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Title: Jane Eyre
an Autobiography

Release Date: April 29, 2007

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JANE EYRE***

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

Transcribed from the 1897 Service & Paton edition by David Price, email [email protected]

JANE EYRE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

by
CHARLOTTE BRONTE

ILLUSTRATED BY F. H. TOWNSEND

London
SERVICE & PATON
5 henrietta street
1897

The Illustrations
in this Volume are the copyright of
Service & Paton London

TO
W. M. THACKERAY, Esq. ,

This Work
is respectfully written

by
THE AUTHOR

PREFACE

A preface to the first edition of “Jane Eyre” being unnecessary, I gave none:this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark.

My thanks are due in three quarters.

To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions.

To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure graduate student.

To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author.

The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and I must thank them in vague terms;but my Publishers are definite:so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling stranger; to them, i.e. , to my Publishers and the select Reviewers, I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart.

Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me, I turn to another class;a small one, so far as I know, but not, therefore, to be overlooked.I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as"Jane Eyre:" in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong;whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry-that parent of crime-an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth.I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions;I would remind them of certain simple truths.

Conventionality is not morality.Self-righteousness is not religion.To attack the first is not to assault the last.To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.

These things and deeds are diametrically opposed:they are as distinct as is vice from virtue. Men too often confound them:

Adaptation of the text by O. N. Prokofieva

Compilation of a commentary and dictionary by D. L. Abragin

Preface

Since its publication in 1847, Jane Eyre has been one of the most famous and widely read novels in the English language. Its author, Charlotte Brontë, was destined to become an extremely popular writer. However, she had to publish her novel under the male pseudonym Currer Bell, since women writers were rarely taken seriously, despite the success of such famous earlier writers as, for example, Jane Austen. By signing her name as a man, Charlotte Brontë hoped to ensure a more friendly reception for her work among readers.

When Jane Eyre was published, Charlotte was 31 years old, but in reality she had been writing all her life. Charlotte, her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anna enjoyed their childhood by imagining a lot and writing down the stories of the worlds created by their imagination in tiny books, some of which have survived to this day. So, Charlotte and Branwell came up with the African kingdom of Angria, and Emily and Anna created their own kingdom, Gondal. When the Bronte girls grew up, they were faced with the question of what to do - writing or teaching (there was little choice). Charlotte, Emily and Anna became writers.

Although the Brontës were very friendly, they had a hard life. They were the children of a local vicar and lived in Haworth, a town on the moors of Yorkshire (in the north of England). The family arrived here in 1820, but in 1821, when Charlotte was only five years old, her mother died of cancer. Aunt Elizabeth Branwell came to look after their children.

Then new misfortunes followed. In 1824, the four eldest daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Charlotte and Emily, were sent to Cowan Bridge, a boarding school for daughters of the clergy. And the next year, when a tuberculosis epidemic broke out at school, Elizabeth and Maria fell ill. They were sent home, but both girls died. Charlotte and Emily also returned home, and from then on Charlotte became the eldest daughter in the family.

Patrick Bronte, Charlotte's father, came from a poor Irish family, but his intelligence and hard work helped him get an education at Cambridge University. He firmly believed in the benefits of learning for both boys and girls. His house was full of books, among which were works written by himself. He instilled in all his children a love of reading.

However, it was precisely this addiction to reading that made it difficult for the Brontë children to communicate with local children, whose parents were mostly simple farmers and workers. Charlotte often felt that the people around her were unable to understand her, not having an equally developed mind. This feeling is also present on the pages of the novel “Jane Eyre”.

Like the writer's other novels, Jane Eyre contains many details and situations taken from her own life. Lowood, the harsh and unforgiving boarding school where Jane studies, has much in common with Cowan Bridge, where Charlotte herself lived for some time, and the character of Helen Burns, Jane's friend, may be based on memories of her older sisters. At the age of 19, Charlotte became a teacher at Rawhead School, and then found herself a position as a governess. And this event is also reflected in the novel. To find a husband, Charlotte, like her heroine, Jane, could not rely on her appearance, believing that she was too small, thin and unattractive. When love finally came to her, passionate and reckless, her object became a married man, and her feelings remained unrequited.

