Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
ISBN: 9780141441146
London: Penguin, 2006
London: Penguin, 2006
Plot - Jane Eyre is left orphaned at a young age and sent to live with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, who regards Jane as a second class child at best. After a number of years of cruel treatment, Jane faints from fright at being locked in a dead man's room and is summarily sent away to the Lowood School. The school proves to be no better, run by a sadistic extortionist who forces his young charges to live in squalor as he profits. Finally, the school master is exposed, and under new Head Mistresses, Jane matures and eventually becomes a teacher herself. She soon outgrows the confines of the school and takes a position as governess to a little French girl, Adele, at Thornfield Manner, owned by a Mr. Rochester. Her position is satisfactory and Jane is pleased, all but for mysterious screams she occasionally hears from far off in the mansion. Jane finally meets the man, falls in love with him and soon after saves his life from a fire. Rochester is too proud to be demonstrative, but develops a fondness for Jane and eventually proposes to her. At their wedding, however, disaster strikes in the form of a Mr. Mason who presents unequivocal impediment to the marriage. A horrible secret of Rochester's revealed, Jane flees, only to barely scrape by until she is taken in by a man and his two sisters. Jane obtains a new paid position to support herself, and must make the decision whether to claim a calm and safe life or to hold out for her true love.
Critical Evaluation - Jane Eyre is a lovely, classic story, albeit completely unbelievable in places and filled with utterly flat characters. What, then, is the enduring appeal? As with so much of great literature, it is the main character, in whose service the plot moves, attending characters are presented, and flowing prose spills out. Bronte develops Jane through the course of the story so thoroughly and with such appealingly uncommon traits that the reader misses none of what's missing. Her writing is exquisitely measured, so much so that Jane's narration strays from believably first person into all-knowing, but this doesn't detract from the story's pull. Dialogue is sparse and full exactly as characters warrant.
Reader's annotation - Jane Eyre has finally found a safe, rewarding situation in which she can support herself, but when her employer appears and she falls in love with him, she must choose to live an independent, respectable life or to abandon her self respect for love.
Information about the author - Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, Anne and Emily, lived and wrote during the mid-nineteenth century in England, daughters of a very conservative minister. Their mother died when Charlotte was only five. Charlotte and her sisters and brother began making up stories together as young children, and over the years created an entire imaginary world they called Angria. She was herself a governess, though not very successfully, and was lucky enough to be able to return to the family estate for support when these positions didn't work out. In 1847 she and her sisters published what would become classics: Charlotte with Jane Eyre, Emily with Wuthering Heights, and Anne with Agnes Grey. They published under the pseudonyms, Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, respectively. After the success of Jane Eyre, Charlotte revealed to her publisher their true identites, but tragically, her two sisters and their brother, Branwell, would die within two years of that time.
Curriculum Ties - Usually English classes studying classics, but I also would suggest it strongly for theater studies of period characters who defy their societal norms--such as a parallel with Nora in Ibsen's A Doll House.
Booktalk ideas -
Information about the author - Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, Anne and Emily, lived and wrote during the mid-nineteenth century in England, daughters of a very conservative minister. Their mother died when Charlotte was only five. Charlotte and her sisters and brother began making up stories together as young children, and over the years created an entire imaginary world they called Angria. She was herself a governess, though not very successfully, and was lucky enough to be able to return to the family estate for support when these positions didn't work out. In 1847 she and her sisters published what would become classics: Charlotte with Jane Eyre, Emily with Wuthering Heights, and Anne with Agnes Grey. They published under the pseudonyms, Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, respectively. After the success of Jane Eyre, Charlotte revealed to her publisher their true identites, but tragically, her two sisters and their brother, Branwell, would die within two years of that time.
Curriculum Ties - Usually English classes studying classics, but I also would suggest it strongly for theater studies of period characters who defy their societal norms--such as a parallel with Nora in Ibsen's A Doll House.
Booktalk ideas -
- Read the passage where Mrs. Rochester has attacked Mason and screams were heard throughout the house. Begin on pg. 240 with, "And so, by dint of alternate coaxing and commanding,..." and end on the same page at "Am I wanted, I asked...".
- Read the passage in which St. John proposes to Jane and she refuses, despite his insistence. Begin on pg. 470 with "I repeat, I freely consent to go with you..." and end on pg. 472, "...he stood at the foot of the stairs...".
Reading level -15+ High school is the earliest age I would suggest reading Jane Eyre mostly due to the complexity of the period language. The story, too, is wild and fun at times, but most enjoyable with some maturity to recognize the subtleties of Jane's character.
Challenge issues -none
Why I included this book - It's a classic story that lies in the bones of so many love stories since its time. The language is so beautifully expressive, and the vocabulary and sentence construction are masterful. It's also important to note that Bronte decided to publish it under a male sounding pseudonym to smooth its way, especially keeping in mind her character's working outside the norms of Victorian English female behavior.
Why I included this book - It's a classic story that lies in the bones of so many love stories since its time. The language is so beautifully expressive, and the vocabulary and sentence construction are masterful. It's also important to note that Bronte decided to publish it under a male sounding pseudonym to smooth its way, especially keeping in mind her character's working outside the norms of Victorian English female behavior.
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