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Jane Eyre
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Jane Eyre is a wildly emotional romance with a lonely heroine and a tormented Byronic hero, pathetic orphans, dark secrets, and a madwoman in the attic. When it was
published in 1847, it was a great popular success. The power of the writing, the masterly
handling of the narrative, and the boldly realistic style were much admired. But many found it difficult to believe that ...more
published in 1847, it was a great popular success. The power of the writing, the masterly
handling of the narrative, and the boldly realistic style were much admired. But many found it difficult to believe that ...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
May 1st 1991
by Running Press Book Publishers
(first published October 16th 1847)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Yes, I suppose you can view this book mostly as a love story. That's what I did at age 13 - but that's why I was left disappointed back then.

Or you can view this as an story of formation of a strong and independent female protagonist, a nineteenth-century feminist, light-years ahead of its time. And that's what left my now-closer-to-thirty-than-twenty self very satisfied and, quite frankly, rather impressed.²
(view spoiler)...more

Dec 21, 2010
Vinaya
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-loved,
re-reading-times-1-million
FIVE REASONS WHY JANE EYRE WOULD NEVER BE A BESTSELLER IN OUR TIMES:
5. Four hundred-odd pages of purely descriptive writing
4. Overt religious themes and moral preaching
3. A plain-Jane heroine who stays plain. No makeovers to reveal a hitherto hidden prettiness that only needed an application of hydrogen peroxide and some eyebrow plucking to emerge full-blown.
2. The world is not well-lost for love. In the war between self-respect and grand passion, principles win hands down. Rousing, yet tender s ...more
5. Four hundred-odd pages of purely descriptive writing
4. Overt religious themes and moral preaching
3. A plain-Jane heroine who stays plain. No makeovers to reveal a hitherto hidden prettiness that only needed an application of hydrogen peroxide and some eyebrow plucking to emerge full-blown.
2. The world is not well-lost for love. In the war between self-respect and grand passion, principles win hands down. Rousing, yet tender s ...more

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

Reader, I gave it five stars. Please let me tell you why.
Jane Eyre is the quintessential Victorian novel. It literally has everything that was typical of the period, but, unlike other novels, it has all the elements in one story. At the centre is the romance between Jane and Rochester, which is enhanced by gothic elements such as the uncanniness of the doppleganger and the spectre like qualities of Bertha. In addition, it is also a governess novel; these were an incredibly popular type of stor ...more
Jane Eyre is the quintessential Victorian novel. It literally has everything that was typical of the period, but, unlike other novels, it has all the elements in one story. At the centre is the romance between Jane and Rochester, which is enhanced by gothic elements such as the uncanniness of the doppleganger and the spectre like qualities of Bertha. In addition, it is also a governess novel; these were an incredibly popular type of stor ...more

“‘Jane, be still; don't struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its desperation.’
‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.’”
I am glad that in 1847 Charlotte Bronte made the decision to publish her novel under a male pseudonym. Currer Bell had a much better chance of being published than Charlotte Bronte and, with reviewers and readers assuming that she was in fact a male writer, allo ...more
‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.’”
I am glad that in 1847 Charlotte Bronte made the decision to publish her novel under a male pseudonym. Currer Bell had a much better chance of being published than Charlotte Bronte and, with reviewers and readers assuming that she was in fact a male writer, allo ...more

Apr 30, 2015
emma
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned,
favorites-2016,
classics,
recommend,
beautifully-written,
slump-worthy,
non-ya,
school,
reviewed,
gorgeous-covers
I am a very pretentious person.
I try to seem “hip” and “cool” and “relatable” and “down with the teens” - and of course I totally am all of those things - but also I have my tendencies toward pretension. It’s who I am. Just last night I shuddered at the idea of popular music, like some kind of eight-hundred-year-old gremlin.
I am not proud of this side of me, but it’s who I am. And also it is important background information for you, dear Reader, going into this review. (That direct address to yo ...more
I try to seem “hip” and “cool” and “relatable” and “down with the teens” - and of course I totally am all of those things - but also I have my tendencies toward pretension. It’s who I am. Just last night I shuddered at the idea of popular music, like some kind of eight-hundred-year-old gremlin.
I am not proud of this side of me, but it’s who I am. And also it is important background information for you, dear Reader, going into this review. (That direct address to yo ...more

Aug 09, 2013
Dana Ilie
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classic-literature
For years I've been saying that Jane Eyre is my favorite novel of all time--
and that it is. The character of Jane is, to me, one of the most admirable and appealing fictional characters of all time. Poor and plain she may be, but her spirit is indomitable.
In an era when women were expected to be brainless and ornamental, Jane (through the words of Charlotte Bronte) refused to bow to those expectations
and that it is. The character of Jane is, to me, one of the most admirable and appealing fictional characters of all time. Poor and plain she may be, but her spirit is indomitable.
In an era when women were expected to be brainless and ornamental, Jane (through the words of Charlotte Bronte) refused to bow to those expectations

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

Jul 08, 2013
Hailey (HaileyinBookland)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics
Looooooooove!!!

