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Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë, Margaret Smith (Editor), Sally Shuttleworth (Introduction)

4.03 · rating details · 383,571 ratings · 13,989 reviews

Jane Eyre (1847) has enjoyed huge popularity since first publication, and its success owes much to its exceptional emotional power. Jane Eyre, a penniless orphan, is engaged as governess at Thornfield Hall by the mysterious Mr Rochester. Her integrity and independence are tested to the limit as their love for each other grows, and the secrets of Mr Rochester's past are rev...more

Paperback, 488 pages

Published April 17th 2008 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published January 1st 1847)

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Jan 10, 2009

Elizabeth rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: in-by-of-england, tam-lin, reviewed, victorians-and-wannabes, revenge-of-the-goths, virginia-woolf-recommends, look-what-love-has-done, a-room-in-the-attic-awaits

I love this book because of the I's: I think. I feel. I need. I love. I am. Every time I have read it in the past twenty years I am reminded of the strength one gains from knowing ones own mind. Jane first asks herself, how can I live with myself in honor? She knows it is the foundation to asking herself, how can I be happy? She knows that she cannot have the second without the first; no matter the struggle or suffering it may cause her. I love the strength of her principles, and that they are c...moreI love this book because of the I's: I think. I feel. I need. I love. I am. Every time I have read it in the past twenty years I am reminded of the strength one gains from knowing ones own mind. Jane first asks herself, how can I live with myself in honor? She knows it is the foundation to asking herself, how can I be happy? She knows that she cannot have the second without the first; no matter the struggle or suffering it may cause her. I love the strength of her principles, and that they are created by her, not man nor God (although she is influenced by both). And I love that, as she says, I know no medium. There is a great honesty in that statement. I can certainly see why Jane Eyre's author was not a fan of Jane Austen. Austen is about subtly expressed feelings and the successful maneuvering within the bounds of society. This Jane is interested in understanding and following her own path, and she will be with Mr. Rochester as long as she may do so in a way that satisfies her own honor, not the rules of society.

If that doesn't get you, though, read it for the humor. Jane Eyre is funny? Honestly, I've laughed out loud reading it. It's not a cartoon, but the reason the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester is so real to me is the small scenes of affection that make me smile. If all Mr. Rochester did was wander about on the moors, moaning, or deceiving Jane, or otherwise acting like a tormented and pompous ass (which seems to be his mission for much of the book), I wouldn't bother. My favorite scene is when Jane goes to him and asks for her wages so she can visit her aunt. He gives her too much, because he wants her to have the ease that money brings, and then he wants to give her too little to make sure she'll come back to him, and they're standing in the hallway, and she's got her purse behind her back, and he's reaching for it -- I can visualize it of not quite touching, reaching for the purse, making little comments. This is when I knew that he was a real human being, not just gothic-figment, and that he really loved her.

Don't get me started on the scene where Jane throws water all over him. I know it's about the fire, and all scary, but, come on, isn't that exactly what we all wanted to do to him ever since he brought Blanche Ingram into the house? Can't you see him waking up sputtering and soaking? I was amused.

I do love this book. It is impossible not to be swept up in it, even though I find the scenes at the Lowood School very hard going early on. By the end I have forgotten that I ever had any difficulty, and I find Bronte generously answering every question I might have had about how her friends, now mine, have ended up. It’s satisfying in all ways.(less)

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Jul 01, 2007

Cristin rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, favorites

I could bang Mr. Rochester like a screen door 'till next Tuesday. That's not all I got from this book, honestly...

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Jun 29, 2010

Ellen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novels, favorites

[The picture disappeared which made the comments rather irrelevant.:]

description

…Oh course, Rush Limbaugh is nuts.

In December 2007, on a radio show with an audience of 14.5 million, Limbaugh asked this question about the former first lady's presidential prospects, after an incredibly unflattering picture of her had surfaced: "Will Americans want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis? I want you to understand that I'm talking about the evolution of American culture here, and not so much Mrs Clinton," Limbaugh told his audience. "It could be anybody, and it's really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television” (news.com.au).

