 賲賳 丕賱賳賵毓 丕賱匕賷 賳賱賯丕賴 賰賱 賷賵賲 亘丿賵賳 丕賳 鬲丿乇賰 亘胤賵賱鬲賴 ..毓丕卮鬲 賷鬲賷賲丞..賲丨鬲丕噩丞..睾乇賷亘丞..丕賱丕 丕賳賴丕 丕賲鬲賱賰鬲 廿丨爻丕爻丕 毓丕賱賷丞 亘丕賱毓夭丞 賵丕賱賰乇丕賲丞
賵 毓亘乇 毓卮乇丕鬲
丕賱廿睾乇丕亍丕鬲 賳噩丨鬲 賲乇丕乇丕 賮賷 丕賱賲賵丕夭賳丞 亘賷賳 賵丕噩亘丕鬲賴丕 賵 丕賴賵丕亍賴丕
噩賷賳 賷鬲賷賲丞.. 賮賯賷乇丞..毓丕丿賷丞 丕賱賲賱丕賲丨 賳卮兀鬲 賮賷 賰乇亘 卮丿賷丿 賱丿賶 毓賲鬲賴丕..鬲匕賴亘 賱鬲毓賲賱 賰賲乇亘賷丞 賱丿賷 孬乇賷 睾丕賲囟 賲乇賷亘 丨賯丕.. .賵 賲毓 鬲賱賰 丕賱毓丕卅賱丞 賵丕噩賴鬲 丕禺鬲亘丕乇丕鬲 毓丿賷丿丞..賮賴賱 賳噩丨鬲 賮賷 丕賱丨賮丕馗 毓賱賶 賲亘丕丿卅賴丕 賱賱賳賴丕賷丞責
亘乇賵賳鬲賷 賰鬲亘鬲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賱鬲丨爻賲 丕賱氐乇丕毓 丕賱丕亘丿賶 亘賷賳 丕賱丨亘 賵 丕賱丨乇賷丞 ..賱賴匕丕 氐丕乇鬲 鬲賱賰 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賴賷 丕賱賳亘乇丕爻 丕賱匕賷 鬲鬲亘毓賴 賰丕鬲亘丕鬲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 丕賱乇賵賲丕賳爻賷丞 毓亘乇 丕賱毓丕賱賲 ..鈽€
賵 丕賱鬲賯賷賷賲 丕賱賲賳禺賮囟 賮賯胤 賱丕賳賷 丿乇爻鬲賴丕 丕噩亘丕乇賷 賮賷 孬丕賳賵賶 賵 賴匕丕 賴賵 丕賱鬲賯賷賷賲 丕賱馗丕賱賲 丕賱匕賷 丕賲賳丨賴 賱賲毓馗賲 賲丕 丿乇爻鬲賴. .賵 賱賰賳賴丕 乇賵丕亍賷丕 : 賲賲鬲丕夭丞
賮賯丿 賵囟毓鬲 噩賷賳 賮賷 氐乇丕毓 亘賷賳 丕賱孬乇賶 乇賵卮爻鬲乇 賵 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱賲鬲賮鬲丨 乇賷賮乇夭. .丕賵 丕賱賲胤亘 丕賱賲毓鬲丕丿 丕賱匕賷 鬲賯毓 賮賷賴 賰賱 賮鬲丕丞 賮賷 賮鬲乇丞 賲丕 :賴匕丕 賲丕 賷噩亘 丕賳 鬲賮毓賱賴..賵 賴匕丕 賲丕 鬲丨亘賴 賵 鬲乇睾亘 賮賷賴
賮丕賷賴賲丕 爻鬲禺鬲丕乇責
November 13, 2018
I'm bumping Jane Eyre up to the full five stars on this reread. It has its Victorian melodramatic moments (horrible aunt! and cousins! ), but overall I found this story of a plain, obscure girl determined to maintain her self-respect, and do what she feels is right even in the face of pressure, profoundly moving. And I'm a romantic, sorry/notsorry, so that aspect totally sucked me in too. And it really is a great romance, at least in my book, but it's just so much more than that.
Reasons I Love Jane Eyre:
1. Jane is no beauty. There's no Cinderella moment. Deal with it. Her beauty is all on the inside.
2. Rochester is not gorgeous. This is not going to change either. In fact, his outward appearance gets worse in the end. And it doesn't matter! When's the last time you read a romance where neither the heroine nor the hero was good-looking?
3. Great dialogue. Rochester makes sarcastic comments to Jane all the time. She sasses him right back.
4. This is a romance of the mind and the heart, not just OMG HE'S SO HOT AND HIS LIPS MAKE ME MELT. (Though there's definitely physical attraction here too.)
5. Jane maintains her pride and self-respect. She sticks to her principles, even when the pressure's on, even when it would be much easier, and would bring her much more short-term happiness, to let those principles go hang.
6. Jane Eyre takes a very nuanced view of religion: there are hypocrites, in at least a couple of different variations. There are hard, cold people who sometimes use religion as a tool, or an excuse for what they do. There are saintly characters who always turn the other cheek. And there are believers, like Jane, who are imperfect but are doing the best they can.
7. Jane teaches us that we have a great power to take control of our lives and decide our own destiny, even when the cards are all stacked against us. It's up to us to take action to change our lives, not wait for someone else to change it for us.
8. Jane Eyre empowered women, written at a time when in so many ways we were considered second-class citizens. It still empowers us now.
P.S. The Kindle version available for free at Project Gutenberg has wonderful pencil drawing illustrations.
