Jane Eyre (Bantam Classics)

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Summary: STUNNING NOVEL!
Review: Charlotte Bronte is one of my favorite authors of all time. She is praised not only for her beautiful and eloquent writing but also for her captivating stories that fascinates readers of all generations. In this riveting novel that many considered the most prominent literary work of Charlotte Bronte, the life of a 19th century young English woman, Jane Eyre, is portrayed vividly. It is a life of shocking reality, a combination of misery, sorrow, and intrigue. Starting from her youthful years, she is met with great obstacles. As a small girl, Jane lived under the scrutiny of her cold hearted aunt, who not only showed bias but also cruelty. Sent to Logwood School at a young age, Jane is cast aside from the other students. Constantly tortured by her teachers and declared as a definite sign of evil and wickedness, she has grown up through a bitter childhood into a woman of great determination and tremendous courage. Striving in a world meant for the wealthy and fortunate, Jane is granted a job as a governess in the mansion of a rich yet mysteriously shrouded man, Mr. Rochester, who only visits the place years at a time. Handsome and prosperous, Mr. Rochester has had his own life of torment, one complicated by deception and remorse, and a shadowed past of beguilement concealed by intricate lies that haunted him for years. Yet, either by coincidence or fate, he unexpectedly went back to his mansion right after Jane's arrival. Inspired and warmed by Jane's calmness and wisdom, the pair soon becomes entangled in a complicated labyrinth of romance mingled with obscurity and dark secrets. With the greatest chance of happiness inches away, Jane discovers a terrifying truth, one that can ultimately destroy ...or save her.

Through the main character, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte graphically woven this book into a world where we, as readers, can all connect to. I highly recommend it to everyone! It is a classic that cannot be put down!


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Summary: Jane Eyre - Timeless and Enjoyable
Review: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was truly an enjoyable novel for me to read. Jane Eyre, the protagonist of Brontë's novel, grows up as an orphan child in oppressive surroundings; however, she overcomes the repression of her cruel childhood and follows her heart to find out who she is and where she truly belongs. Readers, especially female readers, can easily identify with Jane because they are all searching for themselves or have already done so at some point in their lives. Although there are a few parts of the novel which are difficult to read, the novel is essentially easy to read and understand, mainly because it is actually written to and for the reader. Readers are still able to make a connection with Jane's passionate feelings, her love of religion, and her struggle with difficult decisions, because the readers of today must still deal with those same situations that Jane dealt with over one hundred and fifty years ago. Readers can learn from the balance Jane maintains between her conscience and her intuition as influences to the difficult decisions she makes. Jane's undying sense of hope is inspiring and shows readers that hope and faith are the only things needed to carry on in life.

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Summary: My personal favorite
Review: I first read "Jane Eyre" shortly after high school and was completely mesmerized by it. I have read it several times since and I come away with a different view point each time. Jane is the ultimate heroine: she's independant, doesn't bow down to what the "ideal woman" should be and doesn't let anything (or anyone) compromise her principles, even the man she loves. The book appeals to the reader both emotionally and intellectually. The emotional aspect of the book is what I love about it. When Rochester tells Jane of his feelings for her, I can the passion of the characters. And later, when Jane leaves him, the agony of the characters is palpable.

"Jane Eyre" always seems to fall under "Wuthering Heights" shadow. "Jane Eyre," I believe, is the better novel. It has all the atmosphere of "Wuthering Heights", but the romance of Rochester and Jane is far more romantic and believable than that of Cathy and Heathcliff.

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Summary: a timeless tale that will be around forever.
Review: I first read Jane Eyre when I was thirteen, and I fell in love with it almost instantly as soon as I finished the first chapter. As you follow Jane's hardships from her troubled childhood through to her near-doomed relationship with the dark, brooding, and deathly handsome Rochester, you feel as if those hardships were your own. After all, aren't we all plain Jane Eyre's at times?

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Summary: Awesome Book
Review: I read this book when I was 15 for a school English project when a friend recommended it- I'm now 17 and I'm actually in the process of reading the book again. It's just that good. One thing I really like about this book is that Jane isn't pretty, at least not pretty like many other girls around her, and she isn't high class, but she can still have a wonderful life regardless! This is an awesome book and even if you've never read a book like this, try it, and I'm sure you won't regret it.