Interestingly and at the same time, we have John McCain, another presidential prospect, who was 71 years old [11 years older than Hillary Clinton:]. Somehow this is different. Society has agreed that women age, and men grow more distinguished. Ah, bullshit. McCain looked plenty old and acted like an irrational coot.

However, the more important point is how little we've changed. Women still must be beautiful. And, for the most part, beautiful women still populate contemporary fiction. Consider how brave it was, then, for Charlotte Brontë to insist on a "plain" heroine. Brontë emphasizes Eyre's plainness as if challenging the reader to reject her. The impact of presenting such a heroine may be gauged by a male critic (a 19th century Limbaugh) in the Westminister Review (1858), who writes, "Possibly none of the frauds which are now so much the topic of common remark are so irritating, as that to which the purchaser of a novel is a victim on finding he has only to peruse a narrative of the conduct and sentiments of an ugly lady" (Showalter 123).

Despite ignoring the classic paradigm of either having a beautiful heroine or a heroine--ostensibly plain--who later "blooms," Brontë makes us forget that neither Jane nor Rochester are physically attractive. From the opening scene, Jane's personality dominants the horizon. Having endured the young master's abuse for some time, Jane strikes back and, as punishment for her passion, is banished to the red room. The room is chill, garish, and where Mr. Reed died. Jane's cries to be released are ignored, and she falls into unconsciousness.

Although Jane suffers no lasting harm, her thoughts before she is thrust into the room isolate well why her path will be harder than fate had dictated already:

I know that had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child—though equally dependent and friendless—Mrs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would have been less prone to make me the scapegoat of the nursery.

While beauty and its attendant charms would have made Jane’s life easier, it would have lessened her complexity as a character. Again and again, Jane cannot sit back and depend on the free pass beauty often accords, but must choose to give up or to fight her way through. Jane chooses to fight, and it is her passion, wit, and intelligence that make her an unforgettable heroine.
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Oct 20, 2011

Stephen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1800s, classics

A CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH REVIEW: Hamlet vs. Jane Eyre!

Setting: A small town in the Old West. Sheriff Hamlet is relaxing out in front of the General Store.

Suddenly Polonius comes running down the middle of the dirt road at the center of town, waving his hands in the air, shouting "EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! JANE EYRE AND THE BRONTE POSSE IS COMING TO TOWN!!" The townspeople all scramble out of sight. Store owners pull the shades down. Sheriff Hamlet remains c...more

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Oct 20, 2011

karen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction

well, i can do that, too.

CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH REVIEWS*
(*entertainment purposes only)

HAMLET v. JANE EYRE

Setting: World Courts buildings, Den Haag, Netherlands; a closed-session hearing...

Judge: I have agreed to hear this case, but I must admit to both parties that we are in uncharted legal territory. Both parties must understand that I have very little administrative guidance with which to make a decision. This is a very public dispute, and th...more

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Apr 28, 2008

Abigail rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People Who Read...

Shelves: literature-classics

It isn't every book that speaks to both the Wild Romantic and the Stern Puritan in me, and since the day I first read Jane Eyre - up in the woods of Michigan, the summer I was twelve - I have revisited it often, and always with pleasure. It is a book that speaks in many tongues, to many people, and presents many faces to the world, all worth exploring...

Depending on who you speak to, this is the best and truest love story ever written - a narrative of the suffering and endurance of ...moreIt isn't every book that speaks to both the Wild Romantic and the Stern Puritan in me, and since the day I first read Jane Eyre - up in the woods of Michigan, the summer I was twelve - I have revisited it often, and always with pleasure. It is a book that speaks in many tongues, to many people, and presents many faces to the world, all worth exploring...

Depending on who you speak to, this is the best and truest love story ever written - a narrative of the suffering and endurance of true love; a commentary on the social and economic subjugation of women in 19th-century England; or an oblique exploration of race and empire. It is all of these things, of course, but for me, the power of Jane Eyre stems from its keenly observed and acutely realized portrait of the conflict between duty and desire.