Bonus: excerpts from **spoiler alert**
JANE
MY LITTLE SUNBEAM
WHERE ARE YOU
I NEED YOU BY MY SIDE
I鈥檓 taking a walk
be back for dinner
AH YES MY CAGED SPRITE
COMMUNE WITH NATURE AND UPON YOUR RETURN
RELATE TO ME THE VAGRANT GLORIES OF THE RUINED WOODS
do you really want me to describe my walk to you
MORE THAN ANYTHING YOU POCKET WITCH
it is fairly cloudy out
looks like rain soon
AHHH TO THINK THAT MY LITTLE STARLING JANE
SHOULD RETURN
TO PERCH ON MY BROKEN MALFORMED SHOULDER
SINGING A SONG OF THE GREY AND WRACKING SKIES
MAKES MY HEART SWELL TO BURST
all right
鈥�
JANE WHERE HAVE YOU GONE
I AM BEREFT AND WITHOUT MY JANE I SHALL SINK INTO ROGUERY
i am with my cousins
WHICH COUSIN
IS IT THE SEXY ONE
Please don鈥檛 try to talk to me again
IT IS YOUR SEXY COUSIN
鈥淪T. JOHN鈥�
WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS ST. JOHN
I鈥檓 not going to answer that
I KNEW IT
DID YOU LEAVE BECAUSE OF MY ATTIC WIFE
IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
yes
absolutely
BECAUSE MY HOUSE IN FRANCE DOESN鈥橳 EVEN HAVE AN ATTIC
IF THAT鈥橲 WHAT YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT
IT HAS A CELLAR THOUGH SO YOU KNOW
DON鈥橳 CROSS ME
HAHA I鈥橫 ONLY JOKING
Reasons I Love Jane Eyre:
1. Jane is no beauty. There's no Cinderella moment. Deal with it. Her beauty is all on the inside.
2. Rochester is not gorgeous. This is not going to change either. In fact, his outward appearance gets worse in the end. And it doesn't matter! When's the last time you read a romance where neither the heroine nor the hero was good-looking?
3. Great dialogue. Rochester makes sarcastic comments to Jane all the time. She sasses him right back.
4. This is a romance of the mind and the heart, not just OMG HE'S SO HOT AND HIS LIPS MAKE ME MELT. (Though there's definitely physical attraction here too.)
5. Jane maintains her pride and self-respect. She sticks to her principles, even when the pressure's on, even when it would be much easier, and would bring her much more short-term happiness, to let those principles go hang.
6. Jane Eyre takes a very nuanced view of religion: there are hypocrites, in at least a couple of different variations. There are hard, cold people who sometimes use religion as a tool, or an excuse for what they do. There are saintly characters who always turn the other cheek. And there are believers, like Jane, who are imperfect but are doing the best they can.
7. Jane teaches us that we have a great power to take control of our lives and decide our own destiny, even when the cards are all stacked against us. It's up to us to take action to change our lives, not wait for someone else to change it for us.
8. Jane Eyre empowered women, written at a time when in so many ways we were considered second-class citizens. It still empowers us now.
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, to 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.Buddy (re-)read with Jess, Karly, Vane, Kristin, Rabbit, and Andrea.
P.S. The Kindle version available for free at Project Gutenberg has wonderful pencil drawing illustrations.
Bonus: excerpts from **spoiler alert**
JANE
MY LITTLE SUNBEAM
WHERE ARE YOU
I NEED YOU BY MY SIDE
I鈥檓 taking a walk
be back for dinner
AH YES MY CAGED SPRITE
COMMUNE WITH NATURE AND UPON YOUR RETURN
RELATE TO ME THE VAGRANT GLORIES OF THE RUINED WOODS
do you really want me to describe my walk to you
MORE THAN ANYTHING YOU POCKET WITCH
it is fairly cloudy out
looks like rain soon
AHHH TO THINK THAT MY LITTLE STARLING JANE
SHOULD RETURN
TO PERCH ON MY BROKEN MALFORMED SHOULDER
SINGING A SONG OF THE GREY AND WRACKING SKIES
MAKES MY HEART SWELL TO BURST
all right
鈥�
JANE WHERE HAVE YOU GONE
I AM BEREFT AND WITHOUT MY JANE I SHALL SINK INTO ROGUERY
i am with my cousins
WHICH COUSIN
IS IT THE SEXY ONE
Please don鈥檛 try to talk to me again
IT IS YOUR SEXY COUSIN
鈥淪T. JOHN鈥�
WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS ST. JOHN
I鈥檓 not going to answer that
I KNEW IT
DID YOU LEAVE BECAUSE OF MY ATTIC WIFE
IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
yes
absolutely
BECAUSE MY HOUSE IN FRANCE DOESN鈥橳 EVEN HAVE AN ATTIC
IF THAT鈥橲 WHAT YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT
IT HAS A CELLAR THOUGH SO YOU KNOW
DON鈥橳 CROSS ME
HAHA I鈥橫 ONLY JOKING
February 18, 2021
He amado cada p谩gina de este libro como no cre铆 que fuera posible. Sin duda la relectura me ha hecho disfrutarlo infinitamente m谩s, no s茅 si es que me he hecho m谩s rom谩ntica, m谩s blanda o qu茅 pero en fin, que me he enamorado de cada p谩gina, de cada matiz de la historia.
