Jane Eyre (1847)

by Charlotte Brontë

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
39,879	681	16	(4.23)	7 / 2429

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442
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Bonzer, chrisharpe, fannyprice)
chrisharpe: There are some similarities between these two books: a young woman marries an older widower and moves to his mansion, where the marriage is challenged by the unearthly presence of the first wife.
fannyprice: These two books reminded me a lot of each other but Rebecca was more modern and somewhat less preachy.
416
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (TineOliver)
TineOliver: Debates about which is the greater love story have raged between book lovers for years. Why not read both and form your own opinion?
367
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Kerian, westher, deepikasd)
Kerian: If for some reason you read The Eyre Affair without having read Jane Eyre, I definitely recommend it. It will certainly be interesting to read and is a very good book.
westher: Voor als je wilt weten hoe de verhaallijn ontstaan is ;-)
deepikasd: This story also gives you a different spin and shows how the story is "changed" to what it is today. Though the story is a parody, the reader who loves Jane Eyre will definitely love meeting the characters again and relish the story all over.
3912
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (roby72, gabynation6)
gabynation6: these authors were sisters
278
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (stephmo, aces)
stephmo: Written as the story of the first Mrs. Rochester. While this may not be the light we want to remember Mr. Rochester in, it leads to a richer picture of the man he becomes for Jane.
151
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (Medellia)
218
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (norabelle414)
norabelle414: Both gothic novels, with a big ol' creepy house, and theme of hidden family secrets
131
Villette by Charlotte Brontë (Wraith_Ravenscroft, allenmichie)
110
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (shesinplainview)
121
The Brontës: Wild Genius on the Moors by Juliet Barker (Wraith_Ravenscroft)
92
Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn (infiniteletters)
infiniteletters: An interesting retelling.
81
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (hazzabamboo)
148
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (lanaing)
61
The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (_Zoe_)
_Zoe_: The Mysterious Howling offers a fresh perspective on the young governess arriving at a mysterious new place of employment. It's tongue-in-cheek and very funny--definitely an enjoyable read for those who don't take Jane Eyre too seriously.
51
Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (ElizabethPotter)
ElizabethPotter: This is like Jane Eyre in verse.
51
The Victorian Governess by Kathryn Hughes (susanbooks)
139
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Maiasaura)
52
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Anonymous user)
74
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (ncgraham)
ncgraham: Two Victorian heroines approach the question of how to reconcile passion and morality in very different ways.
41
Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor (susanbooks)
susanbooks: Naylor so brilliantly plays w/Dante & Jane Eyre

(see all 31 recommendations)

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▾Conversations (About links)


Topics	messages	Last message
Literary Centennials : 1816: Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre	1 unread / 1	edwinbcn, January 2016
Book talk : Jane Eyre	29 unread / 29	Cecrow, July 2014
The Brontës : Jane Eyre	14 unread / 14	A.Scott., January 2014
Books Compared : Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights	51 unread / 51	Nickelini, March 2013
75 Books Challenge for 2011 : *** Group Read: Jane Eyre (Spoiler Thread)	38 unread / 38	Smiler69, April 2011
75 Books Challenge for 2011 : *** Group Read: Jane Eyre (Non-Spoiler Thread)	28 unread / 28	Smiler69, April 2011
75 Books Challenge for 2010 : Jane Eyre Group Read (For the Procrastinators) Week One	47 unread / 47	susiesharp, December 2010
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English (644) Spanish (8) French (5) Dutch (5) Finnish (3) Danish (3) All (2) German (2) Italian (2) Swedish (1) Catalan (1) Hebrew (1) All (1) All (678)

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Showing 1-5 of 644 (next | show all)

I had been meaning to read this for a few years, ever since first reading Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. But I could never get past the first few pages, and the closet I got was when Brocklehurst met young Jane Eyre and then after she told off Mrs. Reed. But recently, in September, I decided to give it a try for a third time, and did it pay off? Yes, it most certainly did, and I'm glad, because it's one of my all time favourite books.

Jane Eyre is not a beautiful sex icon. She is no supermodel, is all I'm saying. She is plain Jane, and that's okay, because we don't need a sexy, beautiful goddess of a protagonist to emphasize with. She's also no millionaire, and she's average when it comes to playing the piano. But she is a skilled artist, she's intelligent, and-best of all-she has a strict moral code which she abides to, even if it means losing the love of her life. And I can respect that, because I think I would do the same thing. It would be hard, no doubt, but I would.

Anyway...

Bronte writes a good story. I felt for Jane, felt bad for her when she was locked in the red room and then later on when she had to dump Edward Rochester when she discovered his big secret. She was torn up, yet she felt it in her heart she had to do it. I can relate to Jane a lot.
As for Rochester, he's an interesting and complex character. I love him. I do. He's not perfect ( He already had a wife when he proposed to Jane. One he hadn't really had much contact with voluntarily, one that was mentally ill and homicidal and eventually suicidal, but still. He was a married man. ), but I don't consider him bad. Very flawed, but not horrible. And I believed his love for Jane and felt for him when she left, and how he was depressed.