From the very first line, when a hidden Jane looks out onto a rain-soaked world, I entered wholly into the psyche of this character. Her desire to love and be loved, so cruelly denied in her childhood, seemed as piercingly real to me as anything I had ever felt in my own life. Lonely Jane, for all the Gothic trappings that surround her, could be the poster child for that "transcendental homelessness" of which Lukács speaks...

So it is, when Jane seems to find a home with Rochester, whose "bad-boy" persona would make any schoolgirl's heart flutter, I could enter with abandon into the almost ecstatic joy of her homecoming, her communion with another soul. Lonely Jane no more...

And when Jane discovers the duplicity of her lover, and the insurmountable ethical obstacles to her happiness, her stern devotion to duty, her almost-desperate recourse to principle, permit her a tremendous (but costly) moral victory. To this day, I cannot read the scenes in which Jane must tear herself away from Rochester, or the following passage, without getting chills:

Still indomitable was the reply--"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad--as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth--so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane--quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot."

After many travails, Jane does find her happy ending (thank goodness), and having triumphed over her own heart, she is rewarded with her heart's desire. But that conflict, between the desire to be happy and the need to do right, is what gives Jane Eyre its peculiar power. It is Jane herself who is the masterpiece.(less)

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Oct 14, 2007

Russell rated it

· review of another edition

I commenced reading this novel with the idea that I had read this before fixed in my mind. It is in my nature to re-read books, so I thought nothing of opening the pages and immersing myself in the flow of the story.

Imagine my surprise, Reader, when I quickly discerned that I had not, as I previously imagined, been acquainted with the characters that adorned the pages. I was at a lost on how my memory had failed me, but I quickly rallied and applied myself to the task at ...more

I commenced reading this novel with the idea that I had read this before fixed in my mind. It is in my nature to re-read books, so I thought nothing of opening the pages and immersing myself in the flow of the story.

Imagine my surprise, Reader, when I quickly discerned that I had not, as I previously imagined, been acquainted with the characters that adorned the pages. I was at a lost on how my memory had failed me, but I quickly rallied and applied myself to the task at hand.

My enjoyment of the book grew as the plot unfurled, the characters were pleasing to myself, their cares and concerns resonated with the inner workings of my own character.

Ahem. Sorry. I’ll stop channeling Bronte.

This was a story of passion, of grace, of human longing to love and to be loved in turn. It was Gothic, it was Romantic, it is a true classic. Sure, it played on not just one typical plot but two, the marriage plot and the inheritance plot, but they worked. Bronte teases one, and then the other, into fitting her characters’ story deftly leaving the core to to play out properly. The core story is of Jane finding someone to love and who loves her back for herself.

Bronte’s other characters are written just well enough to have them not be just caricatures and a few shine on their own, but they all pale to the effort she puts into Jane and Edward Rochester. Rochester fits more along the lines of the Romantic Hero. Far more than Heathcliff. Of course, Heathcliff was the anti-Romantic Hero, so I guess anyone not him would be more Romantic Hero-like.

Rochester is complex character. Bronte sets him up quickly and then lets him him loose in the story. He’s a powerful force, and it takes all of Jane’s willpower to stay independent of his will and drive. That she does it is a given, how she manages it is one of reasons I kept reading it.

I think that the story is better suited for teenage girls than any other group. This doesn’t dampen the enjoyment at all for anyone else, but I think a teenager would really like this book. (If you could pull them away from the cellphone, or IM, long enough to get them started. Maybe bribery?)

I also think that Jane Eyre is more universally appealing than Wuthering Heights, although both books are classics and are well deserving of the title. Wuthering Heights is for a more refined and discerning taste. (He says, adjusting his ascot and peering down from his jeweled pince-nez.)

