Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Genre: Bildungsroman

Publication Date: 1847

Jane Eyre

Overview

First published in 1847 as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography under the pseudonym Currer Bell, Jane Eyre is author Charlotte Bronte’s most widely read novel. Considered a Victorian era classic, Jane Eyre traces the life of a young orphan girl’s journey into womanhood facing the challenges of class structure in Victorian society. It was an immediate success, and the breaking of the fourth wall (where the narrator addresses the reader directly) had a unique appeal to readers. Rooted in the protagonist Jane’s dilemma between choosing her romantic and sexual desires and following societal norms, this work is an example of moral realism. The gothic literary elements employed by Bronte also make this an engaging and gripping tale.

Jane Eyre is a cultural phenomenon and has been adapted for the stage and film several times, arguably the most famous being a 1943 movie adaptation where Joan Fontaine takes the role of Jane. Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) is a novel that shares the characters and world of Jane Eyre, but shows the story that precedes the happenings in Bronte’s novel. Giving Bertha, the mad wife character in Jane Eyre, a new name Antoinetta Mason and a complete character arc, Rhys retells the story as happening in the Caribbean Islands. Bertha or Antoinetta’s behavior is given the depth of arising from a loveless marriage and an uninterested and alien husband in Rochester. Thus, Wide Sargasso Sea is a feminist and anti-colonial response to Bronte’s Victorian classic.

Jane Eyre Biography

Jane Eyre Background

Jane Eyre Characters

Jane Eyre Summary and Analysis

Jane Eyre Themes

Jane Eyre Quotes

Jane Eyre Discussion Questions