Name: Jane Eyre
ISBN: 9781462796670

Charlotte Brontë

Karen Swallow Prior

Frankenstein. Jane Eyre. You're familiar with these pillars of classic literature. You have seen plenty of Frankenstein costumes, watched the film adaptations, and may even be able to rattle off a few quotes, but do you really know how to read these books? Do you know anything about the authors who wrote them, and what the authors were trying to teach readers through their stories? Do you know how to read them as a Christian? Continuing this beautifully designed series, bestselling author, literature professor, and avid reader Karen Swallow Prior will guide you through a selection of classics. She will not only navigate you through the pitfalls that trap readers today, but show you how to read them in light of the gospel, and to the glory of God.

A Guide to Reading and Reflecting

Jane Eyre

Josephina Lucke

karissa🌙

Avery

Hannah E

Shelby Doherty

fleabag

“He is not to them what he is to me,” I thought: “he is not of their kind. I believe he is of mine”

“I must, then, repeat continually that we are for ever sundered:—and yet, while I breathe and think, I must love him.”

Misha Yagnik

We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain,-the impalpable principle of life and thought, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man-- perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph!

Bethany Jenkins

I hardly know where I found the hardihood thus to open a conversatíon with a stranger; the step was contrary to my nature and habits: but I think her occupation touched a chord of sympathy somewhere; for I too liked reading.

里森

“I took a speed-reading course and was able to read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”

Both the lexical and phonological pathways operate in parallel and reinforce each other.

I abhor such fanatical phantasimes, such insociable and point-devise companions; such rackers of orthography, as to speak dout, fine, when he should say doubt; det, when he should pronounce debt—d, e, b, t, not d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf; half, hauf; neighbour vocatur nebor; neigh abbreviated ne. This is abhominable—which he would call abbominable: it insinuateth me of insanie.

English is an abominably irregular language. George Bernard Shaw pointed out that the word “fish” might be spelled ghoti: gh as in “enough,” o as in “women,” and ti as in “lotion”!

Our species alone rises above its biological condition, creates an artificial cultural environment for itself, and teaches itself new skills like reading.

Michael Mason

Retells the classic story of an orphaned young woman who accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer.

i absolutely adored this book up until the last part. it was so looonggg and difficult for me to get through that i stopped even noticing the pretty words anymore, if that makes sense. also i hate men

jana 

Jane Eyre (Simple English S)

I am shocked by how much I liked this book. For being written almost 200 years ago, it was still so relatable. Jane was an honest and funny narrator and her perspective was rarely misleading. You felt what she felt which is wild to me considering how different our times appear. Her depiction of the the other characters is relevant and everything had a purpose. There was no fluff and she tied up every loose end. Charlotte Brontë (and her sisters) were fantastic writers. Charlotte’s more upbeat and cheery perspective on life was so much fun to read. 

soph 

While reading the book, i accidentally took a peek on the last few chapters while mindlessly flipping through the pages, taking a feel at the length I’d have to tackle for a while. I’m horrible at gaslighting myself, i first have to admit. Spoilers are probably one of the worst things in existence for me, needing and requiring the surprise and tension to be—well, surprising. New. Unknown, yet. A mystery. Which was why I was downright horrified when these four wretched words registered to me in what was just a flitting and supposedly fleeting moment.

at the time I had been reading jane eyre and mr. rochester’s budding relationship. Long spiels, quietly and subduedly enthused remarks, a tennis ball flying through the court. mr. rochester swinging his arm at it with all his possible speed and strength and velocity, jane eyre simply deflecting it, a smile or a thoughtful eye, the recipient of his winded monologues. even worse, i actually searched online who jane eyre was going to marry: mr. rochester it was. it made me expectant and excited, encouraged me to continue because, yeah, i loved how it was going so far. but then it put me off reading it for a while after getting to the portion where mr. rochester confesses his feelings and asks of Jane to become his wife. rejected, he becomes a manchild. i hated him for the latter half of the book. in fact, when i was reading this in the ferry going home, i was innerly cursing him out and physically flipping out the book so much that a woman eyed me as I did this. but let it be known that she was nice, because when I noticed her in turn I slipped a single finger against my lips and tacitly told her to keep this a secret, purposefully glancing at my mother on the the other side of the waiting lounge, consumed by her phone screen, who would’ve found it unforgivable if she’d seen me do it. she would berate me about curse words and the middle finger at any age until I reach adulthood, which I yet have become. the woman in the waiting lounge smiled and mimicked my action, and that was it. a good memory. i still wonder if she ever told anyone, especially the man beside her, asleep, who appeared to be her husband. i’ve never personally told anyone about this. that’s one thing, I guess.

