《简·爱》是英国十九世纪著名的女作家夏洛蒂·勃朗特的代表作，人们普遍认为《简·爱》是夏洛蒂·勃朗特“诗意的生平”的写照，是一部具有自传色彩的作品。夏洛蒂·勃朗特、艾米莉·勃朗特、安妮·勃朗特和勃朗宁夫人构成那个时代英国妇女最高荣誉的完美的三位一体。
《简·爱》是一部带有自传色彩的长篇小说，它阐释了这样一个主题：人的价值＝尊严＋爱。《简·爱》刚出版时,作者夏洛蒂勃朗特用的笔名是柯勒贝尔。以至于之后她的姐妹们出的书都被误认为是她写的。好在她之后亲自在《简·爱》再版时澄清事实。
《简·爱》的作者夏洛蒂·勃朗特和《呼啸山庄》的作者艾米莉是姐妹。虽然两人生活在同一社会，家庭环境中，性格却大不相同，夏洛蒂.勃朗特显得更加的温柔，更加的清纯，更加的喜欢追求一些美好的东西，尽管她家境贫穷，从小失去了母爱，父爱也很少，再加上她身材矮小，容貌不美，但也许就是这样一种灵魂深处的很深的自卑，反映在她的性格上就是一种非常敏感的自尊，以自尊作为她内心深处的自卑的补偿。她描写的简。爱也是一个不美的，矮小的女人，但是她有着极其强烈的自尊心。她坚定不移地去追求一种光明的，圣洁的，美好的生活。
《简·爱》-故事梗概
简·爱的父亲是个穷牧师，当她还在幼年时，父母就染病双双去世。简·爱被送到盖茨海德庄园的舅母里德太太家抚养，里德先生临死前曾嘱咐妻子好好照顾简·爱。简·爱在里德太太家的地位，连使女都不如，受尽了表兄表姊妹的欺侮。一天表兄又打她了，她回手反抗，却被舅母关进红房子里，她的舅舅里德先生就死在这间屋子里。她被幻想中的鬼魂吓昏了过去。重病一场，过了很久才慢慢恢复健康。
她再也不想呆在里德太太家了，里德太太就把她送进达罗沃德孤儿院。孤儿院院长是个冷酷的伪君子，他用种种办法从精神和肉体上摧残孤儿。简与孤儿海伦结成好友，教师潭泊尔小姐很关心她。在孤儿院里一场传染性的伤寒，夺走了许多降儿的生命，海伦就在这场伤寒中死去，这对简·爱 打击很大。
简毕业后留校当了两年教师，她受不了那里的孤寂、冷漠，登广告找到了一个家庭教师的工作，于是她来到了桑费尔德庄园。在桑费尔德庄园只有庄园主罗彻斯特和他的私生女阿戴尔·瓦伦斯，而罗彻斯特经常到国外旅行，所以简到桑费尔德好几天，也没见到罗彻斯特。
一天黄昏，简外出散步，惊了刚刚从外面回来的罗彻斯特的马，罗彻斯特从马上摔了下来，简急忙上前去扶他，回到家后简才知道他便是庄园主罗彻斯特。罗彻斯特是个性格阴郁而又喜怒无常的人，他和简经常为某种思想新辩论不休。
在桑费尔德庄园不断发生奇怪的事情。有一天夜里，简被一阵奇怪的笑声惊醒，发现罗彻斯特的房门开着，床上着了火，她叫醒罗彻斯特并扑灭火。罗彻斯特告诉简三楼住着一个女栽缝格雷斯·普尔，她神精错乱，时常发出令人毛骨悚然的狂笑声，并要她对此事严守秘密。
罗彻斯特经常参加舞会，一天他把客人请到家里来玩，人们都以为在这场舞会上罗彻斯特会向布兰奇小姐求婚。在宴会上罗彻斯特坚持要简也到客厅里去，客人们对简的太度十分轻慢，罗彻却邀请简跳舞，简感觉到自己对罗彻斯特发生感情。
一天，罗彻斯特外出，家里来了一个蒙着盖头的吉卜赛人。当轮到给简算命时，简发现这个神秘的吉卜赛人就是罗彻斯特，他想借此试探简对他的感情。这时庄园里又来了个名梅森的陌生人，当晚他被三楼的神秘女人咬伤了，简帮罗彻斯特把他秘密送走。
不久，里德太太派人来找简，说她病危要见简一面。回到舅母家中，里德太太给她一封信，这封信是三年前简的叔父寄来的，向她打听侄女的消息，并把自己的遗产交给简。里德太太谎称简在孤儿院病死了，直到临终前才良心发现把真相告诉简。
简又回到桑费尔德庄园感觉像回到家一样。回来后，罗彻斯特向她未婚，简答应了，并高兴地准备婚礼。婚礼前夜，简从梦中惊醒，看到一个身材高大、面目可憎的女人正在戴她的婚纱，然后把婚纱撕成碎片。罗彻斯特告诉她那不过是一个梦，第二天当简醒来时发现婚纱真的成了碎片。
婚礼如期举行，一位不速之客闯进了教堂，声称婚礼不能进行，他说罗彻斯特15 年前娶梅森先生的妹妹伯莎·梅森为妻。罗彻斯特承认了这一事实，并领人们看被关在三楼的疯女人，那就是他的合法妻子。她有遗传性精神病史，就是她在罗彻斯特的房间放火，也是她撕碎简的婚纱。
简悲痛欲绝地离开了桑费尔德庄园。她的仅有的积蓄花光了，沿途乞讨，最后晕倒在牧师圣约翰家门前，被圣约翰和他的两个妹妹救了。简住了下来，圣约翰为她谋了一个乡村教师的职位。
不久，圣约翰接到家庭律师的通知，说他的舅舅约翰简去世了，留给简二万英镑，要圣约翰帮助寻找简。圣约翰发现简是他的表妹，简执意要与他们分享遗产。圣约翰准备去印度传教，临行前向简求婚，但他坦率地告诉她，他要娶她并不是因为爱她，而是他需要一个很有教养的助手。简觉得应该报答他的恩情，但迟迟不肯答应他。当夜，圣约翰在荒原上等待简的答复，就在简要作出决定的时候，她仿佛听到罗彻斯特在遥远的地方呼喊她的名字“简，回来吧！简，回来吧！”她决定回到罗彻斯特身边。
当简回到桑费尔德庄园时，整个庄园变成一片废墟。原来几个月前，在一个风雨交加的夜晚，疯女人伯莎放火烧毁了整个庄园，罗彻斯特为了救她，被烧瞎了双眼，孤独地生活在几英里外的一个农场里。简赶到家场，向他吐露自己的爱情，他们终于结婚了。 两年之后，治好了罗彻斯特的一只眼睛，他看到了简为他生的第一个孩子。
《简·爱》-小说评价
《简·爱》是一本具有多年历史的文学著作。至今已152年的历史了，它成功地塑造了英国文学史中第一个对爱情、生活、社会以及宗教都采取了独立自主的积极进取态度和敢于斗争、敢于争取自由平等地位的女性形象。
《简·爱》是一部带有自转色彩的长篇小说，是英国十九世纪著名三姐妹作家之一的夏洛蒂·勃朗特所著。这是一本用自己的心与强烈的精神追求铸炼成的一本书，含着作者无限的情感和个性魅力，为女性赢得了一片灿烂的天空。
简. 爱生存在一个父母双亡，寄人篱下的环境，从小就承受着与同龄人不一样的待遇，姨妈的嫌弃，表姐的蔑视，表哥的侮辱和毒打。这是对一个孩子的尊严的无情践踏，然而幸运的是在极其刻薄的寄宿学校的生活中，简·爱遇到了一个可爱的朋友：海伦·彭斯,海伦温顺、聪颖和无比宽容的性格一直影响着简.爱，使之以后面对种种困难都不再屈服抱怨，懂得了爱和忠诚。
在罗切斯特的面前,她从不因为自己是一个地位低贱的家庭教师而感到自卑，反而认为他们是平等的。不应该因为她是仆人，而不能受到别人的尊重。也正因为她的正直，高尚，纯洁，心灵没有受到世俗社会的污染，使得罗切斯特为之震撼，并把她看做了一个可以和自己在精神上平等交谈的人，并且慢慢地深深爱上了她。这是简·爱 告诉罗切斯特她必须离开的理由，但是从内心讲，更深一层的东西是简·爱意识到自己受到了欺骗，她的自尊心受到了戏弄，因为她深爱着罗切斯特,试问哪个女人能够承受得住被自己最信任，最亲密的人所欺骗呢?这样一种非常强大的爱情力量包围之下，在美好，富裕的生活诱惑之下，她依然要坚持自己作为个人的尊严，这是简·爱最具有精神魅力的地方。
小说设计了一个很光明的结尾－－虽然罗切斯特的庄园毁了，他自己也成了一个残废，但我们看到，正是这样一个条件，使简·爱 不再在尊严与爱之间矛盾，而同时获得满足－－她在和罗切斯特结婚的时候是有尊严的，同时也是有爱的。任何文学作品都是作者体验生活的结晶，从书中多少可看出作者的影子。《简·爱》也是如此，大量的细节可以在作者的生活中得到印证。当然 《简·爱》并不是一本自传，作者只是把自己丰富的生活经历融进了一部充满想象力的文章里。人们知道《简·爱》是作者生活中的写照，但又有多少人知道作者是在怎样的情况下写下《简·爱》的呢。
小说告诉我们，人的最美好的生活是人的尊严加爱，小说的结局给女主人公安排的就是这样一种生活。虽然我觉得这样的结局过于完美，甚至这种圆满本身标志着浮浅，但是我依然尊重作者对这种美好生活的理想－－就是尊严加爱，毕竟在当今社会，要将人的价值＝尊严＋爱这道公式付之实现常常离不开金钱的帮助。人们都疯狂地似乎为了金钱和地位而淹没爱情。在穷与富之间选择富，在爱与不爱之间选择不爱。很少有人会像简这样为爱情为人格抛弃所有，而且义无反顾。《简·爱》所展现给我们的正是一种化繁为简，是一种返朴归真，是一种追求全心付出的感觉，是一种不计得失的简化的感情，它犹如一杯冰水，净化每一个读者的心灵，同时引起读者，特别是女性读者的共鸣。
Plot introduction
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism. It is a novel considered ahead of its time. In spite of the dark, brooding elements, it has a strong sense of right and wrong, of morality at its core.
Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters and most editions are at least 400 pages long (although the preface and introduction on certain copies are liable to take up another 100). The original was published in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38.
Brontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.
Plot summary
Chapters 1-4: Jane's childhood at Gateshead
Young Jane argues with her guardian Mrs. Reed of Gateshead. Illustration by F. H. Townsend.
A ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre lives with her uncle's family, the Reeds. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her intensely. When her uncle dies, her aunt and the three Reed children become abusive. When bullied by her cousin John, Jane retaliates but is punished for the ensuing fight and is locked in the room where Mr. Reed died. As night falls, Jane's panicked screams rouse the house, but Mrs. Reed won't let her out. Jane faints and Mr. Lloyd, an apothecary, is summoned. He talks with Jane and sympathetically suggests that she should go away to school.
Chapters 5-10: Jane's education at Lowood School
Mrs. Reed sends Jane to Lowood Institution, a charity school, and warns them that Jane is deceitful. During an inspection, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, and Mr. Brocklehurst, the self-righteous clergyman who runs the school, brands her as a liar and shames her before the entire assembly.
Jane is comforted by her friend, Helen Burns. Miss Temple, a caring teacher, facilitates Jane's self-defense and writes to Mr. Lloyd whose reply agrees with Jane's. Ultimately, Jane is publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.
Jane tries to catch Mr. Rochester's horse.
While the Brocklehurst family lives in luxury, the eighty pupils are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes. Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms.
When Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are laid bare, several benefactors erect a new building and conditions at the school improve dramatically.
Chapters 11-26: Jane's time as governess at Thornfield Hall
Eight years later, Jane is a teacher employed by Alice Fairfax (the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall) as governess for Adèle Varens, a young French girl. Out walking one day, Jane encounters and helps a horseman who has sprained his ankle. On her return to Thornfield, she discovers that the horseman is Edward Rochester, Master of Thornfield Hall. Rochester is a moody, self-willed man nearly twenty years older than Jane. Adèle is his ward, belonging to a French "opera dancer" with whom he had a romantic relationship in the past. Adèle, however, is not his daughter, but is brought up by him after her mother abandons her.
Jane saves Mr. Rochester from a fire.
Miss Blanche Ingram looking in a book.
Mr. Rochester disguised as a Gypsy woman.
Bertha Mason rips Jane's wedding veil.
Mr. Rochester seems quite taken with Jane, and she enjoys his company. However, odd things begin to happen: a strange laugh is heard in the halls, a near-fatal fire mysteriously breaks out, and a guest named Mason is attacked.
Jane receives word that Mrs. Reed has suffered a stroke and is asking for her. Returning to Gateshead, she remains for over a month while her aunt lies dying. Mrs. Reed rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, but does give her a letter previously withheld out of spite. The letter is from John Eyre, Jane's uncle, notifying her that he wanted her to live with him in Madeira.
After returning to Thornfield, Jane broods over Rochester's impending marriage to Blanche Ingram. But on a midsummer evening, he proclaims his love for Jane and proposes. As she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with previous mysterious events, Mr Rochester attributes the incident to drunkenness on the part of Grace Poole, one of his servants.
During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is already married to Mr. Mason's sister. Mr. Rochester bitterly admits the truth, explaining that his wife is a violent madwoman whom he keeps locked in the attic, in the care of Grace Poole. When Grace occasionally drinks too much, it gives his wife a chance to escape, and she is the true cause of Thornfield's strange events.
Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.
Chapters 27-35: Jane's time with the Rivers family
Jane leaves Thornfield and sleeps outside.
Jane begs for food.
St. John Rivers admits Jane to Moor House.
Jane travels to the north of England. After mislaying her funds, she sleeps on the moor and begs for food, but is turned away as a beggar, a thief, or worse. Exhausted, she is saved by St. John Rivers, a young clergyman, who brings her to the home of his sisters, Diana and Mary. As she regains her health, St. John finds her a teaching position at a nearby charity school. Jane becomes warm friends with Mary and Diana, but St. John is too reserved for her to relate to, despite his efforts on her behalf. Jane sees that the brother and sisters have money-related worries, but does not enquire further.
Rosamond Oliver shows an interest in St. John.
St. John tells Jane she has inherited £20,000.
Jane considering St. John's proposal.
When the sisters leave for governess jobs in London, St. John becomes more comfortable around Jane, evidencing his own conflicts of the heart, which involve the beautiful and wealthy Rosamond Oliver. When Jane confronts him about his feelings for Miss Oliver, he confesses that he has turned away from them, because he feels called to be a missionary, and he knows that Miss Oliver would not accept such a life.
St. John discovers Jane's true identity, and astounds her by showing her a letter stating that her uncle John has died and left her his entire fortune of £20,000, equivalent to £1,560,000 in today's pounds. When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance, but have since resigned themselves to nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding her family, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins.
St. John asks Jane to accompany him to India as his wife. He asks solely because he wishes a good missionary's wife, a role in which he believes Jane will excel. She agrees to go, but refuses marriage, believing his reserve and reason incompatible with her warmth and passion. But, his powers of persuasion eventually begin to convince her to change her mind.
However, at that very moment, she suddenly seems to hear Mr. Rochester calling her name. The next morning, she leaves for Thornfield to ascertain Mr. Rochester's well-being before departing forever for India.
Chapters 36-38: Jane's reunion with Mr. Rochester
Thornfield burned to the ground by Bertha.
Jane and Mr. Rochester reunited.
Mr. Rochester's sight improving.
Jane arrives at Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.
Characters
* Jane Eyre: The protagonist of the novel and the title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Although she falls in love with her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester, her strong sense of conscience does not permit her to become his mistress, and she does not return to him until his insane wife is dead and she herself has come into an inheritance.
* Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.
* Mrs. Sarah Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane but neglects and abuses her. Her dislike of Jane continues to her death.
* John Reed: Jane's cousin, who bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult and is believed to die by suicide.
* Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Bitter because she is not as attractive as her sister, she devotes herself self-righteously to religion.
* Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Though spiteful and insolent, she is also beautiful and indulged. Her sister Eliza foils her marriage to a wealthy Lord.
* Bessie Lee: The plain-spoken nursemaid at Gateshead. She sometimes treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Later she marries Robert Leaven.
* Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke.
* Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.
* Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman headmaster and treasurer of Lowood School, whose mistreatment of the students is eventually exposed.
* Miss Maria Temple: The kind superintendent of Lowood School, who treats Jane and Helen (and others) with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit.