I'm bumping Jane Eyre up to the full five stars on this reread. It has its Victorian melodramatic moments (horrible aunt! and cousins! (view spoiler) ), but overall I found this story of a plain, obscure girl determined to maintain her self-respect, and do what she feels is right even in the face of pressure, profoundly moving. And I'm a romantic, sorry/notsorry, so that aspect totally sucked me in too
...more

I read this book back in High School. I hated it. I thought it was boring and stupid and all I wanted to do was spread the word that this book was terrible and no one should read it. I had it marked one star on Goodreads and it had a home on my least favorite shelf.
Well, I have been waiting years to find the perfect place to use this gif:

I reread in late August, early September 2017. I have to say that I should probably reread everything I read bank in High School to get a better perspective.
I ...more
Well, I have been waiting years to find the perfect place to use this gif:

I reread in late August, early September 2017. I have to say that I should probably reread everything I read bank in High School to get a better perspective.
I ...more

2018 - I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Thandie Newton! It's beautiful!
2016 - I think this may be my favourite book of all time.
Video Review -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E8ys...
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 11. A book from the Rory Gilmore Challenge
2016 - I think this may be my favourite book of all time.
Video Review -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E8ys...
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 11. A book from the Rory Gilmore Challenge


“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
Okay, so high school Melanie did not appreciate Jane Eyre! But thankfully, many years later, and because of a few friend’s encouragement, I have seen the light and righted my wrongs, because this reread proved to me how much of a masterpiece Jane Eyre truly is.
This is a very beloved book, that stars an orphan girl name Jane that is trying to figure out the world around her. She’s searching for worth, fo ...more

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

…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 m ...more

…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 m ...more

كلمتان تعبران عن ملايين الفتيات
Plain Jane
عندماتقفز جملةمن بين دفتي كتاب إلى الحياةاليومية اذن فقد نجح
بطلتنا من النوع الذي نلقاه كل يوم بدون ان تدرك بطولته..عاشت يتيمة ..محتاجة..و غريبة..الا انها امتلكت إحساسا عالية بالعزة و الكرامة

..و عبر عشرات
الإغراءات نجحت مرارا في الموازنة بين واجباتها و اهواءها
جين يتيمة .. فقيرة ..عادية الملامح نشأت في كرب شديد لدى عمتها..تذهب لتعمل كمربية لدي ثري غامض مريب حقا.. .و مع تلك العائلة واجهت اختبارات عديدة..فهل نجحت في الحفاظ على مبادئها للنهاية؟
برونتي كتبت ا ...more
Plain Jane
عندماتقفز جملةمن بين دفتي كتاب إلى الحياةاليومية اذن فقد نجح
بطلتنا من النوع الذي نلقاه كل يوم بدون ان تدرك بطولته..عاشت يتيمة ..محتاجة..و غريبة..الا انها امتلكت إحساسا عالية بالعزة و الكرامة

..و عبر عشرات
الإغراءات نجحت مرارا في الموازنة بين واجباتها و اهواءها
جين يتيمة .. فقيرة ..عادية الملامح نشأت في كرب شديد لدى عمتها..تذهب لتعمل كمربية لدي ثري غامض مريب حقا.. .و مع تلك العائلة واجهت اختبارات عديدة..فهل نجحت في الحفاظ على مبادئها للنهاية؟
برونتي كتبت ا ...more

Feb 03, 2017
Ana O
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics,
romance-contemporary-and-ya
I, Ana, take you, Mr. Rochester, to be my lawful wedded husband (I'm sure my boyfriend won't mind).
Back off fangirls, he is mine.

I needed something to make me stop thinking about Heathcliff and Catherine and their horror love story. So, naturally, I chose Jane Eyre. Yes, it's dark but nowhere nearly as scary as Wuthering Heights. It's actually quite romantic. Ok, he locked his wife in the attic. In those days people didn't get divorced. If you had a crazy spouse, you locked them in the attic.
...more
Back off fangirls, he is mine.

I needed something to make me stop thinking about Heathcliff and Catherine and their

Jun 25, 2014
Lisa
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die,
favorites
"I love reading", says a 15-year-old girl in class today.
This is so unusual that I smile like a maniac.
"Really? I am so glad to hear that. What are you reading at the moment?"
"Jane Eyre, and it is very hard to understand, but I am 100 pages into it now, and I think it is great!"
"Jane Eyre? Jane Eyre?"
I feel like a young woman who thought she was dedicated to an old, grumpy, blind man and realises there is a vital, young Mr Rochester waiting to be adored again and again underneath the surface.
Ca ...more
This is so unusual that I smile like a maniac.
"Really? I am so glad to hear that. What are you reading at the moment?"
"Jane Eyre, and it is very hard to understand, but I am 100 pages into it now, and I think it is great!"
"Jane Eyre? Jane Eyre?"
I feel like a young woman who thought she was dedicated to an old, grumpy, blind man and realises there is a vital, young Mr Rochester waiting to be adored again and again underneath the surface.
Ca ...more