coming back to the book, I had a few reading slumps throughout. by the time I’ve reached 3/4 of the book, I’ve already finished three other books. This is, frankly, an achievement, being a newcomer to reading published books in general after years of online reading.

when st. john rivers, revealed to be jane eyre’s biological cousin, asked (ordered? I hardly remember anymore) of jane eyre to become his missionary’s wife and move elsewhere, I panicked. i really did. i thought i’d been wrong, or the information on google was wrong since google ai exists and i had thoughtlessly, stupidly glanced over it. not only because it’s incest, but also because—it’s St. John rivers, damnit. at that point I was just thinking that mr. rochester, the manchild, was better than him. which is pretty stupid since both people are just as demanding, taking rejection in their own insecure ways. regardless, the novel ends, mr. rochester is crippled, jane eyre fulfills the “missionary wife” dream really-not-really, and yey, happily ever after. i don’t know how to feel or think about that. i’d like to read this again a decade later, when i’m a better reader and writer, and really, really dissect it. the bad thing is is that i hate rereading unless the book is amazing all throughout. rewatching, too. this was a book that took me an entire year to finish. admittedly, i would not put myself through that all over again. nope.

after writing my review on loveless, i realize that I have a love for characters that are ephemerally existing. in the narrative sense, that is. dad’s five star cooking. once in a blue moon, the beauty. ellis warr is to me who helen burns was then. i’m unsure what this means about me and my relationship with relationships, in fact i would rather not dwell on it until it does run me over, twice, for good measure. but throughout the entire book i would not forget her. jane’s sisters come in close at second, mostly because their disputes are so entertaining to read, but, oh helen burns. you meant so much to me. 

south-getaway

While reading the book, i accidentally took a peek on the last few chapters while mindlessly flipping through the pages, taking a feel at the length I’d have to tackle for a while. I’m horrible at gaslighting myself, i first have to admit. Spoilers are probably one of the worst things in existence for me, needing and requiring the surprise and tension to be—well, surprising. New. Unknown, yet. A mystery. Which was why I was downright horrified when these four wretched words registered to me in what was just a flitting and supposedly fleeting moment.

“Reader, I married him.”

at the time I had been reading jane eyre and mr. rochester’s budding relationship. Long spiels, quietly and subduedly enthused remarks, a tennis ball flying through the court. mr. rochester swinging his arm at it with all his possible speed and strength and velocity, jane eyre simply deflecting it, a smile or a thoughtful eye, the recipient of his winded monologues. even worse, i actually searched online who jane eyre was going to marry: mr. rochester it was. it made me expectant and excited, encouraged me to continue because, yeah, i loved how it was going so far. but then it put me off reading it for a while after getting to the portion where mr. rochester confesses his feelings and asks of Jane to become his wife. rejected, he becomes a manchild. i hated him for the latter half of the book. in fact, when i was reading this in the ferry going home, i was innerly cursing him out and physically flipping out the book so much that a woman eyed me as I did this. but let it be known that she was nice, because when I noticed her in turn I slipped a single finger against my lips and tacitly told her to keep this a secret, purposefully glancing at my mother on the the other side of the waiting lounge, consumed by her phone screen, who would’ve found it unforgivable if she’d seen me do it. she would berate me about curse words and the middle finger at any age until I reach adulthood, which I yet have become. the woman in the waiting lounge smiled and mimicked my action, and that was it. a good memory. i still wonder if she ever told anyone, especially the man beside her, asleep, who appeared to be her husband. i’ve never personally told anyone about this. that’s one thing, I guess.

coming back to the book, I had a few reading slumps throughout. by the time I’ve reached 3/4 of the book, I’ve already finished three other books. This is, frankly, an achievement, being a newcomer to reading published books in general after years of online reading.

