Jane Eyre is the main character in the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte. She is a fictional character along with the book. The book takes place in the mid 1800’s. Jane lives in five different places which greatly affect her life. The first place Jane stays is Gateshead Hall. She then goes to live at Lowood School. From Lowood Jane proceeds on to Thornfield Hall. She then advances on to Moor House. Finally, Jane reaches her final home at Ferndean. All of this happens within two decades and the novel is told in first person, which is Jane Eyre.
The first place Jane stays is Gateshead Hall. While at Gateshead, Jane is treated unfairly and is punished for things she did not do. After the death of Jane’s parents, her uncle, Mr. Reed brought Jane into his house. On her uncle’s deathbed Mrs. Reed promises to treat Jane like one of her own children. Jane’s aunt, Mrs. Reed, does not like Jane and has a very hard time doing this. She feels Jane was forced upon her family after the death of her parents. Against her husband’s request, Mrs. Reed does not treat Jane like a human being and is constantly criticizing and punishing her.
In one example Jane was keeping to herself, reading a book when her cousin John Reed decided to annoy her. John then grabbed the book and threw it at her knocking her down and cutting her on the head, which bled and was very painful. Mrs. Reed then punished Jane by sending her into the red room, the room her uncle died in, for the entire night. While in the red room Jane became terrified and thought she saw or heard the flapping of wings. The treatment Jane received caused her to become bitter and to truly dislike Mrs. Reed. Jane then goes on to live at Lowood School.
While at Lowood Jane meets a young girl named Helen Burns. Helen taught Jane many things about life and religion. Jane recalls a time when Helen was scolded for not cleaning her nails or washing her face. Mrs. Scatherd, throwing out the fact that the water was frozen proceeded to punish Helen by smacking her on the back of the neck with a bundle of twigs. Jane is amazed at Helen’s ability to accept the punishment, eventhough it was not Helen’s fault. Jane then asked Helen if she wanted to leave Lowood. Helen tells her no because she was sent to get an education.
This shows how mature, intelligent, and religious Helen is and how she tries to teach Jane this. Mr. Brocklehurst was visiting the school one day, and during his visit he criticized and scolded Miss. Temple for feeding the children extra food. During his tirade Jane dropped her slate and immediately was called up by Mr. Brocklehurst. Mr. Brocklehurst then went on to call Jane a liar and told all the teachers to watch her actions and punish her body in order to save her soul. This made Jane feel horrible but Helen then consoled her and she soon felt better.
These events at Lowood twisted and pulled Jane’s emotions, and with the help of Helen Burns, Jane was able to realize what it meant to be a good and loving person. Jane then proceeds on to Thornfield Hall. At Thornfield Hall, Jane becomes the teacher or mistress of the young Adele. Jane then meets the owner of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester, on a barren road on a cold dark night. Jane frightens Mr. Rochester’s horse and he was thrown from his horse and wounded his leg. Once back at Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester and Jane have a long detailed conversation, concerning Jane.
Mr. Rochester asked her about her education at Lowood, how long she had been at Thornfield, and about her other talents. Jane answered all of his questions and soon started to take a liking to Mr. Rochester. Late one night, the sound of a hideous laugh and the smell of smoke awaken Jane. When she goes to see what is bothering her she finds that Mr. Rochester’s bed has been set on fire with him sleeping in it. Jane woke up Rochester, and then he proceeds to put the fire out. Rochester then thanks Jane for saving his life and he then seems to become closer to her.
Rochester and Jane then begin to pay special attention to each other until the time that he leaves to attend a house party. After three days Rochester returns, but he returns with many rich and wealthy people. These people were at Thornfield Hall for a house party that was going to be hosted by Rochester. Among the people there, there was a woman by the name of Blanche Ingram, the woman to whom Rochester was supposed to marry. This upsets Jane because she knows that she has feelings for Rochester and she thought that Rochester might have feelings for her.
A man by the name of Mason then interrupts the party and asks to see Rochester. As Rochester is talking to Mason. Jane can hear Rochester complimenting Mason. Rochester invites Mason to join the party and that he can stay with them during the night. During the night a loud scream that came from the room upstairs, awakens Jane. When Jane leaves her bedroom, she finds Rochester and he asks her to follow him. When they arrive upstairs they find that Mason has been wounded and is bleeding. Once the doctor was called upon, Mason is taken to the doctor’s house for treatment.
After the doctor left, Rochester proposes to Jane, and she accepts. On the day of the wedding Mr. Mason showed up again and stopped the wedding. He claimed that Rochester had married his sister and was still her husband. Rochester does not deny this fact and once again Jane feels alone and lonely, she feels cheated by Rochester, whom she once trusted, she feels helpless. Jane then advances on to Moor House. At Moor House Jane is at first disliked because of her begging and poor first impression, but Jane is soon taken into liking by all three members of the Rivers family, St.
John, Diana, and Mary. While at Moor House, St. John gives Jane a teaching job at Morton. The job is a very frustrating job for Jane because many of the children were ignorant and refused to do their work. During the time that Jane was at Moor House, she found out that she was the cousin to all three members of the Rivers family. This greatly pleased Jane because now she knew that she really has a family. Then one day St. John asked Jane to marry him. He said that God was calling Jane to be a missionary, and that she should go with him to India.
Jane refused this offer. The next day St. John left for India, and Jane returned to Thornfield Hall, because she thought she heard Rochester’s voice calling her. Finally, Jane reaches her final home at Ferndean. She arrives after a long trip that took her back to Thornfield where she found it in ruins. Many questions enter Jane’s mind but they are soon answered by an inn keeper. She told Jane that after she left, Bertha set fire to the building and it soon was burned down to the ground and during the fire a staircase fell on Mr.
Rochester. During the fall, Rochester lost one of his eyes and lost sight in his other eye due to swelling and inflammation. Soon after he also had to have his left hand amputated. The innkeeper then told Jane that Rochester was at Ferndean. She then left for Ferndean, when she arrived she was overwhelmed by the sight of her lost love. At first it took some time to convince Rochester that it was Jane Eyre, but he soon realized that it was her. Jane and Rochester were then married and she gave birth to a baby son.
At the end of the novel Jane and Rochester have been married for ten years and Rochester had partially gained his sight back. This was Jane’s final home. Jane is small, petite, short, pale, has plain features, and is described as being very intelligent and unselfish. Jane showed persistence throughout the book by never giving up at anything. Throughout her life she went through extremely difficult times, such as being mistreated by her aunt, she never gave up. When her best friend, Helen, was very sick and dying, Jane never left her side. Even though Jane was told to leave Helen alone, she didn’t budge.
Another quality Jane possessed was morality. Most of all her decisions were carefully made. She never comprised what she believed to be the moral thing to do. For example, when she found out Mr. Rochester was a married man, she ended her relationship with him. She resumed her relationship with him only after his wife had died. Throughout the story she was challenged with many dilemmas, but always seemed to make the correct decisions. I enjoyed the book but I did think the book was too wordy and too descriptive. I think there should have been more action because the book did bore me a bit.
I thought the characters in the book were very interesting in there own secretive way. In some ways I could relate to Jane Eyre because at times I have too felt unwanted, loved, and plain. I recommend this book to readers who like books that are either historical, or people that like to read romance. I do not recommend this book to people who like science fiction, mysteries, and murder. I also don’t recommend this book to people who don’t like books that are long and descriptive. I think the book was well thought out, well planned, and well written.