Me quedo sin duda con dos cosas, por un lado con la ambientaci贸n oscura y fantasmal y por otro con el personaje de Jane que ha conseguido colarse entre mis predilectos (y eso que la primera vez que le铆 el libro me pareci贸 una sosa, 隆驴En qu茅 estaba pensando!?)
Rochester no tienes perd贸n como ser humano pero como personaje eres de 10 xD
En fin, una lectura maravillosa e inolvidable que adem谩s he tenido el placer de compartir con mis brujos del Aquelarre, lo que lo hace todo mucho m谩s disfrutable
***Eso s铆, despu茅s leed 'El ancho mar de los Sargazos' de Jean Rhys para descubrir la parte de historia que nos falta.......
Me quedo sin duda con dos cosas, por un lado con la ambientaci贸n oscura y fantasmal y por otro con el personaje de Jane que ha conseguido colarse entre mis predilectos (y eso que la primera vez que le铆 el libro me pareci贸 una sosa, 隆驴En qu茅 estaba pensando!?)
Rochester no tienes perd贸n como ser humano pero como personaje eres de 10 xD
En fin, una lectura maravillosa e inolvidable que adem谩s he tenido el placer de compartir con mis brujos del Aquelarre, lo que lo hace todo mucho m谩s disfrutable
***Eso s铆, despu茅s leed 'El ancho mar de los Sargazos' de Jean Rhys para descubrir la parte de historia que nos falta.......
August 22, 2016
Looooooooove!!!
August 12, 2021
(Book 904 From 1001 Books) - Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bront毛
The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character.
The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760鈥�1820).
It goes through five distinct stages:
Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins.
Her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression.
Her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her mysterious employer, Edward Rochester.
Her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her
And ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester.
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 卅乇禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 丕賳鬲卮丕乇丕鬲蹖賴丕: (噩丕賲蹖 貙 丿亘蹖乇貙 鬲賵爻賳貙 賲賴鬲丕亘貙 毓乇賮丕賳貙 爻賲蹖乇貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 丕丿蹖亘貙 賴夭丕乇 丌賮鬲丕亘貙 爻乇賵爻鬲丕賳貙 賳卮乇 賲噩乇丿)貙 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丕賳诏賱爻鬲丕賳貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 乇賵夭賴丕蹖 爻丕賱 1976賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 卅乇 (噩賳 卅乇)貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲爻毓賵丿 亘乇夭蹖賳貨 讴丕賳賵賳 賲毓乇賮鬲貨 1329貨 丿乇 192氐貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1341貨 毓賳賵丕賳 乇賵蹖 噩賱丿: 蹖鬲蹖賲貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 - 爻丿賴 19賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賳丕馗乇 賳毓賲鬲蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲噩乇丿貨 1364貨 丿乇 213氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 倬乇賵蹖夭 賳噩賲 丕賱丿蹖賳蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 鬲賵爻賳貙 1362貨 丿乇 192氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲丨賲丿鬲賯蹖 亘賴乇丕賲蹖 噩夭丕賳貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲鬲乇噩賲貙 1370貨 丿賵 噩賱丿 丿乇 蹖讴 賲噩賱丿貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賲蹖貙 1375貨 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 1377貨 趩丕倬 倬賳噩賲 1383貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲賴丿蹖 丕賮卮丕乇貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲賴鬲丕亘貙 毓乇賮丕賳貙 1366貨 丿乇 553氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 讴鬲丕亘賮乇賵卮蹖 爻毓丿蹖貙 1366貨 丿乇 553氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 