* Miss Scatcherd: A sour and vicious teacher at Lowood.
* Helen Burns: A fellow-student and best friend of Jane's at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusting in God and turning the other cheek. She dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Some speculate that the book's author based Helen Burns on her elder sister Maria Brontë , who showed signs of dyspraxia.
* Edward Fairfax Rochester: The master of Thornfield Manor. A Byronic hero, he makes an unfortunate first marriage before he meets Jane.
* Bertha Antoinetta Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester.
* Adèle Varens: An excitable French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. She is Mr Rochester's ward and possibly his daughter. However Mr. Rochester denies this because her mother had been seeing another man behind his back.
* Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly widow and housekeeper of Thornfield Manor. She treats Jane kindly and respectfully, but disapproves of her engagement to Mr Rochester.
* Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester appears to court in order to make Jane jealous. She is described as having great beauty, but displays callous behaviour and avaricious intent.
* Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife. His appearance at Thornfield heralds the eventual revelation of Bertha Mason.
* Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's keeper. Jane is told that it is Grace Poole who causes the mysterious things to happen at Thornfield Hall.
* St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. He is Jane Eyre's cousin on her father's side. He is a devout Christian of Calvinistic leanings. By nature he is very reserved and single-minded.
* Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins.
* Rosamond Oliver: A wealthy young woman who patronizes the village school where Jane teaches, and who is attracted to the Rev. St. John.
* John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune. He never appears as a character.
Themes
Morality
Jane refuses to become Mr Rochester's paramour because of her "impassioned self-respect and moral conviction." She rejects St. John Rivers' Puritanism as much as the libertine aspects of Mr Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness.
Religion
Throughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocritical puritanism of Mr. Brocklehurst, and rejects St. John Rivers' cold devotion to his Christian duty, but neither can she bring herself to emulate Helen Burns' turning the other cheek, although she admires Helen for it. Ultimately, she rejects these three extremes and finds a middle ground in which religion serves to curb her immoderate passions but does not repress her true self.
Social class
Jane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet moderately educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise discrimination based on class. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid servant of low social standing, and therefore powerless. Nevertheless, Brontë possesses certain class prejudices herself, as is made clear when Jane has to remind herself that her unsophisticated village pupils at Morton "are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy."
Gender relations
A particularly important theme in the novel is the depiction of a patriarchal society. Jane attempts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Brocklehurst, Mr Rochester and St. John, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë opposes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)
Love and Passion
One of the secrets to the success of Jane Eyre lies in the way that it touches on a number of important themes while telling a compelling story. Indeed, so lively and dramatic is the story that the reader might not be fully conscious of all the thematic strands that weave through this work. Critics have argued about what comprises the main theme of Jane Eyre. There can be little doubt, however, that love and passion together form a major thematic element of the novel.
On its most simple and obvious level, Jane Eyre is a love story. The love between the orphaned and initially impoverished Jane and the wealthy but tormented Rochester is at its heart. The obstacles to the fulfillment of this love provide the main dramatic conflict in the work. However, the novel explores other types of love as well. Helen Burns, for example, exemplifies the selfless love of a friend. We also see some of the consequences of the absence of love, as in the relationship between Jane and Mrs. Reed, in the selfish relations among the Reed children, and in the mocking marriage of Rochester and Bertha. Jane realizes that the absence of love between herself and St. John Rivers would make their marriage a living death, too.
Throughout the work, Brontë suggests that a life that is not lived passionately is not lived fully. Jane undoubtedly is the central passionate character; her nature is shot through with passion. Early on, she refuses to live by Mrs. Reed's rules, which would restrict all passion. Her defiance of Mrs. Reed is her first, but by no means her last, passionate act. Her passion for Rochester is all consuming. Significantly, however, it is not the only force that governs her life. She leaves Rochester because her moral reason tells her that it would be wrong to live with him as his mistress: "Laws and principles are not for the time when there is no temptation," she tells Rochester; "they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise against their rigor."
Blanche Ingram feels no passion for Rochester; she is only attracted to the landowner because of his wealth and social position. St. John Rivers is a more intelligent character than Blanche, but like her he also lacks the necessary passion that would allow him to live fully. His marriage proposal to Jane has no passion behind it; rather, he regards marriage as a business arrangement, with Jane as his potential junior partner in his missionary work. His lack of passion contrasts sharply with Rochester, who positively seethes with passion. His injury in the fire at Thornfield may be seen as a chastisement for his past passionate indiscretions and as a symbolic taming of his passionate excesses.
Independence
Jane Eyre is not only a love story; it is also a plea for the recognition of the individual's worth. Throughout the book, Jane demands to be treated as an independent human being, a person with her own needs and talents. Early on, she is unjustly punished, precisely for being herself — first by Mrs. Reed and John Reed, and subsequently by Mr. Brocklehurst. Her defiance of Mrs. Reed is her first active declaration of independence in the novel, but not her last. Helen Burns and Miss Temple are the first characters to acknowledge her as an individual; they love her for herself, in spite of her obscurity. Rochester too loves her for herself; the fact that she is a governess and therefore his servant does not negatively affect his perception of her. Rochester confesses that his ideal woman is intellectual, faithful, and loving — qualities that Jane embodies. Rochester's acceptance of Jane as an independent person is contrasted by Blanche and Lady Ingram's attitude toward her: they see her merely as a servant. Lady Ingram speaks disparagingly of Jane in front of her face as though Jane isn't there. To her, Jane is an inferior barely worthy of notice, and certainly not worthy of respect. And even though she is his cousin, St. John Rivers does not regard Jane as a full, independent person. Rather, he sees her as an instrument, an accessory that would help him to further his own plans. Jane acknowledges that his cause (missionary work) may be worthy, but she knows that to marry simply for the sake of expedience would be a fatal mistake. Her marriage to Mr. Rochester, by contrast, is the marriage of two independent beings. It is because of their independence, Brontë suggests, that they acknowledge their dependence on each other and are able to live happily ever after.
God and Religion
In her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Brontë made clear her belief that "conventionality is not morality" and "self-righteousness is not religion." She declared that "narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ." Throughout the novel, Brontë presents contrasts between characters who believe in and practice what she considers a true Christianity and those who pervert religion to further their own ends. Mr. Brocklehurst, who oversees Lowood Institution, is a hypocritical Christian. He professes charity but uses religion as a justification for punishment. For example, he cites the biblical passage "man shall not live by bread alone" to rebuke Miss Temple for having fed the girls an extra meal to compensate for their inedible breakfast of burnt porridge. He tells Miss Temple that she "may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!" Helen Burns is a complete contrast to Brocklehurst; she follows the Christian creed of turning the other cheek and loving those who hate her. On her deathbed, Helen tells Jane that she is "going home to God, who loves her."
Jane herself cannot quite profess Helen's absolute, selfless faith. Jane does not seem to follow a particular doctrine, but she is sincerely religious in a nondoctrinaire way. (It is Jane, after all, who places the stone with the word "Resurgam" on Helen's grave, some fifteen years after her friend's death.) Jane frequently prays and calls on God to assist her, particularly in her trouble with Rochester. She prays too that Rochester is safe. When the Rivers's housekeeper, Hannah, tries to turn the begging Jane away, Jane tells her that "if you are a Christian, you ought not consider poverty a crime." The young evangelical clergyman St. John Rivers is a more conventionally religious figure. However, Brontë portrays his religious aspect ambiguously. Jane calls him "a very good man," yet she finds him cold and forbidding. In his determination to do good deeds (in the form of missionary work in India), Rivers courts martyrdom. Moreover, he is unable to see Jane as a whole person, but views her as a helpmate in his proposed missionary work. Rochester is far less a perfect Christian. He is, indeed, a sinner: He attempts to enter into a bigamous marriage with Jane and, when that fails, tries to persuade her to become his mistress. He also confesses that he has had three previous mistresses. In the end, however, he repents his sinfulness, thanks God for returning Jane to him, and begs God to give him the strength to lead a purer life.