Together with her sisters Emily and Anne, Charlotte intended to open her own school in Haworth. But first, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to improve their knowledge of foreign languages by teaching English there. It was there that Charlotte fell in love with a married professor whose name was Mister Heger. After her aunt's death, Emily returned home to take care of her father, and Charlotte spent two whole years in Brussels. Obsessed with passion for Mr. Hezher, she carried her love throughout her life, although she did not find reciprocal feelings in him. Most of the writer's heroines are lonely and shy women who fall in love with older men. Although in her books she, of course, was free to give any twist to love stories.

The Brontë sisters failed to succeed in creating a school, and then they devoted themselves entirely to writing. All three sisters, who had long been writing poetry, published a book in 1846 under the pseudonyms Kerrer, Ellis and Acton Bell. It was not popular with readers, but the sisters did not give up. The following year, Ellis Bell's (Emily Brontë) novel Wuthering Heights and Acton Bell's (Anne Brontë) novel Agnes Gray were accepted for publication. Several publishers rejected Charlotte's first novel, The Teacher, but her second novel, Jane Eyre, was immediately accepted for publication. By the end of 1847, all three novels had been published, and the Bell brothers became a national sensation.

From the very beginning, the reading public was perplexed, not knowing who was hiding under the pseudonyms Bell. Some still dared to suggest that in fact they might actually be women. Soon the sisters had to open up. Jane Eyre was far more popular than the other two novels, and when Anne Brontë wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the publisher offered to publish it under Currer's name rather than Acton Bell's. Charlotte and Anna went to London to negotiate with publishers and only then revealed their real names for the first time.

Charlotte decided to make writing her main occupation, but soon misfortune befell her again. In the summer of 1848, her brother, Branwell Bronte, who was addicted to alcohol and opium, became seriously ill and died in September of that year. By mid-autumn it became clear that Emily was also sick, possibly with tuberculosis. However, Emily, a strong-willed woman, continued to run the household and refused to see a doctor. In December 1848, she also died before her 30th birthday.

To Charlotte's horror, Anna, her only surviving sister, was also diagnosed with tuberculosis. Having tried all treatment methods, in May 1849, Charlotte and her sister went to the seaside town of Scarborough, where the climate was more favorable for overcoming the disease. Here Anna died, leaving another wound in Charlotte's heart.

Over the next few years, Charlotte concentrated on writing and published two more novels: Shirley (1849) and Villette (1853). The last novel is considered by some critics to be her best work. She visited London several times, where she met other famous writers such as Elizabeth Gaskell and William Thackeray. Her portrait was painted in London. The writer's fame grew.

In 1852, the Reverend Arthur Bell Nichols, a modest priest working in Charlotte's father's parish in Haworth, proposed to her. At first she refused him, but in 1854 she still married him.

Although she did not feel true love for her husband, the marriage brought her some peace and quiet. But she continued to be depressed by the memory of the early death of her sisters and brother. The next year, when Charlotte fell ill with pneumonia, she did not find the strength to fight for life, although the disease was not incurable. In March 1855, while expecting her first child, she died at the age of 38.

After the author’s death, Charlotte’s first novel, “Teacher,” was published. Novelist Elizabeth Gaskell wrote a biography of Charles Brontë. It is thanks to this that the lives of the Brontë sisters, as well as their novels, have become so widely known to the public. Since then, the work of the Bronte sisters and their fate have invariably won the hearts of readers.

Chapter 1

It was impossible to take a walk that day. Since dinner the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was out of the question. Instead, we had to amuse ourselves indoors. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons. My cousins, Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed were sitting round their mama in the drawing-room by the fire-side, but I was not allowed to join the group.

“You, Jane, are excluded from our company until I hear from Bessie that you can behave like a proper, sweet little girl,” announced Mrs. Reed.

“What does Bessie say I have done?” I asked.

“Jane, I don’t like questioners; don't answer me back. Be seated somewhere; and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent.”