If you haven’t read this, or haven’t read it a long while, I recommend it.
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Feb 22, 2008

Gabriella rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 26, 2010

Bram rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

What was once something I tossed off instinctively, an out-of-five star rating, has become a source of considerable consternation. I feel as if I need to qualify each rating with the not-too-fine print warning of: ‘this does not reflect my judgment of the literary worth of this novel; rather, it’s a simple reflection of how strongly I responded to the work as a whole.’ But isn’t this just what everyone does? I guess so. So maybe it isn’t necessary, and it’s just come to feel that way because...more

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Sep 07, 2009

Sandybanks rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: british-literature, classics, 5-star-reads, 2009, bbc-big-reads, the-bronte-parsonage, victorian-lit

Now I know why Charlotte Bronte said this of Jane Austen: "The passions are perfectly unknown to her: she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy sisterhood". I love Jane, but Charlotte REALLY knows how to write about passion, romantic or otherwise. If Jane’s books are stately minuets in which the smallest gesture has its meaning, Charlotte’s is a spirited, sweeping tango of duty and desire. A perfect blend of passionate romance, gothic mystery, romantic description of na...more

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Aug 23, 2011

Kwesi 章英狮 rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, charlotte-bronte, 2011

When a group of people posted on their wall in Facebook about the new adaptation of the book starring Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, I can't stop looking for a copy of the book so that I can read it in advance. Unfortunately, the company or the producer did not release it worldwide and I don't have a choice but to force someone to grab me a copy. Too bad, I got a free movie (pirated) somewhere.

Life is too cruel and dark for Jane Eyre, she is a girl with great opinion, pretty and a typi...more

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Apr 10, 2011

skein rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, 2011

I don't think this is a 5-star book - I really, really don't - but oh, how I love it. Not because I love Jane (I do!) but because I lurve Charlotte Brontë. I love her blind spots, her hopes and her fears and her stubborn-as-a-pig morality that (despite Lowood and Helen Burns) isn't really apparent until the "oh! all is utterly lost - love, life, hope! I must flee to the moors to find succor!" bit.

It's the same FUCK YOU, WORLD. I'M BETTER THAN THIS SHIT mentality that all t...more

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Jan 27, 2011

Cecily rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Child neglect, near death, a dash of magical realism, the power of love, the powerlessness of the poor, sexual rivalry, mystery, madness and more. It is as powerful as ever - but is it really a love story, given Rochester's Svengali-tendencies? His downfall and her inheritance make them more equal, but is it really love on his part? I'm not sure, which is what makes it such a good book (just not necessarily a love story). I also like the tension between it being very Victorian in some obvious wa...more

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Oct 15, 2011

Bird Brian marked it as celebrity-deathmatch · review of another edition

CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH REVIEW*
(* entertainment purposes only)

Hamlet v. Jane Eyre

Scene 1- a guard tower of Elsinore castle

Guard: Dear Prince Hamlet, I must tell you of an apparition I saw on the watch yesternight. The ghosts of Don Quixote and Anna Karenina…

Hamlet: And how looked they? Frowningly?

Guard: Well, they were dead, so… (suddenly) WHAT HO! (pointing) LOOK MY LORD, THEY COME AGAIN! THEY BECON YOU TO SPEAK!

Hamlet:...more

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Jul 20, 2011

Choupette rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Choupette by: 106-109

Shelves: classics, own-or-access, 2009, 2011, may-i-say-blah

This time around, I noticed the sure skill of Bronte's writing, her ability to capture a feeling or a moment in a way that made me notice how real it was. And, as the book went on, how truly wonderful Jane's character was. There were two elements of the book that really disturbed me, though: the madwoman - what is going on there? It is such an unrealistic depiction of mental illness that I can't believe it's supposed to be taken literally. And secondly, St John Rivers's relationship to Jane. So ...more

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Apr 24, 2009

Mindy Goorchenko rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: women.

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If you haven't read it and think you might, don't read this review, as it truly is a great book and filled with suspense and lots of surprises.

