Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Michael Mason (1996)

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (1847)

This literary classic is a little bit outside my usual reading material but I have it in my library and just finished reading it. The overall impression I got is it gets better as you go along and finally becomes a real page turner towards the end. Jane Eyre consists of biography, horror, mystery, and fulfillment, all combined in a framework of high romance.

Jane Eyre is the story of a young woman who is an orphan and is raised until the age of ten by a widow named Mrs. Reed, who has three children of her own. The four Reeds make Jane's life a difficult one and when Jane gives the cruel boy a well deserved reproof, the mother sends her packing to an institution, run by a cheerless clergyman named Brocklehurst.

Lowood is a girl's school for the poor and the parsimonious clergyman does not waste any money on feeding and clothing his charges, but gives them just the bare minimum to survive. In fact he is embezzling and spending the money donated for the girls on his family's own comforts but this only comes out later.

Ten year-old Jane has a particular friend, Helen, who is older but is always being unjustly punished and taking it with an angelic demeanor. This person teaches Jane to be long suffering, even though she ultimately dies in the orphan's school. Jane takes to the education through the nurture of one friendly teacher and, once her schooling is over, stays on as a teacher herself.

Jane finally tires of teaching and advertises for a position which she finds as governess for a small French girl, Adele. It is there she meets the love of her life Mr. Rochester, probably two decades her senior, master of Thornfield House.

At this time Jane also hears disturbing lunatic laughter and sees a few scary things in the night including an apparition and a dangerous fire. She is very infatuated with Rochester and the feelings are mutual but both keep their emotions buried for a long time. Many developments happen and Jane finally gets a letter long withheld by the hateful Mrs. Reed.

Ultimately Jane and Rochester do begin to make plans but on the day of their wedding something occurs that relates to Rochester's past, and strangely, to Jane's future. The wedding is called off and Jane flees into the snow when Rochester proves too ardent a suitor.

She is taken in almost dead after several days privation and the Rivers family also has a former connection with Jane even though none of them realize it at the time. The whole story begins to come full circle when the son, St. John, tells Jane a strange story that completely explains the gaps in her past. I don't want to explain any more as the story actually comes to a very satisfying conclusion that I hope you'll read for yourself.

The characters are very well delineated with Jane, as narrator and protagonist, particularly having a rich inner life. She reveals her thoughts and the descriptions of everybody else come from her. The preface of my book indicates that Jane presents an autobiographical model of the author Charlotte Bronte.

In today's society it may not be as apparent but Jane's attitudes are quite revolutionary for their times. Women could not vote or exercise a lot of rights they take for granted today. Also a woman as well educated and articulate as Jane was would be very rare. Her faculties are keen and she believes there is fulfillment in vocations as well as in marriage.

Charlotte Bronte, in fact, had the book published under the pseudonym Currer Bell, a man's name, as women were not considered competent to author books in 1847. Lots of social reforms sprung from works like Jane Eyre which revealed many wrongs that were woven in the fabric of society. Today Jane Eyre is considered a high water mark in British Literature. It has been in continuous publication from 1847 - 160 years.

Apart from any historical or liberation themes I found Jane Eyre to be an excellent read once I got into the rhythm of the writing. I urge everybody to give this book and other classics a chance.