Atonement and Forgiveness
Much of the religious concern in Jane Eyre has to do with atonement and forgiveness. Rochester is tormented by his awareness of his past sins and misdeeds. He frequently confesses that he has led a life of vice, and many of his actions in the course of the novel are less than commendable. Readers may accuse him of behaving sadistically in deceiving Jane about the nature of his relationship (or rather, non-relationship) with Blanche Ingram in order to provoke Jane's jealousy. His confinement of Bertha may bespeak mixed motives. He is certainly aware that in the eyes of both religious and civil authorities, his marriage to Jane before Bertha's death would be bigamous. Yet, at the same time, he makes genuine efforts to atone for his behavior. For example, although he does not believe that he is Adèle's natural father, he adopts her as his ward and sees that she is well cared for. This adoption may well be an act of atonement for the sins he has committed. He expresses his self-disgust at having tried to console himself by having three different mistresses during his travels in Europe and begs Jane to forgive him for these past transgressions. However, Rochester can only atone completely — and be forgiven completely — after Jane has refused to be his mistress and left him. The destruction of Thornfield by fire finally removes the stain of his past sins; the loss of his right hand and of his eyesight is the price he must pay to atone completely for his sins. Only after this purgation can he be redeemed by Jane's love.
Search for Home and Family
Without any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names.) The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.
Shunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.
Jane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation — as they are literally on the verge of marriage — that he is already legally married — brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. (When the housekeeper at first shuts the door in her face, Jane has a dreadful feeling that "that anchor of home was gone.") She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Rochester's voice calling her to return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, "Reader, I married him," and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.
Context
The early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school, and Helen Burns is likely modelled on Charlotte's sister Maria. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte becomes a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.
The Gothic manor of Thornfield was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.
Literary motifs and allusions
Jane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield), the Byronic hero (Mr Rochester and Jane herself) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling "the foul German spectre—the Vampyre" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: "She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart" (Chapter XX). Also, besides gothicism, Jane Eyre displays romanticism to create a unique Victorian novel.
Literary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. The novel deliberately avoids some conventions of Victorian fiction, not contriving a deathbed reconciliation between Aunt Reed and Jane Eyre and avoiding the portrayal of a "fallen woman".
Adaptations
Mr. Reed torments young Jane Eyre in Suffolk Youth Theatre's 2008 production of Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre has engendered numerous adaptations and related works inspired by the novel. The best known are the 1944 version starring Orson Welles as Rochester and Joan Fontaine as Jane, the BBC television adaptation with Timothy Dalton as Rochester and Zelah Clarke as Jane, and the 1996 version directed by Franco Zeffirelli with William Hurt as Rochester and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane.
Radio show versions
* 1943: Extremely loose adaptation (primarily chapters 11–26) on The Weird Circle, premiering on 11 November.
Silent film versions
* Several silent film adaptations entitled Jane Eyre were released; one in 1910, two in 1914, plus:
* 1915: Jane Eyre starring Louise Vale.
* 1915: A version was released called The Castle of Thornfield.
* 1918: A version was released called Woman and Wife, directed by Edward José, adapted by Paul West, starring Alice Brady as Jane.
* 1921: Jane Eyre starring Mabel Ballin and directed by Hugo Ballin.
* 1926: A version was made in Germany called Orphan of Lowood.
Motion picture versions
* 1934: Jane Eyre, starring Colin Clive and Virginia Bruce.
* 1940: Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based upon the novel of the same name which was influenced by Jane Eyre. Joan Fontaine, who starred in this film, would also be cast in the 1944 version of Jane Eyre to reinforce the connection.
* 1943: I Walked with a Zombie is a horror movie loosely based upon Jane Eyre.
* 1944: Jane Eyre, with a screenplay by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley. It features Orson Welles as Mr Rochester, Joan Fontaine as Jane, Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Reed, Margaret O'Brien as Adele and Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Burns.
* 1956: A version was made in Hong Kong called The Orphan Girl.
* 1963: A version was released in Mexico called El Secreto (English: "The Secret").
* 1970: Jane Eyre, starring George C. Scott as Mr Rochester and Susannah York as Jane.
* 1972: An Indian adaptation in Telugu, Shanti Nilayam, directed by C. Vaikuntarama Sastry, starring Anjali Devi.
* 1978: A version was released in Mexico called Ardiente Secreto (English: "Ardent Secret").
* 1996: Jane Eyre, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring William Hurt as Mr Rochester, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane, Elle Macpherson as Blanche Ingram, Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fairfax, Anna Paquin as the young Jane, Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Reed and Geraldine Chaplin as Miss Scatcherd.
* 2006: Jane Eyre, Directed by Susanna White, starring Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester and Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre.
* 2011: Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Fukunaga, starring Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Rochester.
Musical versions
* A two-act ballet of Jane Eyre was created for the first time by the London Children's Ballet in 1994, with an original score by composer Julia Gomelskaya and choreography by Polyanna Buckingham. The run was a sell-out success.
* A musical version with a book by John Caird and music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, with Marla Schaffel as Jane and James Stacy Barbour as Mr Rochester, opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 10 December 2000. It closed on 10 June 2001.
* Jane Eyre, opera in three acts, Op. 134 was composed by John Joubert in 1987–1997 to a libretto by Kenneth Birkin after the novel.
* An opera based on the novel was written in 2000 by English composer Michael Berkeley, with a libretto by David Malouf. It was given its premiere by Music Theatre Wales at the Cheltenham Festival.
* Jane Eyre was played for the first time in Europe in Beveren, Belgium. It was given its premiere at the cultural centre.
* The ballet "Jane," based on the book was created in 2007, a Bullard/Tye production with music by Max Reger. Its world premiere was scheduled at the Civic Auditorium, Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 29 and 30, performed by the Kalamazoo Ballet Company, Therese Bullard, Director.
* A musical production directed by Debby Race, book by Jana Smith and Wayne R. Scott, with a musical score by Jana Smith and Brad Roseborough, premiered in 2008 at the Lifehouse Theatre in Redlands, California
* A symphony (7th) by Michel Bosc premiered in Bandol (France), 11 October 2009.
Television versions
* 1952: This was a live television production presented by "Westinghouse Studio One (Summer Theatre)".
* Adaptations appeared on British and American television in 1956 and 1961.
* 1963:Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Richard Leech as Mr Rochester and Ann Bell as Jane.
* 1973: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Sorcha Cusack as Jane, Michael Jayston as Mr Rochester, Juliet Waley as the child Jane, and Tina Heath as Helen Burns.
* 1978: Telenovela El Ardiente Secreto (English The impassioned secret) was an adaptation of this novel.
* 1982: BBC Classics Presents: Jane Eyrehead. A parody movie by SCTV starred Andrea Martin as Jane Eyrehead, Joe Flaherty as Mr Rochester, also starting John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short in supporting roles.
* 1983: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Zelah Clarke as Jane, Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester, Sian Pattenden as the child Jane, and Colette Barker as Helen Burns.
* 1997: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the A&E Network and starred Ciaran Hinds as Mr Rochester and Samantha Morton as Jane.
* 2006: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester, Ruth Wilson as Jane, and Georgie Henley as Young Jane.
Literature
* 1938: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was partially inspired by Jane Eyre.
* 1961: The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart adapts many of the motifs of Jane Eyre to 1950s northern England. The main character, Annabel, falls in love with her older neighbor who is married to a mentally ill woman. Like Jane, Annabel runs away to try to get over her love. The novel begins when she returns from her eight-year exile.
* 1966: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The character Bertha Mason serves as the main protagonist for this novel which acts as a "prequel" to Jane Eyre. It describes the meeting and marriage of Antoinette (later renamed Bertha by Mr Rochester) and Mr Rochester. In its reshaping of events related to Jane Eyre, the novel suggests that Bertha's madness is the result of Mr Rochester's rejection of her and her Creole heritage. It was also adapted into film twice.
* 1997: Mrs Rochester: A Sequel to Jane Eyre by Hilary Bailey
* 2000: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant
* 2000: Jane Rochester by Kimberly A. Bennett, content explores the first years of the Rochesters' marriage with gothic and explicit content. A fan favorite.
* 2001 novel The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde revolves around the plot of Jane Eyre. It portrays the book as originally largely free of literary contrivance: Jane and Mr Rochester's first meeting is a simple conversation without the dramatic horse accident, and Jane does not hear his voice calling for her and ends up starting a new life in India. The protagonist's efforts mostly accidentally change it to the real version.
* 2002: Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, a science fiction novel based upon Jane Eyre
* 2006: The French Dancer's Bastard: The Story of Adele From Jane Eyre by Emma Tennant. This is a slightly modified version of Tennant's 2000 novel.
* 2007: Thornfield Hall: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant. This is another version of Jane Eyre.
* 2010: Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Jane Eyre by J.L. Niemann. Jane Eyre told from the first person-perspective of Edward Rochester.