The book jacket claims that "Charlotte Bronte poured her contempt for the stifling conventions society imposed upon a woman's right to emotional and sexual fulfillment." On one hand, I can see how this "frank revelation of female character" may have been shocking or particularly well-developed for the time. The entire time ...more

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Sep 17, 2007

Ben rated it

· review of another edition

This was actually the book that made a reader out of me. I mean, I've always read books, But sometime in high school, I encountered Jane Eyre, and it just clicked. There was story here, and real people having real emotions. Now, I remember being deeply moved in grade school by Bridge to Terebithia. But those were emotions drawn in broad, child-like brushstrokes. Jane Eyre was the first book that made me think about the process of reading--and just as importantly, writing--as a human activity...more

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May 23, 2008

Kathryn rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Kathryn by: lots of people!!!

Shelves: classics, books-that-thrill-my-girlish-heart

An absolutely beautiful story that deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it. For me to attempt to write a review would demean the brilliance of the work. Thoughtful, heart-full, tender, fierce--this is a work of great scope. Jane is one of the most interesting characters I've "met" and Mr. Rochester should not be missed! So, let me just say to anyone who was reluctant to read this, as I had been, due to the dreary-ness of the beginning to keep with it! Jane did not giv...more

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Sep 14, 2009

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: To romantics of all kinds

Shelves: abused, angsty-read, bad-boy-rake-or-rogue, beauty-is-in-the-eye, classic, coming-of-age, favorites, flawed-hero, governess-or-schoolmarm, hero-to-die-for, heroine-i-adore, less-than-perfect-hero-or-heroine, owned-copy, plain-jane, redemption, scarred-hero, tortured-hero, aar-top-100-romance, the-brontes

It seems silly to say that a book can affect you on a profound level. well I definitely believe in this power that a good book has. Jane Eyre is one of them. I cannot say that this was an easy book to read. But it was a book that I was very enriched by reading. Romance is a genre that is looked down on by many "sophisticated readers." Perhaps they would look down on Jane Eyre, but would probably get some eyebrows raised at them. Well Jane Eyre is the archetype for the romance nove...moreIt seems silly to say that a book can affect you on a profound level. well I definitely believe in this power that a good book has. Jane Eyre is one of them. I cannot say that this was an easy book to read. But it was a book that I was very enriched by reading. Romance is a genre that is looked down on by many "sophisticated readers." Perhaps they would look down on Jane Eyre, but would probably get some eyebrows raised at them. Well Jane Eyre is the archetype for the romance novel. After having read thousands of them, I know a romance novel when I see it, and Jane Eyre does qualify. But it is much more than this. It's a story for the person who wonders why they keep trying to do the right thing, and persevering in life, instead of just taking what they want when they want it. If Jane Eyre had been that sort of person, she would not have gotten her happy ending. Instead, Jane walked away from the thing she wanted most in the world. She almost died doing what she felt in her heart was right. Had the story ended there, I probably would have detested this book. But it doesn't. We see Jane continue to grow and act as the phenomenal person that she was. Although often downtrodden, she is no meek mouse. She has a fighting spirit that keeps her going when others would have laid down and died. But despite being a fighter, she is not a user and abuser. It's hard at times for the difference to be clearly delineated. Well there is no question about Jane's level of strength and intregrity. Although it is made clear several times in this novel, that Jane is no beauty, her soul makes her a beautiful character. Beautiful in a more profound way.

There are moments when you feel, how can one person suffer so? But taking the journey, you realize that all Jane's suffering had a purpose. It refined her into a woman who could look beneath and love what others could never love or understand. It made her the woman who could love and heal Rochester.

At the same time, Rochester was made for Jane Eyre. He had searched his life for a woman like her, and made quite a few mistakes along the way. And out of love, he was able to let her go when he wanted to keep her. But she came back to him, when he needed her most.

Rochester is the hero that formed the archetype for many of my favorites: tortured, scarred, dark, enigmatic, all of those things. Best of all, loving little, plain, ordinary Jane with a fundamental intensity that pours out of the pages of this book into my heart as a reader. Despite his lack of perfection, I could not love him more.

Ah, how maudlin I sound. I can't help it. This book moved me to tears. Yet I smiled at the same time. I enjoyed the conversations between Rochester and Jane. There was a heat there, a passion. Yet this book is clean enough to read in Sunday school. That is grand romance. The journey so well expressed, that no sex scenes are needed. It's all there.