爻賲蹖乇貙 1384貙 丿乇 560氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9648940045貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丿亘蹖乇貙 1384貙 丿乇 503氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9645967260貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇蹖丿賵賳 讴丕乇貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 1369貙 丿乇 287氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 倬乇賵蹖賳 賯丕卅賲蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 讴鬲丕亘 丌賮乇蹖賳貙 1370貙 丿乇 303氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇: 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丕丿蹖亘貙 1374貨 丿乇 303氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 卮賴賱丕 賳賯丕卮貨 賮丕胤賲賴 賳賯丕卮貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賴夭丕乇 丌賮鬲丕亘貙 1376貙 丿乇 256氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 夭賴乇賴 亘讴賵蹖蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 爻乇賵爻鬲丕賳貙 1383貙 丿乇 211氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲蹖賳 丿蹖诏乇 禺丕賳賲賴丕 賵 丌賯丕蹖丕賳: 芦賳爻鬲乇賳 噩丕賲毓蹖 賳卮乇: 賳賴丕賱 賳賵蹖丿丕賳 - 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 1375貨 丿乇 255氐禄貨 芦賳丕馗乇 賳毓賲鬲蹖 - 賳卮乇 賲噩乇丿 1364貨 - 丿乇 213氐禄貨 賵 亘爻蹖丕乇 丿蹖诏乇丕賳 ...貨
賴卮丿丕乇: 丕诏乇 賲蹖禺賵丕賴蹖丿 禺賵丿 讴鬲丕亘 乇丕 亘禺賵丕賳蹖丿 賱胤賮丕 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 丕丿丕賲賴 乇蹖賵蹖賵 禺賵丿丿丕乇蹖 讴賳蹖丿貨
丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿禺鬲乇蹖 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 讴賵丿讴蹖貙 賲丕丿乇 賵 倬丿乇 禺賵丿 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 賲蹖鈥屫囏� 丕賵 倬爻 丕夭 賳丕賲賱丕蹖賲丕鬲蹖貙 讴賴 丕夭 亘爻鬲诏丕賳 賵 賳夭丿蹖讴卮 賲蹖亘蹖賳丿貙 亘賴 倬乇賵乇卮诏丕賴 爻倬乇丿賴 卮丿賴貙 丿乇 賲丨蹖胤 禺卮讴 賵 禺卮賳 倬乇賵乇卮诏丕賴貙 亘夭乇诏 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 爻倬爻 亘丕 爻賲鬲 賲毓賱賲蹖貙 亘賴 禺丕賳賴鈥� 丕蹖 丕卮乇丕賮蹖 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 丕乇亘丕亘 禺丕賳賴 (丌賯丕蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄) 亘賴 鬲丿乇蹖噩 亘賴 丕賵 毓賱丕賯賲賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵賱蹖 芦噩蹖賳禄 賲蹖賮賴賲丿貙 讴賴 丕賵 倬蹖卮鬲乇 丕夭丿賵丕噩 讴乇丿賴貙 賵 賴賲爻乇卮 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 丕蹖 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 胤亘賯賴 蹖 亘丕賱丕蹖 賴賲丕賳 禺丕賳賴貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 芦噩蹖賳禄 丿賱 卮讴爻鬲賴 丕夭 丌賳 禺丕賳賴 賲蹖诏乇蹖夭丿貙 賵 讴卮蹖卮蹖 亘丕 禺賵丕賴乇丕賳卮 丕賵 乇丕 亘蹖賴賵卮 賲蹖鈥屰屫жㄙ嗀� 賵 丕夭 丕賵 賳诏賴丿丕乇蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 讴卮蹖卮 讴賲 讴賲 亘賴 芦噩蹖賳禄 毓賱丕賯賲賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵賱蹖 卮亘蹖 (丿乇 匕賴賳 禺賵丿)貙 氐丿丕蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 乇丕 賲蹖卮賳賵丿貙 爻倬爻 亘賴 丿賳亘丕賱 丕賵 賲蹖乇賵丿貙 賵 賲蹖賮賴賲丿 讴賴 賴賲爻乇 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄貙 禺丕賳賴 乇丕 丌鬲卮 夭丿賴貙 賵 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 丿乇 丨丕賱 賳噩丕鬲 丿丕丿賳 丕賵貙 亘蹖賳丕蹖蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 丿丕丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲 芦噩蹖賳禄 賳夭丿 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 賵 亘丕 賵蹖 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 賵 丌賳丕賳 氐丕丨亘 蹖讴 倬爻乇 賲蹖卮賵賳丿貨 禺賵亘 賴賲賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 乇丕 诏賮鬲賲貙 賵賱蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丿賱趩爻亘鬲乇 丕夭 丕蹖賳 丨乇賮賴丕爻鬲