The thing I didn't find too interesting was the period in which she stayed with St. John and his sisters. I don't know why, but those characters aren't very interesting to me. I like this book too much to remove one star, though. (

)

kyndyleizabella | Jan 23, 2017 |

Loved this, the psychological aspects of Jane's character being so thoroughly explored and the unconventional romance. (

)

kale.dyer | Jan 20, 2017 |

I'd always thought this novel far less interesting than Wuthering Heights, and could never understand why friends raved about it. However, re-reading has shown me how well plotted it is, although I still think the St John episode is boring and too long. (

)

mlfhlibrarian | Jan 18, 2017 |

Read this on my Ipad, and it was nothing but good times. Pretty melodramatic for my taste, and that St. John Rivers guy creeped me out, but good times nonetheless. Looking forward to the upcoming film adaptation directed by Cary Fukunaga. (

)

jalbacutler | Jan 10, 2017 |

A true classic that will continue to withstand the test of time. (

)

KimBeMe | Dec 29, 2016 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Brontë, Charlotte	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Becker, May Lamberton	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Bickford-Smith, Coralie	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Booker, Nell	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Brett, Simon	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Cabot, Meg	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Darcy, Dame	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Davis, Joe Lee	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Eggink, Clara	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Eichenberg, Fritz	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Erikson, Susan	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Freedman, Barnett	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gibson, Flo	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gilpin, Sam	Afterword	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Ibbett, Mary	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jong, Erica	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Klett, Elizabeth	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Leavis, Q. D.	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mason, Michael	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
McCaddon, Wanda	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mills, Juliet	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Minogue, Sally	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mitchell, Kathy	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Root, Amanda	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Scott, Lucy	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Smith, Margaret	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Stevenson, Juliet	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Weisser, Susan Ostrov	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wilson, Edward A.	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Zeiger, Arthur	Afterword	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Work-to-work relationships

Is contained in

Is retold in

Jane by April Lindner

Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

(show 3 more)

Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant

Jane Eyre (Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 6) by Clare West

Keeping Kate by Lauren Winder Farnsworth

Has the (non-series) prequel

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Has the adaptation

Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel : Original text (adapted, graphic novel) by Charlotte Brontë

CliffsNotes on Bronte's Jane Eyre by Karin Jacobson

Jane Eyre (adapted ∙ Step into Classics) by Jane E. Gerver

Jane Eyre (Penguin Readers, Level 3) by Charlotte Brontë

(show 13 more)

Is abridged in

Jane Eyre (Abridged - Readable Classics) by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre [adapted - Treasury of Illustrated Classics] by Charlotte Brontë

Best Loved Books for Young Readers 03 by Reader's Digest

Is parodied in

Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin

Inspired

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt

(show 3 more)

Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor

Reader, I Married Him by Tracy Chevalier

It All Began With Jane Eyre: Or, the Secret Life of Franny Dillman by Sheila Greenwald

Has as a student's study guide

CliffsNotes on Bronte's Jane Eyre by Karin Jacobson

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) by Harold Bloom

Spark Notes Jane Eyre by Brian Phillips

Jane Eyre [York Notes Advanced] by Karen Sayer

(show 2 more)

York Notes on Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" (York Notes) by Barry Knight

Jane Eyre (Barron's Book Notes) by Joyce Milton

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▾Common Knowledge

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Series (with order)

Canonical title

Original title

Jane Eyre; An Autobiography

Alternative titles

Jane Eyre; An Autobiography

Jane Eyre

Original publication date

1847-16-10

1847

People/Characters

Important places

Thornfield Hall (house)

Gateshead Hall (house)

Lowood School (school)

Morton, England

Moor House (aka Marsh End) (house)

(show all 7 items)

Important events

Related movies

Jane Eyre (1910 ∙ IMDb)

Jane Eyre (1943 ∙ IMDb)

Jane Eyre ( [1910] ∙ IMDb)

Jane Eyre ( [1914] ∙ IMDb)

(show all 16 items)

Awards and honors

BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003, No 10)

The Observer's 100 Greatest Novels of All Time (18)

Guardian 1000 (Love)

Whitcoulls top 100, 2008 (34)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006/2008/2010/2012 Edition)

(show all 32 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

To
W.M. THACKERAY, ESQ.
This work is
respectfully inscribed
by
THE AUTHOR

First words

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

Preface
A preface to the first edition of 'Jane Eyre' being unnecessary, I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark.

Quotations

I could not answer the ceaseless inward question—why I thus suffered; now, at the distance of—I will not say how many years, I see it clearly.

Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little that I am souless and heartless? You think wrong. I have as much soul as you and full as much heart, and if God had granted me some beauty and much wealth I should have made it as hard for you to leave me as it is now for me to leave you.

Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.

To have yielded would have been an error of principle; to have yielded now would have been an error in judgement.

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.

(show all 9 items)

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

This is the complete, unabridged Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Do not combine with any abridged versions, Norton Critical Editions, or vampire books.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

Penguin Classics

Bantam Classics

Dover Thrift Editions

Penguin Popular Classics

Vintage Classics

(show all 44 items)

Original language

English

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (6)

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Jane Eyre is the story of a love-deprived girl who becomes the governess of a young french girl at a the Rochester estate. Jane's boss, Mr Rochester is mysterious and reclusive. As romance develops between Jane and Rochester not all is as it seems. There are strange noises in the night and Jane believes a servant is trying to kill Rochester. Nothing at the Rochester estate is as she expects.

historia de amor

Haiku summary

She's poor and orphaned
But educated and proud
Boss gets all fired up.
(pickupsticks)

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0141441143, Paperback)

A new edition of one of Penguin's top ten Classics-the novel that has been "teaching true strength of character for generations"
(The Guardian)

A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. This updated edition features a new introduction discussing the novel's political and magical dimensions.

Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved?

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:02:42 -0400)

(see all 10 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

"Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she takes a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, 'Jane Eyre' (1847) dazzled and shocked readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom. In her introduction, Stevie Davies discusses the novel's language and politics, its treatment of women's lives and its literary influences. This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, an appendix and notes." -- Back cover.… (more)

» see all 65 descriptions