I often think of classics as "required reading," usually accompanied by a barely suppressed groan. Because, surely, they can't actually be any good. I'm not sure why I've always associated well-known and well-loved classics as such, but I suppose it must be the expectation to love it just as much as the world. It's silly, I know. A person can't be expected to love all books, classic status or not, but still, I wondered if I would enjoy it.
Jane Eyre is one of those novels that proves me completel ...more
Jane Eyre is one of those novels that proves me completel ...more

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 nature, soci
...more

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

Jane Eyre makes me want to be a better person. Her goodness, her humility, her frankness, her passion, her fierce will and her moral compass are all inspiring.
And yet, I also love her faults. Jane has a temper, she gets jealous, she fights back, and at times she is too obedient, especially when given orders by overbearing men.
What is it about this gothic novel that still makes it a compelling read more than 160 years after it was published? I first came to this story, as I suspect many have, thr ...more
And yet, I also love her faults. Jane has a temper, she gets jealous, she fights back, and at times she is too obedient, especially when given orders by overbearing men.
What is it about this gothic novel that still makes it a compelling read more than 160 years after it was published? I first came to this story, as I suspect many have, thr ...more

Mar 17, 2018
Miranda Reads
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2018-abc-reading-challenge,
audiobook
"Though you have a man's vigorous brain, you have a woman's heart and--it would not do."Oh Jane, you wondrously bold and beautiful gal.
"It would do," I affirmed with some disdain, "perfectly well.
After she was orphaned, Jane Eyre was sent to live with her maternal uncle and his wife (Mrs. Reed). When her uncle dies, he forces his wife to swear to love, nurture and care for Jane as if she was their own child.
Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Reed is not pleased in the least with this arrangement and does ...more

Nov 05, 2012
Samadrita
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
misogynists
EDIT - 22/04/2015:- The following review was written in paroxysms of adoration which I no longer feel hence a star is being ducked. Now that I have read Wide Sargasso Sea and re-read Wuthering Heights, Rochester and Jane's attraction as characters of high morals has waned in my eyes. But until I write a more balanced critique of this, I refrain from disowning my first impressions.
____
What do I write about you Jane? Words fall short when I try to.
Jane, you are so much a part of me as I am your ...more
____
What do I write about you Jane? Words fall short when I try to.
Jane, you are so much a part of me as I am your ...more

I just finished this book in the early hours of the morning, and I'm left with a heavy but happy heart and a smile on my face. I clung to those last pages like nothing else - not wanting the story to end - and this is even a reread for me.
This goes to show how much I love this book and this journey of Jane. I think what I love the most is exactly the fact that it takes you on an amazing journey, and Jane changes so radically from beginning to end. As a reader, you are rooting for her and your f ...more
This goes to show how much I love this book and this journey of Jane. I think what I love the most is exactly the fact that it takes you on an amazing journey, and Jane changes so radically from beginning to end. As a reader, you are rooting for her and your f ...more

Dec 23, 2008
Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
To romantics of all kinds
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 novel. After having
...more

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

I get the feeling that Jane Eyre may have ruined future English classics for me. I find it hard to imagine other classics topping this one. This was actually a book that I had no interest in reading because I had been underwhelmed by a Jane Eyre miniseries I watched several years ago. However, so many people have urged me to read this, saying it’s an excellent book, and they weren’t wrong.
Jane Eyre is definitely cut from a different cloth from the other classic novel heroines I have come across. ...more
Jane Eyre is definitely cut from a different cloth from the other classic novel heroines I have come across. ...more

One of the most beloved novels in history for many generations ; "Jane Eyre", is set in England, in the 1800's . The story of a neglected girl orphan, of that name, who never gives up her dream of happiness, no matter how remote a possibility, that goal, can ever be reached. Hated by her cruel Aunt Mrs. Sarah Reed (NOT A BLOOD RELATIVE), and cousins, Eliza, jealous of her more beautiful, but spiteful sister Georgiana, and abused by them both. They look down at the beggar, this little poor girl,
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Goodreads Librari...: Please, add cover | 2 | 14 | Feb 07, 2019 03:06PM | |
El club de Rory: Frases favoritas | 2 | 11 | Feb 01, 2019 02:16PM | |
El club de Rory: Jane | 1 | 11 | Jan 29, 2019 11:53AM | |
El club de Rory: Temas del libro | 1 | 11 | Jan 29, 2019 11:52AM | |
El club de Rory: Jane Eyre como un clásico de la literatura. | 1 | 9 | Jan 29, 2019 11:50AM | |
El club de Rory: La personalidad de Rochester | 1 | 7 | Jan 29, 2019 11:48AM | |
Why did Mr. Rochester make everyone think he was going to marry Miss Ingram? | 101 | 1018 | Jan 19, 2019 02:09PM |
Charlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë.
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 fam ...more
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 fam ...more
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“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
—
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“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”
—
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