This novel is also inspirational. Not preachy, in my opinion, but for a believer, one can definitely find spiritual messages in this book. About perseverance, about not wearying about doing good. About the profoundness of God's love. It's all there, but in a narrative that expertly showcases it, not preaching it.

I feel I am failing to write the review I want to write for this book. The words do fail me. All I can say is that this book will always be a favorite of mine because of the way it touched my heart and challenged me.

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May 13, 2010

Zeek rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, literary, romance

Jane Eyre along with Charlotte Brontë’s sister’s Wuthering Heights is a much beloved romantic literary classic.

Personally I don’t get it.

In Wuthering Heights I couldn’t stand Heathcliff for his moodiness and downright meaness and I found little more to like in Jane Eyre’s Rochester- although I will give he’s a tad more likeable since he obviously cares for Jane rather than simply being obsessed by her as Heathcliff was for Catherine.

In the story of Jane ...moreJane Eyre along with Charlotte Brontë’s sister’s Wuthering Heights is a much beloved romantic literary classic.

Personally I don’t get it.

In Wuthering Heights I couldn’t stand Heathcliff for his moodiness and downright meaness and I found little more to like in Jane Eyre’s Rochester- although I will give he’s a tad more likeable since he obviously cares for Jane rather than simply being obsessed by her as Heathcliff was for Catherine.

In the story of Jane Eyre, very much unlike what I find with Austen’s characters, I couldn’t relate to Jane as a character because I little understood her motivations. Sure she endured being cast aside and raised in an institution but much of that is glossed over. She started off with enough steel to stand up to her wretched step brother and step mother but somewhere in the years she lost it, till when she came to Thornfield Hall she almost fades into the background. She falls for Rochester and he her though there’s little indication why. Then disaster strikes and rather than corrupting herself morally, she leaves. While away she suddenly becomes an heiress, refuses yet another marriage proposal and then is supernaturally drawn back to Thornfield Hall, hearing Rochester call for her in her imagination. Things have not gone well for Rochester during their separation, but he is now free to marry, and Jane- at last- finds happiness.

A happily ever after, I suppose, but Rochester has little that a modern woman would like and desire despite the fact you get that he genuinely loves Jane. In the end, it was the silliness of the gothic-ness of this novel and it’s eye rollingly absurd action that drags the story down for me.

For me the author who does it best, the one who wrote novels with characters that a modern woman can empathize with- despite all the years in between- is Jane Austen.

Oh, the Brontë sisters will remain on my keeper shelf, they are classics after all, but I am quite content knowing I will probably never read them again.(less)

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Feb 01, 2009

Lara rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: women-gender, heart-breaking

Well, shut my mouth.

I've been making fun of Victorian literature for so long, I'd completely forgotten that I'd never actually read any. Being in China was the worst, where young women currently derive 98% of their impressions of female Western culture from Jane Austen novels, and are subsequently using slang and household vocabulary from the 18th and 19th centuries, with romantic notions to match. "Teacher, I cannot come to class because I have chilblains and ague; oh, I suff...more

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Jan 19, 2010

Madeline rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-list, assigned-reading, ugh

If you like fantastically depressing subject matter that would make Dickens cry (think orphans, typhoid-infested boarding schools, and crazy people locked in attics) and an annoying protagonist who can't decided if she's independent or submissive, you'd probably like this book. I'll admit, I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, but as soon as Jane figures out what's causing strange noises late at night and setting fire to Mr. Rochester's bed, the plot kind of goes down the toilet. The myster...more

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Oct 04, 2010

Aerin marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-ra-chur, need-to-track-down

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 17, 2011

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: celebrity-death-match, older-men-younger-women, parody-homage

For the Celebrity Death Match Review Tournament, Hamlet (4) versus Jane Eyre

[Sequel to this review]

March 20th

The tumultuous events of the last week have left me no breathing space in which to resort to my dear journal. I beg the reader's indulgence for this lapse, and continue the tale where I left off.

