Great Classics: Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë is one of the greatest novels ever written in English. Its heroine is one of the most memorable literary characters of all time.

Orphaned as a baby, Jane Eyre is taken to live with her uncle John Reed's family. After his death, his widow, Mrs Reed, soon sends her to a boarding school, Lowood. Jane leaves the school years later to become a governess at Thornfield Hall.

There she teaches the French child, Adele, who is the daughter of a late lover of Thornfield Hall's owner Edward Rochester. Soon, Mr Rochester takes a shine to intelligent and passionate Jane.

Jane starts noticing something strange in Thorfield from the night she rescues Mr Rochester for a bed misteriously set on fire.

Jane takes leave for a few weeks to go and visit her dying aunt, Mrs Reed. From her sickbed, she confesses that she has always hated Jane because she reminded her of her sister-in-law (Jane's mother) to whom Mr Reed was devoted. She also confesses that Jane has another uncle, Mr Eyre, who is rich and lives in Madeira.

After, Mrs Reed's passing, Jane Eyre goes back to Thornfield. Mr Rochester proposes to her and she accepts. The night before the wedding, an intruder comes into Jane's bedroom and ruins her veil.

Jane's happiness is short lived for on her very wedding day a lawyer and Mr Mason appear to ensure the union does not take place. We discover that Mr Rochester married Mr Mason's sister in Jamaica many years back. It was all a plot against Mr Rochester divised by his late father and brother as Bertha Mason (for that is Mr Rochester's wife's name) is a dangerous mad woman. She has been kept locked up on the third floor of Thornfield for many years.

Jane flees and ends up living with a vicar, St John, and his two sisters. At first she adopts the alias Jane Elliot but is soon found out by the vicar. It turns out they are cousins and their tie is their uncle who has just died in Madeira leaving his £ 30,000 fortune to Jane.

Jane, who has never had any relations that loved her or any possessions, suddenly finds herself with three cousins and a fortune to her name. She shares her fortune with her newly found relatives.

She stays with them for a year before returning to Thornfield. The catalyst would be St John's marriage proposal which would involve going to India with him as a missionary. Initially Jane, realising that St John is not in love with her nor she in love with him, refuses to marry him although considers going to India with him. However, after a few conversations with her cousin she is willing to consider marrying him until she thinks she hears Mr Rochester calling her in the wind. She decides to seek Mr Rochester before giving St John a final answer.

Upon her return to Thornfield, Jane finds the house destroyed by a fire caused by Bertha and hears that she was killed and that Mr Rochester lost his sight during the incident.

When Jane and Mr Rochester finally reunite, he proposes to her for a second time. The novel ends with them married - Mr Rochester having got his sight partially restored - and Adele attending a good boarding school.

The story is told as an autobiograhy supposedly written 20 years after Jane and Mr Rochester's wedding. It is a riveting love story in its core that has captured the imagination of readers and writers alike for decades. It has been extensively adapted to cinema and television and it has also known many prequels, sequels and retellings in recent years.