Friday, October 8, 2010

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

Jane Eyre

  • Jane Eyre
  • Mrs. Reed
  • Lowood boarding school
  • Mr. Brocklehurst
  • Miss Temple
  • Helen Burns
  • Thornfield Hall
  • Adele
  • Mrs. Fairfax
  • Edward Rochester
  • Miss Blanche Ingram
  • Bertha Mason
  • St. John Rivers  
Plot summary:
  • Jane Eyre is an orphan living with her wealthy aunt Mrs. Reed who is unkind to her. 
  • Jane is sent to Lowood, run by the inhumane Mr. Brocklehurst. There she makes friends with Helen Burns and admires Miss Temple, the headmistress who is kind to her.
  • Helen dies of consumption and Jane eventually becomes a teacher at Lowood. Upon Miss Temple's marriage Jane secures a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall.
  • Jane teaches a young French girl, Adele, and spends time with the housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax. 
  • Jane slowly becomes acquainted with Edward Rochester, the owner of the manor, who pretends to court Miss Blanche Ingram but is secretly in love with Jane.
  • Jane and Mr. Rochester eventually confess their feelings to each other  and plan to get married.
  • On the wedding day, however, the ceremony is interrupted by a lawyer who declares that Mr. Rochester is already married. His mad wife is Bertha Mason, a Creole from Jamaica whom he had to marry to secure an estate, and is locked up in the attic of Thornfield Hall. 
  • Mr. Rochester offers to take Jane abroad with him, but Jane does not want to accept the status of mistress. She flees Thornfield in the middle of the night.
  • Jane wanders for a few days and finally finds refuge with a vicar, St. John Rivers, and his sisters. Jane is given a position as a village schoolteacher and they find out that Jane is actually his cousin. Jane also inherits some money from an uncle but shares it with her cousins. 
  • St. John proposes to Jane and plans to go to India as a missionary, but Jane knows that he does not truly love her. Instead, she hears Rochester's voice calling in the wind and feels the need to respond to it.
  • Jane immediately travels to Thornfield Hall to find it abandoned and ruined by a fir. She learns that Mr. Rochester has lost a hand, an eye, and the sight of his other eye as the result of trying to unsuccessfully save Bertha from the fire she started. 
  • Jane sets off for Ferndean, Rochester's cabin, and they are reconciled. She writes in the perspective of ten years after their marriage during which she has given birth to a son and Mr. Rochester gained part of his sight back. 

No comments:

Post a Comment