Jane Eyre is an autobiographical novel written by Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), who was one of the greatest English writers of the Nineteen-century. Set in the Victorian Era, it is the story of an orphan seen through the eyes of the main protagonist Jane Eyre and the narration is her first person account.
Jane Eyre, an orphan was brought up by her aunt Mrs. Reed along with her cousins Eliza, Georgiana and John at their home Gates head. Her cousins dislike and her aunt treats her with disdain. Jane's only hobby and interests are sewing and reading. The only person in whole household who is kind to her is one of the servants, Bessie. One day while reading a book, Jane is beaten up by her cousin John and on retaliation she is locked in a Red Room where her uncle's ghost was supposed to be residing. Fear and exhaustion make her faint and a Doctor, who is brought in to see her, hears her sad story and advises her aunt to send Jane to school. After a month little Jane is sent to Lowood School, an orphanage where she undergoes many travails. She meets another orphan Helen Burns who teaches her to be compassionate and forgiving. She also follows the footsteps of her teacher Miss. Temple and completes her schooling at Lowood.
After completing her studies, she becomes a governess for a little girl Ms.Adele at Thorn
field Hall, Milicote. She is attracted towards Mr. Rochester, the master of Thorn field Hall. Life is peaceful at Thorn field Hall, with all her sufferings behind, but for a
mysterious and terrorizing laughter in the house and a manly servant maid named Grace Poole. Mr. Rochester is also attracted to Jane Eyre and he proposes to her. On the eve of their
wedding, Jane finds a mysterious lady entering her room and shredding her wedding dress to pieces, which is followed by the mysterious laughter often echoed in the house. While Mr. Rochester dismisses the whole incident as Jane’s imagination and blames Grace Poole for the same, Jane though not completely convinced accepts it. On the D-day, when the wedding vows are to be exchanged, a friend of Mr. Rochester, Richard Mason stops the wedding on the grounds that Mr. Rochester is already married and his wife alive. Mr. Rochester takes Jane to his home and shows her his wife who had become insane on account of her wild life. Jane recognizes her as the lady who had torn her wedding dress and is the cause of the mysterious laughter echoing in the house.
With a heavy heart, Jane leaves Thorn field Hall. Enroute she loses her clothing and all money is spent and is without any shelter. Exhausted and ill, she is given shelter by a clergyman St.John and his sisters to whom she is known as Jane Elliott. Jane starts a new life and is the teacher with a local school there. She starts learning Hindustani under the tutelage of St.John who wants to marry her and take her to India where he intends to become a missionary. By quirk of fate, St.John finds that Jane Elliott is only Jane Eyre and is his cousin. He is instrumental in getting a 20000-pound inheritance for Jane from her deceased uncle Thomas Eyre and Jane divides it amongst all the four cousins equally. Her heart continues to yearn for Mr. Rochester and she again leaves for Thorn field Hall where she finds the house completely burnt and Mr. Rochester now blind. Jane Eyre marries Mr. Rochester and after a gap of two years Mr. Rochester regains his vision and the couple get a son and live along with Adele happily ever after.
Like all books set in the Pre-Victorian Era this is a poignant tale of a little girl who undergoes a lot of sufferings early in her life and her strong belief in God helps her overcome the travails and has a happy ending.
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