丕夭 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕蹖 爻丕禺鬲賳 賮蹖賱賲貙 丕賯鬲亘丕爻賴丕蹖 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 氐賵乇鬲 诏乇賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕爻丕賲蹖 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 賮蹖賱賲賴丕 乇丕 賴賲蹖賳噩丕 賳蹖夭 賲蹖讴丕乇賲: 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 2011賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 讴乇蹖 賮賵讴賵賳丕诏丕禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1997賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 乇丕亘乇鬲 蹖賵賳诏禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1996賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 賮乇丕賳讴賵 夭賮蹖乇賱蹖禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1970賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 丿賱亘乇鬲 賲賳禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1943賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 乇丕亘乇鬲 丕爻鬲蹖賵賳爻賵賳禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1934賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 讴乇蹖爻鬲蹖 讴丕亘丕賳禄貨
賳賯賱 丕夭 賲鬲賳: (丿乇 丌賳 丨丕賱 讴賴 賲賳 賮賯胤 亘賴 丕乇亘丕亘賲 賵 賴賲爻乇 丌蹖賳丿賴鈥屫ж� 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀屫篡屫呚� 丿乇 丌賳 丨丕賱 讴賴 賮賯胤 丌賳鈥屬囏� 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫屫呚� 賮賯胤 丨乇賮鈥屬囏й� 丌賳鈥屬囏� 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫促嗃屫� 賵 賮賯胤 亘賴 丨乇讴鬲鈥屬囏й� 亘丕 賲毓賳蹖 丌賳鈥屬囏� 鬲賵噩賴 賲蹖鈥屭┴必呚� 亘賱賴貙 丿乇 賴賲丕賳 丨丕賱貙 亘賯蹖賴 爻乇诏乇賲 毓賱丕蹖賯 賵 賱匕丕蹖匕卮丕賳 亘賵丿賳丿貙 芦賱蹖丿蹖 賱蹖賳禄 賵 芦賱蹖丿蹖 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 亘賴 賴賲 氐丨亘鬲蹖 賵 賲讴丕賱賲賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 爻賳诏蹖賳 賵 乇賳诏蹖賳 禺賵丿 丕丿丕賲賴 賲蹖鈥屫ж嗀� 讴賱丕賴鈥屬囏й� 毓賲丕賲賴鈥� 丕蹖 卮丕賳 乇丕 亘賴 胤乇賮 蹖讴丿蹖诏乇 賲蹖鈥屫嗀ㄘз嗀嗀� 賵 丿爻鬲鈥屬囏й� 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 毓賱丕賲鬲 鬲毓噩亘貙 倬乇爻卮貙 蹖丕 賵丨卮鬲 (讴賴 亘賴 賲賵囟賵毓 氐丨亘鬲卮丕賳 亘爻鬲诏蹖 丿丕卮鬲) 亘丕賱丕 賲蹖丌賵乇丿賳丿貙 丿乇爻鬲 賲孬賱 丿賵 毓乇賵爻讴 禺蹖賲賴 卮亘 亘丕夭蹖貙 賲賳鬲賴丕 亘夭乇诏鬲乇貨 芦禺丕賳賲 丿賳鬲禄 讴賴 賲賱丕蹖賲 亘賵丿 亘丕 芦禺丕賳賲 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 讴賴 亘丕 賲丨亘鬲 亘賵丿 丨乇賮 賲蹖鈥屫藏� 丕蹖賳 丿賵 诏丕賴蹖 讴賱賲賴鈥� 丕蹖 賴賲 亘丕 賲賳 乇丿 賵 亘丿賱 賲蹖鈥屭┴必嗀� 蹖丕 亘賴 賲賳 賱亘禺賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫藏嗀� 芦爻乇 噩賵乇噩 賱蹖賳禄貙 芦讴賱賳賱 丿賳鬲禄 賵 芦丌賯丕蹖 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 丕夭 爻蹖丕爻鬲貙 賵 丕賲賵乇 賲賲賱讴鬲蹖 賵 賲爻丕卅賱 賯囟丕蹖蹖 丨乇賮 賲蹖鈥屫藏嗀� 芦賱乇丿 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 亘丕 芦丕蹖賲蹖 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 賱丕爻 賲蹖鈥屫藏� 芦賱賵卅蹖夭丕禄 賲蹖鈥屬嗁堌ж� 賵 賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗀� - 蹖丕 亘乇丕蹖 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌賯丕蹖丕賳貙 蹖丕 賴賲乇丕賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌賳鈥屬囏ж� 芦賲乇蹖 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄貙 亘蹖鈥屫з� 賵 亘蹖鈥屫官勜з傎囏� 亘賴 氐丨亘鬲鈥屬囏й� 乇噩夭 賲丕賳賳丿 蹖讴蹖 丿蹖诏乇 丕夭 芦丌賯丕蹖丕賳 賱蹖賳禄 诏賵卮 賲蹖鈥屫ж� 诏丕賴蹖 賴賲賴 亘丕賴賲貙 诏賵蹖蹖 亘丕 賳賵毓蹖 鬲賵丕賮賯 丿爻鬲賴 噩賲毓蹖貙 賳賲丕蹖卮鈥屬囏й� 賮乇毓蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 賲鬲賵賯賮 賲蹖鈥屭┴必嗀� 鬲丕 亘賴 賳賲丕蹖卮 亘丕夭蹖诏乇丕賳 丕氐賱蹖 賳诏丕賴 讴賳賳丿貙 賵 诏賵卮 亘丿賴賳丿貨 丌禺乇貙 芦丌賯丕蹖 乇丕趩爻鬲乇禄 賵 芦丿賵卮蹖夭賴 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 讴賴 賴賲賴 噩丕 亘丕 丕賵 亘賵丿貙 卮賲毓 賲丨賮賱 亘賵丿賳丿貨 丕诏乇 芦丌賯丕蹖 乇丕趩爻鬲乇禄 丨囟賵乇 賳賲蹖鈥屫ж簇� 賵丕賯毓丕 乇賵丨蹖賴 賲賴賲丕賳鈥屬囏� 讴爻賱 賲蹖鈥屫簇� 賵賯鬲蹖 賲蹖鈥屫①呚� 氐丨亘鬲鈥屬囏� 鬲丕夭诏蹖 賲蹖鈥屰屫з佖� 賵 夭賳丿賴鈥屫� 賲蹖鈥屫簇�.)貨 倬丕蹖丕賳
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 31/06/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/05/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character.
The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760鈥�1820).
It goes through five distinct stages:
Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins.
Her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression.
Her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her mysterious employer, Edward Rochester.
Her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her
And ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester.