I went into another room, with a bookcase in it. I took one of the books, Bewick’s History of British Birds, and climbed into the window seat. I drew the curtain, gathered up my feet, and sat cross-legged, like a Turk. Then I immersed myself into another world. I was now discovering the shores of Lapland, Siberia, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Iceland, Greenland, with ‘the vast sweep of the Arctic Zone, and that reservoir of frost and snow. Of these death white realms I formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children’s brains, but strangely impressive.

The book contained pictures, and each picture told a story. These stories were as interesting as the tales Bessie sometimes narrated on winter evenings when she was in good humor and fed our attention with passages of love and adventure from old fairy tales and other ballads.

With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy: happy at least in my way. I feared nothing but interruption, and that came too soon. The breakfast-room door opened.

“Boh!” cried the voice of John Reed. Then he paused as he thought the room was empty. “Where is she? Lizzy! Georgy! Tell Mama! Jane’s run out into the rain!”

“She’s in the window seat,” Eliza said at once.

I came out immediately before John could drag me out.

“What do you want?” I asked.

John Reed was a fourteen-year-old schoolboy, four years older than I. He was large and stout for his age, and he bullied me continually. I hated and feared him, I could do nothing against his menaces. The servants did not like to offend their young master, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject.

All at once, without speaking, John struck suddenly and strongly

“That is for your rude answer to mama, for hiding behind curtains and for the look you had in your eyes, you rat,” he said.

“What were you doing behind that curtain?”

“I was reading.”

“Show me the book.”

I gave him the book.

“You have no right to take our books. You have no money, your father left you none, you should beg, and not live with us. Now, I'll teach you a lesson. Go and stand by the door.”

I did so, then waited, flinching. He hurled the heavy book at me. It hit me and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the pain was sharp: suddenly my terror was gone, and I was full of anger.

“Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer!”

“Did she say that to me? Did you hear her, Eliza and Georgiana? Won't I tell mama? but first -“

He grasped my hair and my shoulder. I don’t very well know what I did with my hands, but he called me ‘Rat! Rat!’, Eliza, and Georgiana ran for Mrs. Reed.

We were parted, and Mrs. Reed was standing over me.

“Dear, dear,” said Abbott, shaking her head. “What a fury, to fly at master John!”

“Take her away to the red-room,” said Mrs. Reed, “and lock her in there.”

The red-room was the biggest bedroom in Gateshead Hall, with a red carpet, red damask drapery, red velvet curtains, and a dark mahogany bed in it. Nobody slept there. Nobody wanted to. It was here, nine years before, in that very bed that Mr. Reed had died. Ever since I had often heard the servants whispering that it was haunted.

I resisted all the way. Bessie and Abbott had to force me through the door. I only stopped struggling when they were threatened to tie me to a chair.

“What shocking conduct, Miss Eyre, to strike a young gentleman! Your young master.”

“Master! How is he my master? Am I a servant?”

“No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep,” said Miss Abbot.

“Miss Eyre, you should be grateful to Mrs. Reed for keeping you,” said Bessie, in a kinder voice. “If you don’t behave, she might send you away, and then where would you be?”

“You’d better say your prayers, Miss, and ask for forgiveness,” said Abbott.

They left and locked the door behind them.

Left alone, holding furiously onto the chair I had been pushed into, I turned the afternoon’s events over and over in my mind. Why did everyone adore selfish, rude John, Georgiana and Eliza, and hate me, even though I tried to be good? Why could I never please? Was it because they were pretty, with their golden curls and silk dresses, and I was poor and plain? “Unjust! – unjust!” said a voice in my head.

The room was silent as it was far from the nursery and kitchen. It was getting dark as the daylight faded and I had no candle. It was cold too as there was no fire. I thought about Mr. Reed. He had been my uncle – my mother’s brother. When my parents had died, I was a baby, and my uncle Reed had brought me to live at Gateshead Hall. Bessie had told me that Mrs. Reed only continued to look after me because, just before his death, Mr. Reed had made her promise that she would.

He had always been kind to me. Perhaps now his spirit was watching, and was angry about the way they treated me. Perhaps – I gripped the chair more tightly, and felt frightened – perhaps his ghost really lived in this room.

The thought of seeing a ghost, even kind Mr. Reed's ghost, filled me with terror. I was not quite sure whether Abbott and Bessie had locked the door; I got up and went to see. Alas! yes. I stared into the darkness in panic, convinced a phantom was about to appear.

