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Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Start date: June 1, 2012

Finish date: July 1, 2012

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What Members Thought

Sep 11, 2014 Henry Le Nav rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this book. The flowery language takes some getting used to for the modern ear but the book was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed her feminism, her class commentary, her religious sensibilities, and her practical views on marriage (adjusted for the times). With the huge numbers of reviews done by those with far more literary finesse than I possess, swine should not attempt to cast pearls. Five stars for Miss Bronte.

My purposes here are to comment on the following editions of this book:

the ...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Sheila rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, favorites, classic, boxalls-1001

The story of Jane Eyre begins like a fairy tale.

A girl orphaned since birth is cast away by surviving kin and is sent to a school that is more like a prison for the obscure and unwanted. In there, she is nearly starved, always freezing, and bored to death with religious rituals, but Jane finds some comfort in the company of fellow student, the believer of endurance, the stoic, Helen. Death by consumption interrupts their friendship and soon Jane finds herself alone again, but living in better c The story of Jane Eyre begins like a fairy tale.

A girl orphaned since birth is cast away by surviving kin and is sent to a school that is more like a prison for the obscure and unwanted. In there, she is nearly starved, always freezing, and bored to death with religious rituals, but Jane finds some comfort in the company of fellow student, the believer of endurance, the stoic, Helen. Death by consumption interrupts their friendship and soon Jane finds herself alone again, but living in better conditions than when she first arrived. She grows up, becomes educated enough to teach at sixteen. When her beloved teacher leaves the school to marry, she sets out to find a new situation as a governess. She was eighteen.

Then she meets Mr. Rochester, a gentleman and the master of Thornfield.

He is the typical Byronic hero---sophisticated, playful, but brooding and dark at times. They fall in love, are almost married, and get separated by Jane's own decision, by her need for self-respect. So she runs away, with few possessions, and suffers the consequences of anonymity until she reaches the home of the Rivers family, who helps in her pursuit of independence.

Jane Eyre is unlike any other heroine I've read. With no wealth or connections, she is forced to apply herself to achieve a certain level of freedom. She knows her place in society. She embraces it. And that in itself is admirable, making this classic novel one of my favorites.

I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.

Love for love's sake is nothing to Jane, especially if it places her at a disadvantage. Her faith in her talents and in the future allows her to escape from a potentially disastrous union. She exerts her own power and influence from sheer knowledge of self.

Charlotte Bronte's writing is beautiful in that usual Victorian way where you read more words than you know their meaning. Where ecstasy means senseless joy, not the party drug. And for that, aside from the strength of Jane's character, this book definitely deserves to be read again. ...more

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