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 卅乇禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 丕賳鬲卮丕乇丕鬲蹖賴丕: (噩丕賲蹖 貙 丿亘蹖乇貙 鬲賵爻賳貙 賲賴鬲丕亘貙 毓乇賮丕賳貙 爻賲蹖乇貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 丕丿蹖亘貙 賴夭丕乇 丌賮鬲丕亘貙 爻乇賵爻鬲丕賳貙 賳卮乇 賲噩乇丿)貙 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丕賳诏賱爻鬲丕賳貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 乇賵夭賴丕蹖 爻丕賱 1976賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 卅乇 (噩賳 卅乇)貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲爻毓賵丿 亘乇夭蹖賳貨 讴丕賳賵賳 賲毓乇賮鬲貨 1329貨 丿乇 192氐貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1341貨 毓賳賵丕賳 乇賵蹖 噩賱丿: 蹖鬲蹖賲貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 - 爻丿賴 19賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賳丕馗乇 賳毓賲鬲蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲噩乇丿貨 1364貨 丿乇 213氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 倬乇賵蹖夭 賳噩賲 丕賱丿蹖賳蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 鬲賵爻賳貙 1362貨 丿乇 192氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲丨賲丿鬲賯蹖 亘賴乇丕賲蹖 噩夭丕賳貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲鬲乇噩賲貙 1370貨 丿賵 噩賱丿 丿乇 蹖讴 賲噩賱丿貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賲蹖貙 1375貨 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 1377貨 趩丕倬 倬賳噩賲 1383貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 卮丕乇賱賵鬲 亘乇賵賳鬲賴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲賴丿蹖 丕賮卮丕乇貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲賴鬲丕亘貙 毓乇賮丕賳貙 1366貨 丿乇 553氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 讴鬲丕亘賮乇賵卮蹖 爻毓丿蹖貙 1366貨 丿乇 553氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 爻賲蹖乇貙 1384貙 丿乇 560氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9648940045貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丿亘蹖乇貙 1384貙 丿乇 503氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9645967260貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇蹖丿賵賳 讴丕乇貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 1369貙 丿乇 287氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 倬乇賵蹖賳 賯丕卅賲蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 讴鬲丕亘 丌賮乇蹖賳貙 1370貙 丿乇 303氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇: 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丕丿蹖亘貙 1374貨 丿乇 303氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 卮賴賱丕 賳賯丕卮貨 賮丕胤賲賴 賳賯丕卮貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賴夭丕乇 丌賮鬲丕亘貙 1376貙 丿乇 256氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲: 夭賴乇賴 亘讴賵蹖蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 爻乇賵爻鬲丕賳貙 1383貙 丿乇 211氐貨
賲鬲乇噩賲蹖賳 丿蹖诏乇 禺丕賳賲賴丕 賵 丌賯丕蹖丕賳: 芦賳爻鬲乇賳 噩丕賲毓蹖 賳卮乇: 賳賴丕賱 賳賵蹖丿丕賳 - 趩丕倬 爻賵賲 1375貨 丿乇 255氐禄貨 芦賳丕馗乇 賳毓賲鬲蹖 - 賳卮乇 賲噩乇丿 1364貨 - 丿乇 213氐禄貨 賵 亘爻蹖丕乇 丿蹖诏乇丕賳 ...貨
賴卮丿丕乇: 丕诏乇 賲蹖禺賵丕賴蹖丿 禺賵丿 讴鬲丕亘 乇丕 亘禺賵丕賳蹖丿 賱胤賮丕 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 丕丿丕賲賴 乇蹖賵蹖賵 禺賵丿丿丕乇蹖 讴賳蹖丿貨
丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿禺鬲乇蹖 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 讴賵丿讴蹖貙 賲丕丿乇 賵 倬丿乇 禺賵丿 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 賲蹖鈥屫囏� 丕賵 倬爻 丕夭 賳丕賲賱丕蹖賲丕鬲蹖貙 讴賴 丕夭 亘爻鬲诏丕賳 賵 賳夭丿蹖讴卮 賲蹖亘蹖賳丿貙 亘賴 倬乇賵乇卮诏丕賴 爻倬乇丿賴 卮丿賴貙 丿乇 賲丨蹖胤 禺卮讴 賵 禺卮賳 倬乇賵乇卮诏丕賴貙 亘夭乇诏 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 爻倬爻 亘丕 爻賲鬲 賲毓賱賲蹖貙 亘賴 禺丕賳賴鈥� 丕蹖 丕卮乇丕賮蹖 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 丕乇亘丕亘 禺丕賳賴 (丌賯丕蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄) 亘賴 鬲丿乇蹖噩 亘賴 丕賵 毓賱丕賯賲賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵賱蹖 芦噩蹖賳禄 賲蹖賮賴賲丿貙 讴賴 丕賵 倬蹖卮鬲乇 丕夭丿賵丕噩 讴乇丿賴貙 賵 賴賲爻乇卮 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 丕蹖 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 胤亘賯賴 蹖 亘丕賱丕蹖 賴賲丕賳 禺丕賳賴貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 芦噩蹖賳禄 丿賱 卮讴爻鬲賴 丕夭 丌賳 禺丕賳賴 賲蹖诏乇蹖夭丿貙 賵 讴卮蹖卮蹖 亘丕 禺賵丕賴乇丕賳卮 丕賵 乇丕 亘蹖賴賵卮 賲蹖鈥屰屫жㄙ嗀� 賵 丕夭 丕賵 賳诏賴丿丕乇蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 讴卮蹖卮 讴賲 讴賲 亘賴 芦噩蹖賳禄 毓賱丕賯賲賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵賱蹖 卮亘蹖 (丿乇 匕賴賳 禺賵丿)貙 氐丿丕蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 乇丕 賲蹖卮賳賵丿貙 爻倬爻 亘賴 丿賳亘丕賱 丕賵 賲蹖乇賵丿貙 賵 賲蹖賮賴賲丿 讴賴 賴賲爻乇 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 蹖 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄貙 禺丕賳賴 乇丕 丌鬲卮 夭丿賴貙 賵 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 丿乇 丨丕賱 賳噩丕鬲 丿丕丿賳 丕賵貙 亘蹖賳丕蹖蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 丿丕丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲 芦噩蹖賳禄 賳夭丿 芦乇賵趩爻鬲乇禄 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 賵 亘丕 賵蹖 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 賵 丌賳丕賳 氐丕丨亘 蹖讴 倬爻乇 賲蹖卮賵賳丿貨 禺賵亘 賴賲賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 乇丕 诏賮鬲賲貙 賵賱蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丿賱趩爻亘鬲乇 丕夭 丕蹖賳 丨乇賮賴丕爻鬲