At this moment a light gleamed on the wall and began to glide slowly across the ceiling towards me.

Looking back, I know it was probably nothing more than a footman carrying a lantern across the lawn. But, in my terrified state of mind, I believed it was the ghost. My head grew hot, something seemed near me. I rushed to the door and shook the lock in desperate effort screaming.

I heard footsteps, the key turned, Bessie and Abbot entered.

“Take me out! Let me go into the nursery!” I cried.

“What for? Are you hurt? Have you seen something?” demanded Bessie.

“I saw a light, and I thought it was a ghost...”

“What is all this?” It was Mrs. Reed. “Bessie, I told you to leave Jane alone.”

“Miss Jane screamed so loudly, ma’am...”

“You cannot get out by these means, child,” Mrs. Reed said. “It is my duty to show you that tricks will not work. You will now stay here an hour longer.”

“O aunt! have pity! Forgive me!”

But I was only an actress in her eyes. Bessie and Abbot left first, Mrs. Reed pushed me back into the room and locked me in.

Left alone once more, I fell unconscious, as that was the last thing I remembered.

Chapter 2

When I woke up, I was somewhere warm and soft. There was a red glow and muffled voices around me. Someone lifted me, and then I rested my head against a pillow or an arm, and felt easy.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in my own bed. The glow came from the fire. It was night. Bessie stood beside me, looking anxious, and a gentleman sat in a chair near my pillow. I knew him. It was Mr. Lloyd, an apothecary. Mrs. Reed called him sometimes when the servants were ill.

“Who am I, Jane?” he asked.

“Mr. Lloyd,” I said, offering him at the same time my hand. He took it and smiled.

“I think she'll be alright. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

He departed, to my grief. I felt so sheltered when he sat in the chair, and then all the room darkened.

“Would you like to sleep, Miss Eyre?” asked Bessie, rather softly.

“I'll try.”

“Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“I would love to go to school.”

“Well then,” he said. “I will speak to Mrs. Reed.”

Chapter 3

After that day a change seemed near, I desired and waited for it in silence. Mrs. Reed dropped no hint about sending me to school but I felt she would no longer endure me under the same roof. I eat my meals alone, and Mrs. Reed told John, Eliza and Georgiana not to speak to me. I spent more time with the servants than with the Reeds. Sometimes Bessie let me dust and tidy the rooms to keep me busy.

November, December, and half of January passed away. During all Christmas and New Year parties I waited in my room, listening to the sound of the piano, the clink of glasses and the hum of conversation below. Once or twice Bessie brought me a cake from the feast.

It was the fifteenth of January, about nine o’clock in the morning. Bessie came running into the nursery. “Miss Jane! What are you doing there?” she said. “Have you washed your hands and face this morning?” She hurried me up to the washstand, scrubbed my face and quickly brushed my hair. I wanted downstairs.

I slowly descended and stopped in front of the breakfast-room door trembling. I feared to return to the nursery, and feared to go forward. Ten minutes I stood in hesitation until I finally decided: I MUST enter.

Mrs. Reed was in her usual seat be the fireside, she made a signal to me to approach and introduced me to a tall grey-eyed gentleman with the words: “This is the little girl I wrote to you about.”

“She is so small. What is her age?” he said in a bass voice.

“Ten years.”

“So much? What is your name, little girl?”

“Jane Eyre, sir.”

“Well, Jane Eyre, are you a good child?”

It was impossible to answer. I thought I was good, but I knew no one else in the house would say so. I was silent. Mrs. Reed answered for me by shaking her head and adding: “The less said about that, the better.”

“Sorry indeed to hear! She and I must talk. Come here.”

I came up to him. He placed me straight before him. What a face he had! What a great nose! And what a mouth!

“No sight so sad as that of a naughty child. Do you know where wicked people go, Jane, after they die?”

“They go to hell,” was my ready answer.

“Is that what you want to happen to you?”

“No, sir,” I said.

“What must you do to avoid it?”

I was at a loss. I knew I couldn’t try any harder to be good. “I must take care not to die, sir.”

“Do you say your prayers night and morning?”

