Jane Eyre
Date Posted: Sunday, August 05, 2007Author: Charlotte Bronte
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I first read Jane Eyre at the age of 12 and I've been re-reading ever since. It has everything I could want in a novel - the Gothic setting, the plucky orphan heroine, the brooding hero with a mysterious past. Stripped to its essentials, the plot is pure Victorian melodrama but in Charlotte Bronte's skilled hands, it becomes something else - a classic novel that has been read and loved by millions of people since its publication in 1847.
Jane Eyre explores major 19th century issues such as religion and hypocrisy, the role and treatment of women in society and social class - issues that continue to resonate with the modern reader. This accounts in some part for its popularity but more significant is the cast of memorable characters that live on long after the last page is turned, none more so than Jane herself. The author deliberately created a seemingly unassuming heroine but despite her humble background and plain looks, Jane is no mouse. Courageous and forthright even as a child she stands up to her bullying relations and endures the hardships of Lowood school. As an adult she proves herself Rochester's equal time and time again.
Rochester, on the other hand, is deeply flawed - a moody, bad-tempered, would-be bigamist who isn't even handsome. But through Jane we see his good qualities and it's through her that he finally finds happiness. "Reader I married him" is one of the most famous lines in fiction and it brings a lump to my throat every time I read it.
By the end of the novel Jane has survived a wretched childhood, the wrath of the madwoman in the attic, near-death on a desolate moor and a broken heart. Jane Eyre is an everywoman who shows the rest of us what is possible.
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