丕夭 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕蹖 爻丕禺鬲賳 賮蹖賱賲貙 丕賯鬲亘丕爻賴丕蹖 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 氐賵乇鬲 诏乇賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕爻丕賲蹖 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 賮蹖賱賲賴丕 乇丕 賴賲蹖賳噩丕 賳蹖夭 賲蹖讴丕乇賲: 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 2011賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 讴乇蹖 賮賵讴賵賳丕诏丕禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1997賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 乇丕亘乇鬲 蹖賵賳诏禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1996賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 賮乇丕賳讴賵 夭賮蹖乇賱蹖禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1970賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 丿賱亘乇鬲 賲賳禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1943賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 乇丕亘乇鬲 丕爻鬲蹖賵賳爻賵賳禄貨 芦噩蹖賳 丕蹖乇 (賮蹖賱賲 1934賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳: 讴乇蹖爻鬲蹖 讴丕亘丕賳禄貨
賳賯賱 丕夭 賲鬲賳: (丿乇 丌賳 丨丕賱 讴賴 賲賳 賮賯胤 亘賴 丕乇亘丕亘賲 賵 賴賲爻乇 丌蹖賳丿賴鈥屫ж� 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀屫篡屫呚� 丿乇 丌賳 丨丕賱 讴賴 賮賯胤 丌賳鈥屬囏� 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫屫呚� 賮賯胤 丨乇賮鈥屬囏й� 丌賳鈥屬囏� 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫促嗃屫� 賵 賮賯胤 亘賴 丨乇讴鬲鈥屬囏й� 亘丕 賲毓賳蹖 丌賳鈥屬囏� 鬲賵噩賴 賲蹖鈥屭┴必呚� 亘賱賴貙 丿乇 賴賲丕賳 丨丕賱貙 亘賯蹖賴 爻乇诏乇賲 毓賱丕蹖賯 賵 賱匕丕蹖匕卮丕賳 亘賵丿賳丿貙 芦賱蹖丿蹖 賱蹖賳禄 賵 芦賱蹖丿蹖 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 亘賴 賴賲 氐丨亘鬲蹖 賵 賲讴丕賱賲賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 爻賳诏蹖賳 賵 乇賳诏蹖賳 禺賵丿 丕丿丕賲賴 賲蹖鈥屫ж嗀� 讴賱丕賴鈥屬囏й� 毓賲丕賲賴鈥� 丕蹖 卮丕賳 乇丕 亘賴 胤乇賮 蹖讴丿蹖诏乇 賲蹖鈥屫嗀ㄘз嗀嗀� 賵 丿爻鬲鈥屬囏й� 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 毓賱丕賲鬲 鬲毓噩亘貙 倬乇爻卮貙 蹖丕 賵丨卮鬲 (讴賴 亘賴 賲賵囟賵毓 氐丨亘鬲卮丕賳 亘爻鬲诏蹖 丿丕卮鬲) 亘丕賱丕 賲蹖丌賵乇丿賳丿貙 丿乇爻鬲 賲孬賱 丿賵 毓乇賵爻讴 禺蹖賲賴 卮亘 亘丕夭蹖貙 賲賳鬲賴丕 亘夭乇诏鬲乇貨 芦禺丕賳賲 丿賳鬲禄 讴賴 賲賱丕蹖賲 亘賵丿 亘丕 芦禺丕賳賲 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 讴賴 亘丕 賲丨亘鬲 亘賵丿 丨乇賮 賲蹖鈥屫藏� 丕蹖賳 丿賵 诏丕賴蹖 讴賱賲賴鈥� 丕蹖 賴賲 亘丕 賲賳 乇丿 賵 亘丿賱 賲蹖鈥屭┴必嗀� 蹖丕 亘賴 賲賳 賱亘禺賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫藏嗀� 芦爻乇 噩賵乇噩 賱蹖賳禄貙 芦讴賱賳賱 丿賳鬲禄 賵 芦丌賯丕蹖 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 丕夭 爻蹖丕爻鬲貙 賵 丕賲賵乇 賲賲賱讴鬲蹖 賵 賲爻丕卅賱 賯囟丕蹖蹖 丨乇賮 賲蹖鈥屫藏嗀� 芦賱乇丿 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 亘丕 芦丕蹖賲蹖 丕蹖卮鬲賳禄 賱丕爻 賲蹖鈥屫藏� 芦賱賵卅蹖夭丕禄 賲蹖鈥屬嗁堌ж� 賵 賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗀� - 蹖丕 亘乇丕蹖 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌賯丕蹖丕賳貙 蹖丕 賴賲乇丕賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌賳鈥屬囏ж� 芦賲乇蹖 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄貙 亘蹖鈥屫з� 賵 亘蹖鈥屫官勜з傎囏� 亘賴 氐丨亘鬲鈥屬囏й� 乇噩夭 賲丕賳賳丿 蹖讴蹖 丿蹖诏乇 丕夭 芦丌賯丕蹖丕賳 賱蹖賳禄 诏賵卮 賲蹖鈥屫ж� 诏丕賴蹖 賴賲賴 亘丕賴賲貙 诏賵蹖蹖 亘丕 賳賵毓蹖 鬲賵丕賮賯 丿爻鬲賴 噩賲毓蹖貙 賳賲丕蹖卮鈥屬囏й� 賮乇毓蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 賲鬲賵賯賮 賲蹖鈥屭┴必嗀� 鬲丕 亘賴 賳賲丕蹖卮 亘丕夭蹖诏乇丕賳 丕氐賱蹖 賳诏丕賴 讴賳賳丿貙 賵 诏賵卮 亘丿賴賳丿貨 丌禺乇貙 芦丌賯丕蹖 乇丕趩爻鬲乇禄 賵 芦丿賵卮蹖夭賴 丕蹖賳诏乇丕賲禄 讴賴 賴賲賴 噩丕 亘丕 丕賵 亘賵丿貙 卮賲毓 賲丨賮賱 亘賵丿賳丿貨 丕诏乇 芦丌賯丕蹖 乇丕趩爻鬲乇禄 丨囟賵乇 賳賲蹖鈥屫ж簇� 賵丕賯毓丕 乇賵丨蹖賴 賲賴賲丕賳鈥屬囏� 讴爻賱 賲蹖鈥屫簇� 賵賯鬲蹖 賲蹖鈥屫①呚� 氐丨亘鬲鈥屬囏� 鬲丕夭诏蹖 賲蹖鈥屰屫з佖� 賵 夭賳丿賴鈥屫� 賲蹖鈥屫簇�.)貨 倬丕蹖丕賳
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 31/06/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/05/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
April 25, 2020
Este libro es una joya, con uno de los personajes femeninos m谩s 铆ntegros que he encontrado, de una fortaleza impresionante. La historia de una mujer valiente, con una buena dosis de misterio y por supuesto una buena dosis de romanticismo.