when st. john rivers, revealed to be jane eyre’s biological cousin, asked (ordered? I hardly remember anymore) of jane eyre to become his missionary’s wife and move elsewhere, I panicked. i really did. i thought i’d been wrong, or the information on google was wrong since google ai exists and i had thoughtlessly, stupidly glanced over it. not only because it’s incest, but also because—it’s St. John rivers, damnit. at that point I was just thinking that mr. rochester, the manchild, was better than him. which is pretty stupid since both people are just as demanding, taking rejection in their own insecure ways. regardless, the novel ends, mr. rochester is crippled, jane eyre fulfills the “missionary wife” dream really-not-really, and yey, happily ever after. i don’t know how to feel or think about that. i’d like to read this again a decade later, when i’m a better reader and writer, and really, really dissect it. the bad thing is is that i hate rereading unless the book is amazing all throughout. rewatching, too. this was a book that took me an entire year to finish. admittedly, i would not put myself through that all over again. nope.

after writing my review on loveless, i realize that I have a love for characters that are ephemerally existing. in the narrative sense, that is. dad’s five star cooking. once in a blue moon, the beauty. ellis warr is to me who helen burns was then. i’m unsure what this means about me and my relationship with relationships, in fact i would rather not dwell on it until it does run me over, twice, for good measure. but throughout the entire book i would not forget her. jane’s sisters come in close at second, mostly because their disputes are so entertaining to read, but, oh helen burns. you meant so much to me. 

I can't and I, against my dna, decide to drop it. Mortality creeps in.

Dora Tominic

Disclaimer: this is not a review.

I can't and I, against my dna, decide to drop it. Mortality creeps in.

I first learned about the Brontë sisters when I was maybe 10 years old, I vowed to myself then, that one day I’d read their works and form my own opinion on them. I’ve spent the past few months slowly getting through Jane Eyre, and today I finally finished this beautiful book with a heavy heart.

While Jane Eyre is marketed as your typical Victorian romance novel, it is so much more than that. It reads like a biography, you spend 38 chapters growing with Jane, being told her life’s story as if you were a friend. You go through all her trials and tribulations by her side, and to call it a romance novel alone would be reducing its weight and worth.

Considering the period it’s from, Jane’s story stands out. A strong female protagonist’s survival story; a fight for freedom and independence in an era where it was deemed impossible. She suffers pain and agony, the world’s impossibly cruel to her, but she finds her way through the world, forms real friendships, finds true love, she survives and truly lives according to her principles.

Jane Eyre is not just a character in a book to me anymore, she has become my friend and a part of me. I lived and breathed with Jane, felt her pain and sorrow, her overwhelming love and happiness as one. I cried when she cried and I laughed when Jane laughed. Jane Eyre has taught me so much that I cannot put into words, there is truly no way I could ever encapsulate how this book has made me feel. Charlotte Brontë, thank you for writing Jane Eyre.

hira

I first learned about the Brontë sisters when I was maybe 10 years old, I vowed to myself then, that one day I’d read their works and form my own opinion on them. I’ve spent the past few months slowly getting through Jane Eyre, and today I finally finished this beautiful book with a heavy heart.

While Jane Eyre is marketed as your typical Victorian romance novel, it is so much more than that. It reads like a biography, you spend 38 chapters growing with Jane, being told her life’s story as if you were a friend. You go through all her trials and tribulations by her side, and to call it a romance novel alone would be reducing its weight and worth.

Considering the period it’s from, Jane’s story stands out. A strong female protagonist’s survival story; a fight for freedom and independence in an era where it was deemed impossible. She suffers pain and agony, the world’s impossibly cruel to her, but she finds her way through the world, forms real friendships, finds true love, she survives and truly lives according to her principles.

Jane Eyre is not just a character in a book to me anymore, she has become my friend and a part of me. I lived and breathed with Jane, felt her pain and sorrow, her overwhelming love and happiness as one. I cried when she cried and I laughed when Jane laughed. Jane Eyre has taught me so much that I cannot put into words, there is truly no way I could ever encapsulate how this book has made me feel. Charlotte Brontë, thank you for writing Jane Eyre.

"The Brontës' gifted biographer provides us with another superlative Norton Critical Edition of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel. For the classroom and for the general reader, there's no better way to experience the context in which Jane Eyre was written, illuminating modern commentary, and the novel itself in an authoritative text."—Fred Kaplan, Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York This Norton Critical Edition includes: -The third-edition text (1848), the last corrected by Charlotte Brontë, accompanied by revised and expanded explanatory footnotes. -"Contexts," highlighting Jane Eyre as a bildungsroman through diary entries and letters by the author about her experiences as a student, teacher, and governess as well as her feelings about friendship, love, and writing. -Five major critical interpretations by Virginia Woolf, Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Susan Meyer, Carla Kaplan, and Kelly A. Marsh. -A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography

Jane Eyre (Fourth Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

I think I'm going to need a lot more space than what's provided here to unpack this. A classic for a reason!! 