“Do you read your Bible?” continued my interrogator.

“Sometimes.”

“Are you fond of it?”

“I like Revelations, and the book of Daniel.”

“And the Psalms?”

“I don’t like them.”

“Oh, shocking! I know a little boy, younger than you, who knows six Psalms by heart. When asked what he would prefer, a nut or a Psalm to learn, he says, ‘Oh, the verse of a Psalm, please. Angels sing Psalms. I wish to be like a little angel.’ He then gets two nuts as a reward for his goodness.”

“Psalms are not interesting.”

“You must pray to God to change your wicked heart and give you a new and clean one.”

I wanted to ask him how when Mrs. Reed broke the silence.

“Mr. Brocklehurst,” she said. “If you admit her into Lowood schoold, I want the superintendent and teachers keep a strict eye on her. Deceit is, indeed, a sad fault in a child.” Uttered before a stranger, the accusation cut me to the heart.

“Deceit is, indeed, a sad fault in a child. She will be watched, Mrs. Reed. “I will speak to Miss Temple and the teachers,” said Mr. Brocklehurst.

“I wish her to be made useful and humble. She will, with your permission, spend all vacations at Lowood.”

“I approve of your decisions, madam.”

“I will send her, then, as soon as possible, Mr. Brocklehurst.”

“I will send Miss Temple notice about a new girl, so that there will be no difficulty about receiving her. Good-bye.”

“Good-bye, Mr. Brocklehurst.”

Mrs. Reed and I were left alone: some minutes passed in silence; she was sewing, I was watching her with rage in my eyes. Mrs. Reed looked up from her work

“Return to the nursery,” she ordered with irritation. But first I wanted to talk with her.

“I am not deceitful,” I said. “If I were, I would lie and say I love you, and I declare I do not love you. I dislike you, and your son, and the girls. They tell lies, not me.”

“Have you anything more to add?” she asked coldly, as if she were speaking to an adult, not a child. Her tone made me even more furious. Shaking from head to foot, I continued: “I am glad you are no relation to mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. People think you are a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. YOU are deceitful!”

“'Jane, you are under a mistake: what is the matter with you? I assure you, I desire to be your friend.”

“Not you. You told Mr. Brocklehurst I had a bad and deceitful character; and I’ll let everyone at Lowood know what you are, and what you have done. Send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here.”

“I will indeed send her to school soon,” muttered Mrs. Reed and left the room. I won't.

“All at once I heard a clear voice call, ‘Miss Jane! where are you? Come to lunch!”

It was Bessie, I knew well enough, but I did not move. She came and her presence seemed cheerful. I put my two arms around her.

“You are going to school, I suppose?” she asked.

“And won’t you be sorry to leave poor Bessie?”

“Not at all, Bessie; Indeed, I’m rather sorry.”

She laughed at my words and we embraced.

Review of the book by Jane Eyre

The story of the suffering and hardships of the poor English orphan Jane Eyre for almost three centuries arouses the keen interest and compassion of readers around the world. The author of the work is Charlotte Bronte, a wonderful English writer. She chose an easy and accessible storytelling style to tell the complex story of Jen's life. The events described in the novel take place in England during the Victorian era and reflect the realities of the life of the writer herself.

The novel was published in 1847 and literally immediately won the recognition of readers. Jen is an orphan, penniless, living at the expense of her aunt, who hates the poor girl and eventually sends her to an orphanage. Strength of spirit, courage and a sharp mind help Jen to withstand all the hardships and hardships that befall the unfortunate orphan. The girl went through incredible difficulties and was finally rewarded by fate. She receives a position as a governess in the family of a wealthy landowner, Mr. Rochester. Jen is very happy with her new status; she has her own room. The girl really likes the quiet village life, beautiful gardens, a large mansion whose libraries are filled with books. It seems that nothing can disturb the tranquility of her new life, but this is where the real tests for Jen and the most exciting and mysterious events begin.

The sarcastic temperament of the owner of the house initially repels Jen, but the hostility gradually develops into something completely different. A strong and deep feeling arises between young people, which, it would seem, nothing can interfere. But even here the girl is in for an unpleasant surprise - a terrible secret kept by Jen’s lover is revealed at the moment of her greatest happiness and turns the girl’s whole life upside down. Fate puts the girl before the most difficult choice - to be with her beloved no matter what or to leave and forget about her love forever. What will Jen choose?