* The novelist Angela Carter was working on a sequel to Jane Eyre at the time of her death in 1992. This was to have been the story of Jane's stepdaughter Adèle Varens and her mother Céline. Only a synopsis survives.
《简·爱》是一部带有自传色彩的长篇小说，它阐释了这样一个主题：人的价值＝尊严＋爱。《简·爱》刚出版时,作者夏洛蒂勃朗特用的笔名是柯勒贝尔。以至于之后她的姐妹们出的书都被误认为是她写的。好在她之后亲自在《简·爱》再版时澄清事实。
《简·爱》的作者夏洛蒂·勃朗特和《呼啸山庄》的作者艾米莉是姐妹。虽然两人生活在同一社会，家庭环境中，性格却大不相同，夏洛蒂.勃朗特显得更加的温柔，更加的清纯，更加的喜欢追求一些美好的东西，尽管她家境贫穷，从小失去了母爱，父爱也很少，再加上她身材矮小，容貌不美，但也许就是这样一种灵魂深处的很深的自卑，反映在她的性格上就是一种非常敏感的自尊，以自尊作为她内心深处的自卑的补偿。她描写的简。爱也是一个不美的，矮小的女人，但是她有着极其强烈的自尊心。她坚定不移地去追求一种光明的，圣洁的，美好的生活。
《简·爱》-故事梗概
简·爱的父亲是个穷牧师，当她还在幼年时，父母就染病双双去世。简·爱被送到盖茨海德庄园的舅母里德太太家抚养，里德先生临死前曾嘱咐妻子好好照顾简·爱。简·爱在里德太太家的地位，连使女都不如，受尽了表兄表姊妹的欺侮。一天表兄又打她了，她回手反抗，却被舅母关进红房子里，她的舅舅里德先生就死在这间屋子里。她被幻想中的鬼魂吓昏了过去。重病一场，过了很久才慢慢恢复健康。
她再也不想呆在里德太太家了，里德太太就把她送进达罗沃德孤儿院。孤儿院院长是个冷酷的伪君子，他用种种办法从精神和肉体上摧残孤儿。简与孤儿海伦结成好友，教师潭泊尔小姐很关心她。在孤儿院里一场传染性的伤寒，夺走了许多降儿的生命，海伦就在这场伤寒中死去，这对简·爱 打击很大。
简毕业后留校当了两年教师，她受不了那里的孤寂、冷漠，登广告找到了一个家庭教师的工作，于是她来到了桑费尔德庄园。在桑费尔德庄园只有庄园主罗彻斯特和他的私生女阿戴尔·瓦伦斯，而罗彻斯特经常到国外旅行，所以简到桑费尔德好几天，也没见到罗彻斯特。
一天黄昏，简外出散步，惊了刚刚从外面回来的罗彻斯特的马，罗彻斯特从马上摔了下来，简急忙上前去扶他，回到家后简才知道他便是庄园主罗彻斯特。罗彻斯特是个性格阴郁而又喜怒无常的人，他和简经常为某种思想新辩论不休。
在桑费尔德庄园不断发生奇怪的事情。有一天夜里，简被一阵奇怪的笑声惊醒，发现罗彻斯特的房门开着，床上着了火，她叫醒罗彻斯特并扑灭火。罗彻斯特告诉简三楼住着一个女栽缝格雷斯·普尔，她神精错乱，时常发出令人毛骨悚然的狂笑声，并要她对此事严守秘密。
罗彻斯特经常参加舞会，一天他把客人请到家里来玩，人们都以为在这场舞会上罗彻斯特会向布兰奇小姐求婚。在宴会上罗彻斯特坚持要简也到客厅里去，客人们对简的太度十分轻慢，罗彻却邀请简跳舞，简感觉到自己对罗彻斯特发生感情。
一天，罗彻斯特外出，家里来了一个蒙着盖头的吉卜赛人。当轮到给简算命时，简发现这个神秘的吉卜赛人就是罗彻斯特，他想借此试探简对他的感情。这时庄园里又来了个名梅森的陌生人，当晚他被三楼的神秘女人咬伤了，简帮罗彻斯特把他秘密送走。
不久，里德太太派人来找简，说她病危要见简一面。回到舅母家中，里德太太给她一封信，这封信是三年前简的叔父寄来的，向她打听侄女的消息，并把自己的遗产交给简。里德太太谎称简在孤儿院病死了，直到临终前才良心发现把真相告诉简。
简又回到桑费尔德庄园感觉像回到家一样。回来后，罗彻斯特向她未婚，简答应了，并高兴地准备婚礼。婚礼前夜，简从梦中惊醒，看到一个身材高大、面目可憎的女人正在戴她的婚纱，然后把婚纱撕成碎片。罗彻斯特告诉她那不过是一个梦，第二天当简醒来时发现婚纱真的成了碎片。
婚礼如期举行，一位不速之客闯进了教堂，声称婚礼不能进行，他说罗彻斯特15 年前娶梅森先生的妹妹伯莎·梅森为妻。罗彻斯特承认了这一事实，并领人们看被关在三楼的疯女人，那就是他的合法妻子。她有遗传性精神病史，就是她在罗彻斯特的房间放火，也是她撕碎简的婚纱。
简悲痛欲绝地离开了桑费尔德庄园。她的仅有的积蓄花光了，沿途乞讨，最后晕倒在牧师圣约翰家门前，被圣约翰和他的两个妹妹救了。简住了下来，圣约翰为她谋了一个乡村教师的职位。
不久，圣约翰接到家庭律师的通知，说他的舅舅约翰简去世了，留给简二万英镑，要圣约翰帮助寻找简。圣约翰发现简是他的表妹，简执意要与他们分享遗产。圣约翰准备去印度传教，临行前向简求婚，但他坦率地告诉她，他要娶她并不是因为爱她，而是他需要一个很有教养的助手。简觉得应该报答他的恩情，但迟迟不肯答应他。当夜，圣约翰在荒原上等待简的答复，就在简要作出决定的时候，她仿佛听到罗彻斯特在遥远的地方呼喊她的名字“简，回来吧！简，回来吧！”她决定回到罗彻斯特身边。
当简回到桑费尔德庄园时，整个庄园变成一片废墟。原来几个月前，在一个风雨交加的夜晚，疯女人伯莎放火烧毁了整个庄园，罗彻斯特为了救她，被烧瞎了双眼，孤独地生活在几英里外的一个农场里。简赶到家场，向他吐露自己的爱情，他们终于结婚了。 两年之后，治好了罗彻斯特的一只眼睛，他看到了简为他生的第一个孩子。
《简·爱》-小说评价
《简·爱》是一本具有多年历史的文学著作。至今已152年的历史了，它成功地塑造了英国文学史中第一个对爱情、生活、社会以及宗教都采取了独立自主的积极进取态度和敢于斗争、敢于争取自由平等地位的女性形象。
《简·爱》是一部带有自转色彩的长篇小说，是英国十九世纪著名三姐妹作家之一的夏洛蒂·勃朗特所著。这是一本用自己的心与强烈的精神追求铸炼成的一本书，含着作者无限的情感和个性魅力，为女性赢得了一片灿烂的天空。
简. 爱生存在一个父母双亡，寄人篱下的环境，从小就承受着与同龄人不一样的待遇，姨妈的嫌弃，表姐的蔑视，表哥的侮辱和毒打。这是对一个孩子的尊严的无情践踏，然而幸运的是在极其刻薄的寄宿学校的生活中，简·爱遇到了一个可爱的朋友：海伦·彭斯,海伦温顺、聪颖和无比宽容的性格一直影响着简.爱，使之以后面对种种困难都不再屈服抱怨，懂得了爱和忠诚。
在罗切斯特的面前,她从不因为自己是一个地位低贱的家庭教师而感到自卑，反而认为他们是平等的。不应该因为她是仆人，而不能受到别人的尊重。也正因为她的正直，高尚，纯洁，心灵没有受到世俗社会的污染，使得罗切斯特为之震撼，并把她看做了一个可以和自己在精神上平等交谈的人，并且慢慢地深深爱上了她。这是简·爱 告诉罗切斯特她必须离开的理由，但是从内心讲，更深一层的东西是简·爱意识到自己受到了欺骗，她的自尊心受到了戏弄，因为她深爱着罗切斯特,试问哪个女人能够承受得住被自己最信任，最亲密的人所欺骗呢?这样一种非常强大的爱情力量包围之下，在美好，富裕的生活诱惑之下，她依然要坚持自己作为个人的尊严，这是简·爱最具有精神魅力的地方。
小说设计了一个很光明的结尾－－虽然罗切斯特的庄园毁了，他自己也成了一个残废，但我们看到，正是这样一个条件，使简·爱 不再在尊严与爱之间矛盾，而同时获得满足－－她在和罗切斯特结婚的时候是有尊严的，同时也是有爱的。任何文学作品都是作者体验生活的结晶，从书中多少可看出作者的影子。《简·爱》也是如此，大量的细节可以在作者的生活中得到印证。当然 《简·爱》并不是一本自传，作者只是把自己丰富的生活经历融进了一部充满想象力的文章里。人们知道《简·爱》是作者生活中的写照，但又有多少人知道作者是在怎样的情况下写下《简·爱》的呢。
小说告诉我们，人的最美好的生活是人的尊严加爱，小说的结局给女主人公安排的就是这样一种生活。虽然我觉得这样的结局过于完美，甚至这种圆满本身标志着浮浅，但是我依然尊重作者对这种美好生活的理想－－就是尊严加爱，毕竟在当今社会，要将人的价值＝尊严＋爱这道公式付之实现常常离不开金钱的帮助。人们都疯狂地似乎为了金钱和地位而淹没爱情。在穷与富之间选择富，在爱与不爱之间选择不爱。很少有人会像简这样为爱情为人格抛弃所有，而且义无反顾。《简·爱》所展现给我们的正是一种化繁为简，是一种返朴归真，是一种追求全心付出的感觉，是一种不计得失的简化的感情，它犹如一杯冰水，净化每一个读者的心灵，同时引起读者，特别是女性读者的共鸣。
Plot introduction
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism. It is a novel considered ahead of its time. In spite of the dark, brooding elements, it has a strong sense of right and wrong, of morality at its core.
Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters and most editions are at least 400 pages long (although the preface and introduction on certain copies are liable to take up another 100). The original was published in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38.
Brontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.
Plot summary
Chapters 1-4: Jane's childhood at Gateshead
Young Jane argues with her guardian Mrs. Reed of Gateshead. Illustration by F. H. Townsend.
A ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre lives with her uncle's family, the Reeds. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her intensely. When her uncle dies, her aunt and the three Reed children become abusive. When bullied by her cousin John, Jane retaliates but is punished for the ensuing fight and is locked in the room where Mr. Reed died. As night falls, Jane's panicked screams rouse the house, but Mrs. Reed won't let her out. Jane faints and Mr. Lloyd, an apothecary, is summoned. He talks with Jane and sympathetically suggests that she should go away to school.
Chapters 5-10: Jane's education at Lowood School
Mrs. Reed sends Jane to Lowood Institution, a charity school, and warns them that Jane is deceitful. During an inspection, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, and Mr. Brocklehurst, the self-righteous clergyman who runs the school, brands her as a liar and shames her before the entire assembly.
Jane is comforted by her friend, Helen Burns. Miss Temple, a caring teacher, facilitates Jane's self-defense and writes to Mr. Lloyd whose reply agrees with Jane's. Ultimately, Jane is publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations.
Jane tries to catch Mr. Rochester's horse.
While the Brocklehurst family lives in luxury, the eighty pupils are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes. Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms.
When Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are laid bare, several benefactors erect a new building and conditions at the school improve dramatically.
Chapters 11-26: Jane's time as governess at Thornfield Hall
Eight years later, Jane is a teacher employed by Alice Fairfax (the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall) as governess for Adèle Varens, a young French girl. Out walking one day, Jane encounters and helps a horseman who has sprained his ankle. On her return to Thornfield, she discovers that the horseman is Edward Rochester, Master of Thornfield Hall. Rochester is a moody, self-willed man nearly twenty years older than Jane. Adèle is his ward, belonging to a French "opera dancer" with whom he had a romantic relationship in the past. Adèle, however, is not his daughter, but is brought up by him after her mother abandons her.
Jane saves Mr. Rochester from a fire.
Miss Blanche Ingram looking in a book.
Mr. Rochester disguised as a Gypsy woman.
Bertha Mason rips Jane's wedding veil.
Mr. Rochester seems quite taken with Jane, and she enjoys his company. However, odd things begin to happen: a strange laugh is heard in the halls, a near-fatal fire mysteriously breaks out, and a guest named Mason is attacked.
Jane receives word that Mrs. Reed has suffered a stroke and is asking for her. Returning to Gateshead, she remains for over a month while her aunt lies dying. Mrs. Reed rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, but does give her a letter previously withheld out of spite. The letter is from John Eyre, Jane's uncle, notifying her that he wanted her to live with him in Madeira.
After returning to Thornfield, Jane broods over Rochester's impending marriage to Blanche Ingram. But on a midsummer evening, he proclaims his love for Jane and proposes. As she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with previous mysterious events, Mr Rochester attributes the incident to drunkenness on the part of Grace Poole, one of his servants.
During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is already married to Mr. Mason's sister. Mr. Rochester bitterly admits the truth, explaining that his wife is a violent madwoman whom he keeps locked in the attic, in the care of Grace Poole. When Grace occasionally drinks too much, it gives his wife a chance to escape, and she is the true cause of Thornfield's strange events.
Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.
Chapters 27-35: Jane's time with the Rivers family
Jane leaves Thornfield and sleeps outside.
Jane begs for food.
St. John Rivers admits Jane to Moor House.
Jane travels to the north of England. After mislaying her funds, she sleeps on the moor and begs for food, but is turned away as a beggar, a thief, or worse. Exhausted, she is saved by St. John Rivers, a young clergyman, who brings her to the home of his sisters, Diana and Mary. As she regains her health, St. John finds her a teaching position at a nearby charity school. Jane becomes warm friends with Mary and Diana, but St. John is too reserved for her to relate to, despite his efforts on her behalf. Jane sees that the brother and sisters have money-related worries, but does not enquire further.
Rosamond Oliver shows an interest in St. John.
St. John tells Jane she has inherited £20,000.
Jane considering St. John's proposal.
When the sisters leave for governess jobs in London, St. John becomes more comfortable around Jane, evidencing his own conflicts of the heart, which involve the beautiful and wealthy Rosamond Oliver. When Jane confronts him about his feelings for Miss Oliver, he confesses that he has turned away from them, because he feels called to be a missionary, and he knows that Miss Oliver would not accept such a life.
St. John discovers Jane's true identity, and astounds her by showing her a letter stating that her uncle John has died and left her his entire fortune of £20,000, equivalent to £1,560,000 in today's pounds. When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance, but have since resigned themselves to nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding her family, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins.
St. John asks Jane to accompany him to India as his wife. He asks solely because he wishes a good missionary's wife, a role in which he believes Jane will excel. She agrees to go, but refuses marriage, believing his reserve and reason incompatible with her warmth and passion. But, his powers of persuasion eventually begin to convince her to change her mind.
However, at that very moment, she suddenly seems to hear Mr. Rochester calling her name. The next morning, she leaves for Thornfield to ascertain Mr. Rochester's well-being before departing forever for India.
Chapters 36-38: Jane's reunion with Mr. Rochester
Thornfield burned to the ground by Bertha.
Jane and Mr. Rochester reunited.
Mr. Rochester's sight improving.
Jane arrives at Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.
Characters
* Jane Eyre: The protagonist of the novel and the title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Although she falls in love with her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester, her strong sense of conscience does not permit her to become his mistress, and she does not return to him until his insane wife is dead and she herself has come into an inheritance.
* Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.
* Mrs. Sarah Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane but neglects and abuses her. Her dislike of Jane continues to her death.
* John Reed: Jane's cousin, who bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult and is believed to die by suicide.
* Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Bitter because she is not as attractive as her sister, she devotes herself self-righteously to religion.
* Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Though spiteful and insolent, she is also beautiful and indulged. Her sister Eliza foils her marriage to a wealthy Lord.
* Bessie Lee: The plain-spoken nursemaid at Gateshead. She sometimes treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Later she marries Robert Leaven.
* Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke.
* Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.
* Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman headmaster and treasurer of Lowood School, whose mistreatment of the students is eventually exposed.
* Miss Maria Temple: The kind superintendent of Lowood School, who treats Jane and Helen (and others) with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit.
* Miss Scatcherd: A sour and vicious teacher at Lowood.
* Helen Burns: A fellow-student and best friend of Jane's at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusting in God and turning the other cheek. She dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Some speculate that the book's author based Helen Burns on her elder sister Maria Brontë , who showed signs of dyspraxia.