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Summary: A good book to read in the tub(if you take long baths often)
Review: Jane Eyre Book Review By Deborah Friedell Jane Eyre is the story of a "plain, small, and Quaker-like" governess who breaks through class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loves. She is a heroine not because she is beautiful and rich but because she has raw intelligence and compassion. In this classic piece of fiction, Charlotte Brontë showed a great command of the English language and proved to be a master storyteller. In Jane, Brontë created a character that is as multifaceted and as real as any living person I have ever known. Perhaps Jane seems real because she is -- her experiences mirror the author's. When the book begins, the ten-year-old orphaned Jane is in conflict with her aunt and cousins that raised her. After ten years of suffering at their hands she strikes back at them. Jane's aunt is unwilling to deal with her, and sends her to a charity school, the Lowood Institution. There, among great suffering, Jane becomes strong and learns about faith. After eight years at Lowood, she becomes the governess of Adéle, the French ward of Mr. Rochester a man cloaked in mystery and despair. Despite their twenty years age difference and their different castes they fall in love and plan to marry. At the marriage ceremony it is revealed that Rochester is already married to a Creole woman named Bertha, who Mr. Rochester keeps locked up in his home because she suffers from (what I believe to be) atypical general paresis, the consequence of a syphilitic infection. Jane runs away in despair, and for a time is homeless and starving. She is taken in by a clergyman and his two sisters. The clergyman, St. John Rivers, has a cold and insensitive nature that provides a stark contrast to Rochester's passion. Coincidentally (too coincidentally for this reader) when Jane inherits a legacy from an uncle it is discovered that the clergyman is Jane's cousin. This does not stop St. John from asking for Jane's hand in marriage and demanding that she accompany him as a missionary to India. Jane prays for guidance and hears Rochester calling her name. She travels back to him, and finds him blind and crippled due to a fire that Bertha had set, causing her death. All is forgiven; they marry and have one son. Jane receives a letter from St. John in India, saying that he is looking forward to his death and the rewards that come in heaven. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë created a timeless work of fiction. I am only a high school student, and have never been in love. However, I have trouble seeing anyone in love with Rochester. He is a proud man, bold, vindictive, impatient, eccentric, and untruthful. When he tries to seduce Jane he emanates a false sympathy for her, "You- poor and obscure, and small plain as you are- I entreat you to accept me for a husband." Charlotte Brontë is a good writer because she makes Jane's love seem logical, even if the reader does not like her choice. Jane Eyre is a great book because the author wrote about a subject she knew about-- herself. Like Jane, Brontë grew up without a mother and in her aunt's household. Brontë's two sisters died as a result of ill treatment at the Cowan Bridge School and subsequent tuberculosis, similar to the way Jane's friends died at Lowood. It has been rumored that Brontë fell in love with the husband of the woman who operated the school where she taught. This suffering may be the inspiration for Jane's despair over Rochester. Charlotte Brontë is rich in symbolism. The horse chestnut "struck by lightening in the night, and half of it split away" serves to foreshadow tragedy and fire. The fire that destroys Thornfield, cripples Rochester, and kills Bertha seems to be a work of God, similar to the lightening that befalls the tree. Jane's friend at Lowood, Helen Burns, supports Christian beliefs and seems closer to God than any of her biblical teachers, especially Mr. Brocklehurst. Helen's death of consumption can be viewed as a sacrifice because it teaches Jane a valuable lesson in faith that according to Christian doctrine may be enough to save her. Helen's tombstone reads "Resurgam" or "I shall rise again" making her into a Christ-like figure. Jane is able to endure homelessness and near starvation because of the faith that Helen gave her. Jane Eyre is a story about passion. Too much of it, and you end up like Bertha Mason. Too little, and you end up like St. John Rivers. In St. John's letter to Jane at the end of the book he says that he is looking forward to death and the rewards that come in heaven. However, those who have love, and just the right amount of passion, have no need for the gift of death, and can reap their rewards on Earth.

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Summary: The Quest for Freedom
Review: Jane Eyre has an odd place in literary history. It is one of the most compelling reads ever written, and in my opinion, it uncovers so much about the nature of being a human. The novel's a page-turner for its entertainment value as well as for its ability to enlighten.

Jane is a poor orphan born in a society that fights her ability to attain financial, emotional, sexual, and spiritual freedom. From the beginning of the novel, Jane is on a quest to gain her liberation. Of course, she cannot do so by herself. She must retain enough fortitude to be her true self, and she must be an instrument of grace, of change, in the life of Rochester.