July 30, 2024
One of the most beloved novels in history for many generations ; "Jane Eyre" is set in England in the 1800's . The story of a neglected girl orphan of that name who never gives up her dream of happiness, no matter how remote a possibility, this goal can ever be reached. Hated by her cruel Aunt Mrs. Sarah Reed (NOT A BLOOD RELATIVE), and cousins Eliza, jealous of her more beautiful but spiteful sister Georgiana, and abused by them both. They look down at the beggar, this little poor girl this imposition, why is she here ? They show every day their contempt, not even bothering to hide it . It would be so nice everyone thinks, if Jane wasn't there. Her miserable, tormented life seems everlasting no escape, where would she go ? And treated like a lowly servant not a loved relative, she the orphan has to keep her feelings to herself. Bessie the nurse maid, is the only person that treats Miss Eyre kindly, secretly of course. The frosty aunt very reluctantly raised Jane, until the age of ten, then gladly Mrs. Reed sends the unwanted prepubescent Jane , to a charity school Lowood's, run by a clergyman the tyrannical Mr. Brocklehurst, he forgot the teachings of Jesus . Harshly treated there too, as are the other students (Jane is hungry and cold, often), by the director Brocklehurst, a man that believes in discipline, except for his own luxury- loving family ! Jane grows up a lonely woman with few friends, only one in fact fellow student Helen, (here for a short time) she hopes there has to be something better than mere existence. Leaving the horrible school after eight long years, the last two as a teacher the teenager gets a job as a lowly and paid little, governess , in a gloomy mansion far away. Her new "master" is the rather distant and frightening Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester, a mysterious man that spends little time at home. Jane becomes attractive to the not very attractive Rochester, many questions are left unaccountably unanswered at Thornfield Hall. The little girl Adele, the governess teaches and takes care of sometimes. Along with her French nurse, Sophie, is she Rochester's child or just his ward ? Those strange horrific noises up on the third floor , dreadful, devilish and inhuman laughs in the middle of the night, what is causing them ? How did the owner of the house make all his money ? Will Rochester marry the beautiful but greedy woman Blanche Ingram, she despises Miss Eyre and make her leave Thornfield Hall. Will the plain Jane ever find a place to call her own and find love and contentment ? This classic book written by one of the brilliant but short- lived Bronte sisters Charlotte, will not disappoint readers of great literature, still worth the effort after more than a century and a half of its existence ... it will continue for who knows how long ?
February 3, 2025
TUMBLR HAD ME CACKLING:
i love jane eyre but honestly imagine being friends with that bitch. like imagine trying to convince her to leave rochester and she鈥檚 like idk and you鈥檙e like he called u ugly???? he keeps his secret wife locked in the attic???? wake up???? and then you think she finally has it sorted out and she calls you a few months later like 鈥渉is wife killed herself and burned down the house so it鈥檚 cool we鈥檙e getting married鈥� like !!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DO YOU GO TO THAT WEDDING!!!!!! #that鈥檚 just a normal friendship with a straight girl honestly (all credit to: )
ORIGINAL "REVIEW":
I've debated long and hard as to whether I should write (and film) a full-length review but I honestly can't be bothered. This novel is ridiculously predictable, cheesy and way too over the top. The wish-fulfillment is off the roofs and the little Deus Ex Attica (sorry! :D) that Bront毛 had going on just pissed me off. There was fuckery on almost every single page, and I'm just over it. 0/10 would not recommend. ;)
i love jane eyre but honestly imagine being friends with that bitch. like imagine trying to convince her to leave rochester and she鈥檚 like idk and you鈥檙e like he called u ugly???? he keeps his secret wife locked in the attic???? wake up???? and then you think she finally has it sorted out and she calls you a few months later like 鈥渉is wife killed herself and burned down the house so it鈥檚 cool we鈥檙e getting married鈥� like !!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DO YOU GO TO THAT WEDDING!!!!!! #that鈥檚 just a normal friendship with a straight girl honestly (all credit to: )
ORIGINAL "REVIEW":
I've debated long and hard as to whether I should write (and film) a full-length review but I honestly can't be bothered. This novel is ridiculously predictable, cheesy and way too over the top. The wish-fulfillment is off the roofs and the little Deus Ex Attica (sorry! :D) that Bront毛 had going on just pissed me off. There was fuckery on almost every single page, and I'm just over it. 0/10 would not recommend. ;)
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