* Edward Fairfax Rochester: The master of Thornfield Manor. A Byronic hero, he makes an unfortunate first marriage before he meets Jane.
* Bertha Antoinetta Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester.
* Adèle Varens: An excitable French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. She is Mr Rochester's ward and possibly his daughter. However Mr. Rochester denies this because her mother had been seeing another man behind his back.
* Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly widow and housekeeper of Thornfield Manor. She treats Jane kindly and respectfully, but disapproves of her engagement to Mr Rochester.
* Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester appears to court in order to make Jane jealous. She is described as having great beauty, but displays callous behaviour and avaricious intent.
* Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife. His appearance at Thornfield heralds the eventual revelation of Bertha Mason.
* Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's keeper. Jane is told that it is Grace Poole who causes the mysterious things to happen at Thornfield Hall.
* St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. He is Jane Eyre's cousin on her father's side. He is a devout Christian of Calvinistic leanings. By nature he is very reserved and single-minded.
* Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins.
* Rosamond Oliver: A wealthy young woman who patronizes the village school where Jane teaches, and who is attracted to the Rev. St. John.
* John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune. He never appears as a character.
Themes
Morality
Jane refuses to become Mr Rochester's paramour because of her "impassioned self-respect and moral conviction." She rejects St. John Rivers' Puritanism as much as the libertine aspects of Mr Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness.
Religion
Throughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocritical puritanism of Mr. Brocklehurst, and rejects St. John Rivers' cold devotion to his Christian duty, but neither can she bring herself to emulate Helen Burns' turning the other cheek, although she admires Helen for it. Ultimately, she rejects these three extremes and finds a middle ground in which religion serves to curb her immoderate passions but does not repress her true self.
Social class
Jane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet moderately educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise discrimination based on class. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid servant of low social standing, and therefore powerless. Nevertheless, Brontë possesses certain class prejudices herself, as is made clear when Jane has to remind herself that her unsophisticated village pupils at Morton "are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy."
Gender relations
A particularly important theme in the novel is the depiction of a patriarchal society. Jane attempts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Brocklehurst, Mr Rochester and St. John, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë opposes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)
Love and Passion
One of the secrets to the success of Jane Eyre lies in the way that it touches on a number of important themes while telling a compelling story. Indeed, so lively and dramatic is the story that the reader might not be fully conscious of all the thematic strands that weave through this work. Critics have argued about what comprises the main theme of Jane Eyre. There can be little doubt, however, that love and passion together form a major thematic element of the novel.
On its most simple and obvious level, Jane Eyre is a love story. The love between the orphaned and initially impoverished Jane and the wealthy but tormented Rochester is at its heart. The obstacles to the fulfillment of this love provide the main dramatic conflict in the work. However, the novel explores other types of love as well. Helen Burns, for example, exemplifies the selfless love of a friend. We also see some of the consequences of the absence of love, as in the relationship between Jane and Mrs. Reed, in the selfish relations among the Reed children, and in the mocking marriage of Rochester and Bertha. Jane realizes that the absence of love between herself and St. John Rivers would make their marriage a living death, too.
Throughout the work, Brontë suggests that a life that is not lived passionately is not lived fully. Jane undoubtedly is the central passionate character; her nature is shot through with passion. Early on, she refuses to live by Mrs. Reed's rules, which would restrict all passion. Her defiance of Mrs. Reed is her first, but by no means her last, passionate act. Her passion for Rochester is all consuming. Significantly, however, it is not the only force that governs her life. She leaves Rochester because her moral reason tells her that it would be wrong to live with him as his mistress: "Laws and principles are not for the time when there is no temptation," she tells Rochester; "they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise against their rigor."
Blanche Ingram feels no passion for Rochester; she is only attracted to the landowner because of his wealth and social position. St. John Rivers is a more intelligent character than Blanche, but like her he also lacks the necessary passion that would allow him to live fully. His marriage proposal to Jane has no passion behind it; rather, he regards marriage as a business arrangement, with Jane as his potential junior partner in his missionary work. His lack of passion contrasts sharply with Rochester, who positively seethes with passion. His injury in the fire at Thornfield may be seen as a chastisement for his past passionate indiscretions and as a symbolic taming of his passionate excesses.
Independence
Jane Eyre is not only a love story; it is also a plea for the recognition of the individual's worth. Throughout the book, Jane demands to be treated as an independent human being, a person with her own needs and talents. Early on, she is unjustly punished, precisely for being herself — first by Mrs. Reed and John Reed, and subsequently by Mr. Brocklehurst. Her defiance of Mrs. Reed is her first active declaration of independence in the novel, but not her last. Helen Burns and Miss Temple are the first characters to acknowledge her as an individual; they love her for herself, in spite of her obscurity. Rochester too loves her for herself; the fact that she is a governess and therefore his servant does not negatively affect his perception of her. Rochester confesses that his ideal woman is intellectual, faithful, and loving — qualities that Jane embodies. Rochester's acceptance of Jane as an independent person is contrasted by Blanche and Lady Ingram's attitude toward her: they see her merely as a servant. Lady Ingram speaks disparagingly of Jane in front of her face as though Jane isn't there. To her, Jane is an inferior barely worthy of notice, and certainly not worthy of respect. And even though she is his cousin, St. John Rivers does not regard Jane as a full, independent person. Rather, he sees her as an instrument, an accessory that would help him to further his own plans. Jane acknowledges that his cause (missionary work) may be worthy, but she knows that to marry simply for the sake of expedience would be a fatal mistake. Her marriage to Mr. Rochester, by contrast, is the marriage of two independent beings. It is because of their independence, Brontë suggests, that they acknowledge their dependence on each other and are able to live happily ever after.
God and Religion
In her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Brontë made clear her belief that "conventionality is not morality" and "self-righteousness is not religion." She declared that "narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ." Throughout the novel, Brontë presents contrasts between characters who believe in and practice what she considers a true Christianity and those who pervert religion to further their own ends. Mr. Brocklehurst, who oversees Lowood Institution, is a hypocritical Christian. He professes charity but uses religion as a justification for punishment. For example, he cites the biblical passage "man shall not live by bread alone" to rebuke Miss Temple for having fed the girls an extra meal to compensate for their inedible breakfast of burnt porridge. He tells Miss Temple that she "may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!" Helen Burns is a complete contrast to Brocklehurst; she follows the Christian creed of turning the other cheek and loving those who hate her. On her deathbed, Helen tells Jane that she is "going home to God, who loves her."
Jane herself cannot quite profess Helen's absolute, selfless faith. Jane does not seem to follow a particular doctrine, but she is sincerely religious in a nondoctrinaire way. (It is Jane, after all, who places the stone with the word "Resurgam" on Helen's grave, some fifteen years after her friend's death.) Jane frequently prays and calls on God to assist her, particularly in her trouble with Rochester. She prays too that Rochester is safe. When the Rivers's housekeeper, Hannah, tries to turn the begging Jane away, Jane tells her that "if you are a Christian, you ought not consider poverty a crime." The young evangelical clergyman St. John Rivers is a more conventionally religious figure. However, Brontë portrays his religious aspect ambiguously. Jane calls him "a very good man," yet she finds him cold and forbidding. In his determination to do good deeds (in the form of missionary work in India), Rivers courts martyrdom. Moreover, he is unable to see Jane as a whole person, but views her as a helpmate in his proposed missionary work. Rochester is far less a perfect Christian. He is, indeed, a sinner: He attempts to enter into a bigamous marriage with Jane and, when that fails, tries to persuade her to become his mistress. He also confesses that he has had three previous mistresses. In the end, however, he repents his sinfulness, thanks God for returning Jane to him, and begs God to give him the strength to lead a purer life.
Atonement and Forgiveness
Much of the religious concern in Jane Eyre has to do with atonement and forgiveness. Rochester is tormented by his awareness of his past sins and misdeeds. He frequently confesses that he has led a life of vice, and many of his actions in the course of the novel are less than commendable. Readers may accuse him of behaving sadistically in deceiving Jane about the nature of his relationship (or rather, non-relationship) with Blanche Ingram in order to provoke Jane's jealousy. His confinement of Bertha may bespeak mixed motives. He is certainly aware that in the eyes of both religious and civil authorities, his marriage to Jane before Bertha's death would be bigamous. Yet, at the same time, he makes genuine efforts to atone for his behavior. For example, although he does not believe that he is Adèle's natural father, he adopts her as his ward and sees that she is well cared for. This adoption may well be an act of atonement for the sins he has committed. He expresses his self-disgust at having tried to console himself by having three different mistresses during his travels in Europe and begs Jane to forgive him for these past transgressions. However, Rochester can only atone completely — and be forgiven completely — after Jane has refused to be his mistress and left him. The destruction of Thornfield by fire finally removes the stain of his past sins; the loss of his right hand and of his eyesight is the price he must pay to atone completely for his sins. Only after this purgation can he be redeemed by Jane's love.