Everything in the novel conspires toward the creation of a near-perfect novel. I cannot believe I waited so long to experience this masterpiece, but I will certainly be returning to it over and over through the rest of my life. This novel cannot be missed by anyone who wants to read truly great literature or by anyone who just wants to experience a great read.

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Summary: So deep and thought provoking
Review: Jane Eyre is just a great book... full of color and depth. It's story not for society as a whole, but for each unique individual that reads it. The coincidences that many complain about were superb to me, because in everyone's life, especially mine, strange things happen everyday that wouldn't seem "normal" or may appear coincidental. What I think is most prevalent about the story are the internal changes that occur in the lives of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester; they're the only two characters in the book that are changed and humbled by the experiences that they went through for the sake of love. When first read, Jane and the reader are nearly "tricked" into thinking that this book would be another tale of "true love" triumping over an evil society, crossing the boundaries of wealth and caste. Such a theme is as unoriginal as "love at first sight." Yet, we should already know from many other books that society will not change for the individual, and the author does a great job in showing that individuals (with the aid of God) can change for each other, something completely different than the other theme. In the end we find that society has nothing to do with internal battles that Jane and Edward faced; the development of their love had little to do with external circumstances. All in all, this book is a must read, not just because of the romance (but that part was very interesting and moving!), but for the passion and the wisdom that the author is able to bestow on the reader.

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Summary: my favorite fiction book
Review: Jane Eyre is my favorite fiction book of all time. But to fully appreciate this book requires that you be a "mature" reader. And also realize that this book was written in another era, where society and standards were much different than today.

I originally read this book years ago for my highschool literature class. Although I didn't dis-like the book, I didn't exactly like it either. It did not have much of an impact on me. I think I was too immature (lacking in life experiences) to relate to and understand some of the strong emotions and the complex sides of human nature portrayed in the book.

Reading this book years later as a mature adult, I was deeply touched by the story of Jane Eyre. You experience a variety of emotions: abandonment, despair, love, romance, mystery, danger, heartache. And Jane Eyre was really a character ahead of her time - Although content to conform to the standards expected of a woman in her time period, Jane had an independent mind and spirit. She would not do something against her will, heart, or conscience. She was not afraid to speak her mind. She had strong Christian moral beliefs and would not waver from them. She is a heroine to be admired and respected.

So much more could be said, but I will leave it at that. If you were disapointed by Jane Eyre if you read it as a teenager, try reading it again as an adult.

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Summary: Upon re-reading
Review: Odd, how re-reading a classic can become a meaningful experience. I'm sure I read Jane Eyre at least two times when I was in high school and again at college. Then there were the films, the most memorable being the one with William Hurt playing Rochester. Yet, last weekend when I was visiting friends and had nothing at hand, I looked at the first chapter and thought "I've don't remember any of this," and was hooked.

No wonder this book endures and no wonder that readers are entranced: it is an extraordinary story of an individual's struggle to live in a harsh world, find and create physical comfort and sustain an unacceptable love. Even though the story is intensely atmospheric (food, structures, furniture, temperature, clothes and flora are in constant reference), it is Jane herself who drives the story. Where she will find herself and what she will do next is the surprise. No wonder feminists were interested in this book: Jane never succumbs to anyone's idea of what she should do, she wrestles with decisions and bases her choices (that she insists on having choises is already delightful) on her own moral, social code. Hard choices she makes too and we wonder if she'll manage when, for example, she leaves Thornfield and finds herself forced to beg for food.

The writing is sharp and intelligent and...funny too: take, for example, the little girls toppling off their stools during prayers, or the description of Adele's "French" personality. The plot is a stretch but a loveable one. Jane, we are told often, has neither beauty nor stature, the type of person that gets ignored in any social situation. However, this seemingly ineffectual person has two highbrow offers of marriage,inherits a fortune and reaps the bounty of a geniune, loving relationship with the one man who is her intellectual and emotional equal. Not bad for a poor, plain governess in the 1830s.

Today, it might be that religion, scripture and even the idea of morality are concepts that carry too much weight for popular fiction. Jane, a level-headed girl, is neither silly nor preachy. That her thoughts are informed with the religious moral tone of the period makes this story more than a romance or tale of finding true love. It demonstrates how conviction is founded.