Paige Leitner

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is one of the most loved English Classics of all time. Mystery, hardship - and love. Jane comes from nothing but she desires everything life can offer her. And when she finds work as a governess in a mysterious mansion, it seems she has finally met her match with the darkly fascinating Mr Rochester. But Thornfield Hall contains a shameful secret - one that could keep Jane and Rochester apart forever. Can she choose between what is right, and her one chance of happiness? ***One of the most widely-read and enjoyed of all Victorian novels, and one of the greatest tales of a woman's struggle for dignity and love in a hard time*** Charlotte Brontë (1816-55) is the sister of Anne Brontë and Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights. Jane Eyre appeared in 1847 and was followed by Shirley (1848) and Vilette (1853). In 1854 Charlotte Brontë married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. She died during her pregnancy on March 31, 1855 in Haworth, Yorkshire.

 became a random pick for me (something I read without much expectation) makes its lingering presence all the more surprising. At first, the constant melancholy felt distancing but difficult to ease into. Yet something compelled me to keep going, and I found that while it may not be impactful as a character-driven novel, it slowly grows on you. It becomes lovelier (though never fully light), and its charm lies in the uncertainty; whether happiness is truly within reach. More than anything, the book revealed how isolating it is to be a woman without ties to the world. You're either shaped—often painfully—by the men you meet, or you’re left to drift in a society that sees you only through your connections, your class, your usefulness. That truth makes it hard for me to read with detached appreciation. Still, my fondness grew. Jane lives in my heart now, and for that, it’s a five-star read.

🏹

The way Jane Eyre became a random pick for me (something I read without much expectation) makes its lingering presence all the more surprising. At first, the constant melancholy felt distancing but difficult to ease into. Yet something compelled me to keep going, and I found that while it may not be impactful as a character-driven novel, it slowly grows on you. It becomes lovelier (though never fully light), and its charm lies in the uncertainty; whether happiness is truly within reach. More than anything, the book revealed how isolating it is to be a woman without ties to the world. You're either shaped—often painfully—by the men you meet, or you’re left to drift in a society that sees you only through your connections, your class, your usefulness. That truth makes it hard for me to read with detached appreciation. Still, my fondness grew. Jane lives in my heart now, and for that, it’s a five-star read.

This is the first time I read a classic novel. If Jane Eyre were to speak nowadays would say "we listen and we don't judge: I fell madly in love with a man whose older 20 years than I, and only when I was 18 years old, who I've called many times ugly, whose feature are melancholy, and can be rude and tough many times, who was deceitful, and teased me thinking he was going to marry someone else, and he turned out to be married to a lunatic, etc". We would all say that she needs a therapist, and she was looking for a dad in him, and she never talked to anybody and fell for the first one who showed her affections. However, I actually don't judge her, and think she chose her own happiness, no matter how it seems to the world, and as toxic it can be, I loved Mr Rochester's proposal. The novel was poetically written and I understand why it has a great impact, and as a Christian, I loved how the novel talked about God, and how it showed the extrems of the so called religious people. 

"I looked and had an acute pleasure in looking- He made me love him without looking at me." 

Jane said that it wasn't all for the looks, that what matters is the soul, and she made Rochester a better man, and happier, and even made him closer to God. 

"A loving eye is all the charm you needed"

Monica Faez

This is the first time I read a classic novel. If Jane Eyre were to speak nowadays would say "we listen and we don't judge: I fell madly in love with a man whose older 20 years than I, and only when I was 18 years old, who I've called many times ugly, whose feature are melancholy, and can be rude and tough many times, who was deceitful, and teased me thinking he was going to marry someone else, and he turned out to be married to a lunatic, etc". We would all say that she needs a therapist, and she was looking for a dad in him, and she never talked to anybody and fell for the first one who showed her affections. However, I actually don't judge her, and think she chose her own happiness, no matter how it seems to the world, and as toxic it can be, I loved Mr Rochester's proposal. The novel was poetically written and I understand why it has a great impact, and as a Christian, I loved how the novel talked about God, and how it showed the extrems of the so called religious people. 

"I looked and had an acute pleasure in looking- He made me love him without looking at me." 

Jane said that it wasn't all for the looks, that what matters is the soul, and she made Rochester a better man, and happier, and even made him closer to God. 