Oppressed by Madame Karenina's dreadful missive, I retired to my bed, having taken an inadvisably large dose of laudanum. I know not what would have...more

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Mar 15, 2011

Sarai rated it

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Shelves: favorites, read-in-2011, books-i-own, adult-fiction, classics

I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I started reading it a few days ago. I knew that it was written by Charlotte Bronte, it was a favorite book for many, it was seen as a classic, and it was very long. But I knew nothing of the story or the characters (except for the obvious one, Jane Eyre). I avoided reviews so that I wouldn't get spoiled, and I started reading it with zero expectations.

And I was floored.

Jane Eyre as a character alone is plenty reason to love...moreI knew absolutely nothing about this book when I started reading it a few days ago. I knew that it was written by Charlotte Bronte, it was a favorite book for many, it was seen as a classic, and it was very long. But I knew nothing of the story or the characters (except for the obvious one, Jane Eyre). I avoided reviews so that I wouldn't get spoiled, and I started reading it with zero expectations.

And I was floored.

Jane Eyre as a character alone is plenty reason to love this book. Her narrative, her voice, was a complete surprise to me. I found her brave, sensible, independent, generous, and intelligent. She was a perfect character in my eyes but she herself had imperfections and weaknesses, and she freely commented on them in the book. I was completely infatuated with her storytelling. Jane's conscience became my own. Her struggles, her strange relationship with Mr. Rochester, her childhood and early womanhood--I felt a part of it all. Her narrative was so personal, uninhibited, and descriptive, that I truly felt I was the Reader she referred to on occasion, an invisible passenger accompanying her on her journey. Throughout the book I rooted for her, I grieved with her, and I wanted her to succeed and find peace. Other reviewers have commented on the fact that this is a dark novel, and I agree. Jane's childhood was painful to read almost. Some passages were so grave and bleak, I was as depressed as Jane felt. It just worked. Bronte writes in such a way that I could picture the darkness, the clouded skies, the creepy hallways, etc. I loved the scenery and didn't tire of Jane talking about it.

While the other characters in the story played significant roles in Jane's life, to me they were always in the background. It's not that I didn't care about them or their relationships with Jane, I just wanted to solely concentrate on her and what was going to happen to her. There were a few twists in this book that took me for a loop and had me at the edge of my seat almost. I couldn't put the book down. When I did, I thought of Jane and what would happen next. Would she be happy? Would she marry St. John and submit to his repeated requests? Would she ever find Mr. Rochester? Would he ever find her? Was he even alive?

Speaking of Mr. Rochester, what a strange man! What a difficult character to write. Bronte clearly didn't want Jane to have a knight in shining armor or an attractive stud. It was hard for me to appreciate Mr. Rochester at first. After reading so many YA novels I've gotten used to the usual love interests to these young female protagonists. They're either gorgeous or rich, mysterious and/or immortal, and perfect in every way. Mr. Rochester was a nice change from all of that, and so was Jane. When Mr. Rochester proposed to Jane the first time, I wanted her to be happy (like I said, I was very invested in the novel), morality and common sense be damned. I wanted her to rebel, take an opportunity and just be with the man. But when Jane held her ground I came to admire her all the more. Here's a woman with actual conviction and integrity. Who holds her values close and is willing to do the right thing, even if it costs her. And no stalking! Honestly it was a shock to the system.

To me, Jane is a true inspiration. Her generosity, her ability to see past people's faults and overall looks, and her determination to do the right thing even if it left her alone and without an "upstanding" position is nothing short of admirable. So yes, count me into the ever-growing Jane Eyre fanclub! I'm so glad I finally took the time to read this amazing piece of literature. Bronte is a literary genius, and I'm all the better for it.(less)

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Jan 07, 2011

Hope rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2011-reads, favorites, reviewed, best-couples-♥, greatest-writing-and-voice, snuggly-books-for-rainy-days, british, to-reread-someday

Love this book. Love it, love it, LOVE IT.