Jane Eyre is considered one of the most romantic novels of all time. With characters as unforgettable as their story itself, the work has become one of the most significant in English literature.

The novel's exciting plot and simple language make it easy to read the novel in its original language. For those who are looking to improve their English, this novel is the perfect choice. On our website we are pleased to provide you with this opportunity and publish the novel “Jane Eyre” in two languages – the original language and a translation into Russian.

Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre" in English

The novel begins with the titular character, Jane Eyre, aged 10, living with her maternal uncle’s family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle’s dying wish. It is several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed, Jane’s uncle, was the only one in the Reed family who was kind to Jane. Jane’s aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, treats her as a burden, and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, physically, emotionally, and, as the reader is quick to realize, spiritually. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane’s only ally in the household, even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy, with only a doll and books in which to find solace.

One day, after her cousin John knocks her down and she attempts to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended by the kindly apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs. Reed happily supports. Mrs. Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr. Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs. Reed cautions Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a “tendency for deceit”, which he interprets as her being a “liar”. Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she’ll never call her “aunt” again, that Mrs. Reed and her daughters, Georgiana, are the ones who are deceitful, and that she’ll tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her.

At Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh, but she attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns, who is able to accept her punishment philosophically. During a school inspection by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. He then stands her on a stool, brands her a liar, and shames her before the entire assembly. Jane is later comforted by her friend, Helen. Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane’s self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd, whose reply agrees with Jane’s. Jane is then publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.

The 80 pupils at Lowood are subject to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes, and Jane’s friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms. WhenMr. Brocklehurst’s maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr. Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically.

The name Lowood symbolizes the “low” point in Jane’s life where she was maltreated. Helen Burns is a representation of Charlotte’s elder sister Maria, who died of tuberculosis after spending time at a school where the children were mistreated.

After six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave, like her friend and confidante Miss Temple, who recently married. She advertises her services as a governess and receives one reply, from Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl.

One night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle is his ward, left in his care when her mother abandoned her.

At Jane’s first meeting with him within Thornfield, Mr. Rochester teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. He also talks strangely in other ways, but Jane is able to give as good as she gets. Mr. Rochester and Jane will soon come to enjoy each other’s company, and spend many evenings together.

Odd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester’s room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him and the fire), and an attack on a house guest of Rochester’s, a Mr. Mason. Then Jane receives the word that her aunt Mrs. Reed is calling for her, after suffering a stroke because her unruly son John has died in sad circumstances. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for a month, attending to her dying aunt. As she lies dying, Mrs. Reed confesses to Jane that she has wronged her, and gives Jane a letter from Jane’s paternal uncle, Mr. John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs. Reed admits to telling Mr. Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Jane’s aunt dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield.

Back at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to the beautiful and talented, but snobbish and heartless, Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married, but how she will soon forget him. There then follows one of the most stirring speeches in the whole book, when the normally self-controlled Jane opens her heart to him. Rochester is then sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first sceptical of his sincerity, but eventually believes him and gladly agrees to marry him. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news.

As she prepares for her wedding, Jane’s forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr. Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is still married to Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, his wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield.

It turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre, is a friend of Mr. Mason’s and was visited by him soon after Mr. Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.

Jane travels as far from Thornfield as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and has to sleep on the moor, and unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and hungry, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother and a clergyman, saves her. After she regained her health, St. John finds Jane a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof.

The sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane’s true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to over £1.3 million in 2011). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters’ uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to Moor House to live.

Proposals

Thinking Jane will make a suitable missionary’s wife, St. John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane’s resolve against marriage to St. John begins to weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester’s wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. “Am I hiding, Jane?”, he asks. “Very, sir: you always were, you know”, she replies. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes, and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.

Jane Eyre adapted into English. Book: Bronte S. “Jane Eyre (in English). Other books on similar topics

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

JANE EYRE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

PREFACE

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre" in English

Proposals

Jane's childhood

Lowood

Thornfield Hall

Other employment

Proposals