"A loving eye is all the charm you needed"

I liked it but I’m kind of dissatisfied with the ending

amelia <3

Well first of all, through God all things are possible, so jot that down

Michelle Guo

has to be one of the best romances i’ve read 

anatolian 

Adam Scharf

'Such a strange book! Imagine a novel with a little swarthy governess for heroine, and a middle-aged ruffian for hero.' Sharpe's London Magazine (June 1855) Jane Eyre is an orphan grown up under the harsh regime first of her aunt and then as a pupil at Lowood Institution. She leaves to become a governess to the daughter of the mysterious Mr Rochester; gradually their relationship deepens, but Jane's passionate nature has yet to endure its deepest blows. In this new edition Sally Shuttleworth explores the power of a narrative that questions the rights of women, the nature of servitude and madness, martyrdom and rebellion in a story whose emotional charge is a strong today as it was more than 150 years ago. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Maureen

"I must, then, repeat continually that we are for ever sundered:—and yet, while I breathe and think, I must love him."

***

My second "classic" read after Pride and Prejudice! I'm very happy because it's a book by another woman 🌸 Thank God this was relatively easy on the eyes unlike Austen's. It chronicles Jane Eyre's life from childhood to youth to adulthood. While there were plenty of great quotes, what I loved most about the book was how much volition the heroine possessed. Truly, Miss Eyre is the quintessential strong and independent woman.

Side note, I would say that Mr Rochester has more personality than Mr Darcy.

anjali

My love for this book is endless.

There are in a lifetime only so many books you can read, and out of those fewer are still that make your head their home, that affect you in more ways than one, and that stay with you long after the last page has been turned.

This is one of those books.

This was my first Charlotte Bronte book (who is now one of my favourite authors, and whose work I have since eagerly perused like a kid at a candy store years ago.)

Jane as a character is unbelievable: she just barely manages to contain herself between the covers of the book, at times she threatens to leap out of the paper. That is how splendidly written this book is.

The illustrated Jane Eyre

Patrick Book

It's pretty hard to judge a true literary classic on its merits more than a hundred years after it came out without the context of the times. This is a pretty wide-scope story with a tough as nails lady that has an inexplicable (although again, probably culturally-ingrained) soft spot for some real dicks. Why aren't there any good men? What, does she live in Winnipeg or something?

Manojkumar Seenivasan

Stef Hite

Haven't read this one since high school ... interesting how perspective changes with age. While I would have said it was "amazing" when younger - now I think Rochester was a bit of a selfish prig and Jane too trusting. What saves the book is Jane's becoming her own independent woman and making her own choices in the end. For that I can say this is still one of my favorite classics.

Linta

Amelia C 

Jane Eyre (Bantam Classics)

jane had me cracking up at the ripe age of 10 with her witty and opinionated nature, crying during her time experiencing friendship at lowood, laughing at her shouting “Depart!” at mr. rochester at thornfield hall while also fearing for her heart during the many times she tried to make sense of a crush. her time at moor house, morton, and ferndean had me smiling through tears and then her story was over! and i already miss her company!

༺ kat ༻

charlotte brontë your brilliance! 

jane had me cracking up at the ripe age of 10 with her witty and opinionated nature, crying during her time experiencing friendship at lowood, laughing at her shouting “Depart!” at mr. rochester at thornfield hall while also fearing for her heart during the many times she tried to make sense of a crush. her time at moor house, morton, and ferndean had me smiling through tears and then her story was over! and i already miss her company!

arwen

finishing my jane eyre rr on the first day of fall 🧡🍂

I surprisingly enjoyed this book, although the men frequently pissed me off 

Lili

“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, to 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.


Jane Eyre is a realistic depiction of a woman's internal conflicts between her innate desires and societal status. 

It follows Jane, who finds herself faced with oppression, inequality, and hardship. It is a novel where the main character is deemed unconventional at the time it was released because it criticizes everything in the strict social class in Victorian society, especially how they perceive women. In a time where women were expected to be powerless and submissive, Jane Eyre challenges the society’s norms. 

In line with this, Jane speaks and stands up for herself, something that women back then did rarely or did not have the privilege to do so. I believe that the book was truly ahead of its time because of Jane's autonomous nature and the way it tackles issues of feminism, class, sexuality, and religion. It has aspects of societal criticism with a strong sense of Christian morality at its center. 

Jane Eyre is more than a story of finding love — it is also a tale that searches for a sense of belonging and independence amid the patriarchal dominance and gender inequality society.

Jane Eyre A Guide to Reading and Reflecting

Reviews

Highlights