Search for Home and Family
Without any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names.) The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.
Shunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.
Jane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation — as they are literally on the verge of marriage — that he is already legally married — brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. (When the housekeeper at first shuts the door in her face, Jane has a dreadful feeling that "that anchor of home was gone.") She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Rochester's voice calling her to return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, "Reader, I married him," and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.
Context
The early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school, and Helen Burns is likely modelled on Charlotte's sister Maria. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte becomes a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.
The Gothic manor of Thornfield was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.
Literary motifs and allusions
Jane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield), the Byronic hero (Mr Rochester and Jane herself) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling "the foul German spectre—the Vampyre" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: "She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart" (Chapter XX). Also, besides gothicism, Jane Eyre displays romanticism to create a unique Victorian novel.
Literary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. The novel deliberately avoids some conventions of Victorian fiction, not contriving a deathbed reconciliation between Aunt Reed and Jane Eyre and avoiding the portrayal of a "fallen woman".
Adaptations
Mr. Reed torments young Jane Eyre in Suffolk Youth Theatre's 2008 production of Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre has engendered numerous adaptations and related works inspired by the novel. The best known are the 1944 version starring Orson Welles as Rochester and Joan Fontaine as Jane, the BBC television adaptation with Timothy Dalton as Rochester and Zelah Clarke as Jane, and the 1996 version directed by Franco Zeffirelli with William Hurt as Rochester and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane.
Radio show versions
* 1943: Extremely loose adaptation (primarily chapters 11–26) on The Weird Circle, premiering on 11 November.
Silent film versions
* Several silent film adaptations entitled Jane Eyre were released; one in 1910, two in 1914, plus:
* 1915: Jane Eyre starring Louise Vale.
* 1915: A version was released called The Castle of Thornfield.
* 1918: A version was released called Woman and Wife, directed by Edward José, adapted by Paul West, starring Alice Brady as Jane.
* 1921: Jane Eyre starring Mabel Ballin and directed by Hugo Ballin.
* 1926: A version was made in Germany called Orphan of Lowood.
Motion picture versions
* 1934: Jane Eyre, starring Colin Clive and Virginia Bruce.
* 1940: Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based upon the novel of the same name which was influenced by Jane Eyre. Joan Fontaine, who starred in this film, would also be cast in the 1944 version of Jane Eyre to reinforce the connection.
* 1943: I Walked with a Zombie is a horror movie loosely based upon Jane Eyre.
* 1944: Jane Eyre, with a screenplay by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley. It features Orson Welles as Mr Rochester, Joan Fontaine as Jane, Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Reed, Margaret O'Brien as Adele and Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Burns.
* 1956: A version was made in Hong Kong called The Orphan Girl.
* 1963: A version was released in Mexico called El Secreto (English: "The Secret").
* 1970: Jane Eyre, starring George C. Scott as Mr Rochester and Susannah York as Jane.
* 1972: An Indian adaptation in Telugu, Shanti Nilayam, directed by C. Vaikuntarama Sastry, starring Anjali Devi.
* 1978: A version was released in Mexico called Ardiente Secreto (English: "Ardent Secret").
* 1996: Jane Eyre, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring William Hurt as Mr Rochester, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane, Elle Macpherson as Blanche Ingram, Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fairfax, Anna Paquin as the young Jane, Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Reed and Geraldine Chaplin as Miss Scatcherd.
* 2006: Jane Eyre, Directed by Susanna White, starring Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester and Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre.
* 2011: Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Fukunaga, starring Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Rochester.
Musical versions
* A two-act ballet of Jane Eyre was created for the first time by the London Children's Ballet in 1994, with an original score by composer Julia Gomelskaya and choreography by Polyanna Buckingham. The run was a sell-out success.
* A musical version with a book by John Caird and music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, with Marla Schaffel as Jane and James Stacy Barbour as Mr Rochester, opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 10 December 2000. It closed on 10 June 2001.
* Jane Eyre, opera in three acts, Op. 134 was composed by John Joubert in 1987–1997 to a libretto by Kenneth Birkin after the novel.
* An opera based on the novel was written in 2000 by English composer Michael Berkeley, with a libretto by David Malouf. It was given its premiere by Music Theatre Wales at the Cheltenham Festival.
* Jane Eyre was played for the first time in Europe in Beveren, Belgium. It was given its premiere at the cultural centre.
* The ballet "Jane," based on the book was created in 2007, a Bullard/Tye production with music by Max Reger. Its world premiere was scheduled at the Civic Auditorium, Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 29 and 30, performed by the Kalamazoo Ballet Company, Therese Bullard, Director.
* A musical production directed by Debby Race, book by Jana Smith and Wayne R. Scott, with a musical score by Jana Smith and Brad Roseborough, premiered in 2008 at the Lifehouse Theatre in Redlands, California
* A symphony (7th) by Michel Bosc premiered in Bandol (France), 11 October 2009.
Television versions
* 1952: This was a live television production presented by "Westinghouse Studio One (Summer Theatre)".
* Adaptations appeared on British and American television in 1956 and 1961.
* 1963:Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Richard Leech as Mr Rochester and Ann Bell as Jane.
* 1973: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Sorcha Cusack as Jane, Michael Jayston as Mr Rochester, Juliet Waley as the child Jane, and Tina Heath as Helen Burns.
* 1978: Telenovela El Ardiente Secreto (English The impassioned secret) was an adaptation of this novel.
* 1982: BBC Classics Presents: Jane Eyrehead. A parody movie by SCTV starred Andrea Martin as Jane Eyrehead, Joe Flaherty as Mr Rochester, also starting John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short in supporting roles.
* 1983: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Zelah Clarke as Jane, Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester, Sian Pattenden as the child Jane, and Colette Barker as Helen Burns.
* 1997: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the A&E Network and starred Ciaran Hinds as Mr Rochester and Samantha Morton as Jane.
* 2006: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester, Ruth Wilson as Jane, and Georgie Henley as Young Jane.
Literature
* 1938: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was partially inspired by Jane Eyre.
* 1961: The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart adapts many of the motifs of Jane Eyre to 1950s northern England. The main character, Annabel, falls in love with her older neighbor who is married to a mentally ill woman. Like Jane, Annabel runs away to try to get over her love. The novel begins when she returns from her eight-year exile.
* 1966: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The character Bertha Mason serves as the main protagonist for this novel which acts as a "prequel" to Jane Eyre. It describes the meeting and marriage of Antoinette (later renamed Bertha by Mr Rochester) and Mr Rochester. In its reshaping of events related to Jane Eyre, the novel suggests that Bertha's madness is the result of Mr Rochester's rejection of her and her Creole heritage. It was also adapted into film twice.
* 1997: Mrs Rochester: A Sequel to Jane Eyre by Hilary Bailey
* 2000: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant
* 2000: Jane Rochester by Kimberly A. Bennett, content explores the first years of the Rochesters' marriage with gothic and explicit content. A fan favorite.
* 2001 novel The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde revolves around the plot of Jane Eyre. It portrays the book as originally largely free of literary contrivance: Jane and Mr Rochester's first meeting is a simple conversation without the dramatic horse accident, and Jane does not hear his voice calling for her and ends up starting a new life in India. The protagonist's efforts mostly accidentally change it to the real version.
* 2002: Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, a science fiction novel based upon Jane Eyre
* 2006: The French Dancer's Bastard: The Story of Adele From Jane Eyre by Emma Tennant. This is a slightly modified version of Tennant's 2000 novel.
* 2007: Thornfield Hall: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant. This is another version of Jane Eyre.
* 2010: Rochester: A Novel Inspired by Jane Eyre by J.L. Niemann. Jane Eyre told from the first person-perspective of Edward Rochester.
* The novelist Angela Carter was working on a sequel to Jane Eyre at the time of her death in 1992. This was to have been the story of Jane's stepdaughter Adèle Varens and her mother Céline. Only a synopsis survives.