Now you’re going to ask…
Why not 5 stars?

This book lost a star because sometimes, just sometimes, I didn’t like Jane.

Now you’re probably wondering what my problem is, and you’re probably rolling your eyes while you get together your mob to come after me with pitchforks in defense of Jane.
Alright now, don’t misunderstand me! It really isn’t that big of a complaint, once I explain it, and I did totter be...more

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Jan 25, 2009

Kirsty (Blatant Biblioholic) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics, favourites

Nothing I could say would do this book justice. I thoroughly enjoyed the story from beginning to end, and was really sad to finish it. Charlotte Bronte is one of the most talented storytellers I've come across. There is something about her style of writing that pulls you in and captures your imagination, whilst taking you on a whirlwind ride of mystery, suspense and romance.

Jane Eyre was ahead of her time in her attitudes, and this really endeared her to me. Bronte's characterisation...more

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Jul 23, 2008

Melissa Rudder rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: master-s-exam

I've reached the point where I can't remember how many times I've read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. But I was a little worried starting Jane Eyre this time. It's been about four years since I last read it and I've stopped exclusively reading British nineteenth century novels. I was worried that, after all this time and after shifts in my literary tastes, one of the books I commonly list as one of my favorite novels didn't really fit the description. But it did. Oh yes it did.

Wh...more

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Jul 25, 2009

Valerie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classic

Definitley a romance. I'm a sucker for romance so I liked it a lot. However the romance isn't everthing in this book.

About the first 100 pages I struggled to get into the book. When Jane decribed her life as being boring at one point I agreed. As she was decribing her dull life I was literally falling asleep, but when Jane starts to take her life into her own hands it gets more interesting. The text was easy enough to follow. Way easier than some other classics I've read.

...more

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Sep 22, 2011

Bettie rated it

· review of another edition

Jane Eyre (5) versus Don Quixote (28), whereby Jane gets well shafted. For Celebrity Death Match purposes only.

I feel dizzy, am I still in the battle of Lepanto?

I can see sails, swirling sails. Sails going round and round

I am in a shock of fever. I am in a nightmare.

What's happened to my arm? and you could use my chest as a colandar!

Who is that who moves before me, weaving through the mists and sails, sometimes visible, sometimes not.
...more

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About Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles t...moreCharlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. Maria Branwell Brontë died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her sister Elizabeth Branwell. In August 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters; Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). Its poor conditions, Charlotte maintained, permanently affected her health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815), who died of tuberculosis in 1825 soon after they were removed from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote stories about their country — Angria — and Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs — Gondal. The sagas were elaborate and convoluted (and still exist in part manuscripts) and provided them with an obsessive interest in childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for their literary vocations in adulthood.
Charlotte continued her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. Charlotte returned as a teacher from 1835 to 1838. In 1839 she took up the first of many positions as governess to various families in Yorkshire, a career she pursued until 1841. In 1842 she and Emily travelled to Brussels to enroll in a pensionnat run by Constantin Heger (1809 – 1896) and his wife Claire Zoé Parent Heger (1804 – 1890). In return for board and tuition, Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at the pensionnat was cut short when Elizabeth Branwell, their aunt who joined the family after the death of their mother to look after the children, died of internal obstruction in October 1842. Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 1843 to take up a teaching post at the pensionnat. Her second stay at the pensionnat was not a happy one; she became lonely, homesick, and deeply attached to Constantin Heger. She finally returned to Haworth in January 1844 and later used her time at the pensionnat as the inspiration for some of The Professor and Villette.
In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne published a joint collection of poetry under the assumed names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Although the book failed to attract interest (only two copies were sold), the sisters decided to continue writing for publication and began work on their first novels. Charlotte continued to use the name 'Currer Bell' when she published her first two novels. Of this, Brontë later wrote:
"Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because--without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine'--we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flatte.(less)

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Charlotte & Emily Brontë: The Complete Novels, Deluxe Edition (Literary Classics)

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Quotes from Jane Eyre

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.” — 2,579 people liked it

“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are!” — 1,356 people liked it

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