Jane Eyre

All of the sudden I 100% understand people's fascination with this story.Despite it being written in the mid 1800s and there being at least three words a page that I had to look up in the dictionary, I followed Jane's autobiographical story told in 1st person POV very easily (unlike when I read Pride and Prejudice, which confused the heck outta me).To say that this is the most quotable book I've ever read is an understatement! I highlighted so many things. Some of the lines about being in love are pure magic."Come to me - come to me entirely now," said he; and added, in his deepest tone, speaking in my ear as his cheek was laid on mine, "Make my happiness - I will make yours.""My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun.""Not a human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better than I was loved; and him who thus loved me I absolutely worshipped."Read this book. Now I say! Read it now!

This is not a review of the novel, but a review of the Kindle edition and its worthless formatting. 2 issues:1. It says it's illustrated. Attached is a photo example of one such picture. What in the world is that?! Sausages hanging over a campfire?! NONE of the crap, toddler-did-this-for-sure illustrations apply to the story in any way.2. Once I hit page 117, everything from then on was called page 117. Photo also attached. So fun.

Having lost both of her parents, Jane Eyre is taken in by her Uncle. Upon his deatbed, he extracts a promise from his wife, Mrs. Reed to raise hJane as her own. Life becomes torture for Jane as Mrs. Reed and her children heap many injustices on Jane. Her Aunt soon tires of her and sends her off to Lowood, a school for Orphans run by Pastor Brocklehurst, a stern incompassionate tyrant. Jane Eyre spends eight years at the school, six as a student and two as a teacher. Afterward, she becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall of a Master Rochester's charge, a little French girl, Adele. Soon, Master Rochester and Jane Eyre, having fallen in love, are to be married. At the Wedding Ceremony, Jane learns Mr. Rochester is already married. Destitute and shocked, she flees. Discovering her near to death on his home step, St. John Rivers, a priest, rescues her. Jane Eyre becomes a school mistress of a school for orphan girls. Upon learning that her Uncle John, upon his death, bequested her tbe sum of twenty thousand pounds, she divides it with her newly found relations in the sum of five thousand pounds a piece. St. John proposes marriage to her so she can join him in his missionary work in India.Here in lies her dilemma, marriage void of love with St. John, or listen to her heart filled with love for Master Rochester, a married man.

I love this book, as I have read it before in normal novel format. This particular style (letter-sized pages in 3 columns, text in 9 pt. type) is not cool, in my opinion. I should have read about the size. Now I supoose I give it away and order the unabridged classic in normal novel size and with 12 pt. type.

Jane Eyre declares the supernatural has left England centuries before her lifetime. Nevertheless, without breaking what is possible in our reality (and so many unexplained things occur) much of fantastic and eerie populates the book, although nothing as fantastic as the portrayed human beings, as complex as real people. What is the story about? is a retrospective view to the life of the narrator, Jane Eyre, an orphaned girl whose intelligence has rendered her alone since child, and oppressed by authoritarian figures to survive she has drown her feelings, expressing her wishes and intellect in the few venues allowed by her society to manifest. But this is a very poor introduction for the richness of the novel: there is horror fiction that for moments feel like a prequel for Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw;" there is love and absence of love; there is Christian moral but is not from a manual but from what the character feels, a personal Christianity with lovely miracles; there are thoughts about education and the social freedom of women in her time. There is cruelty but fortunately is balanced and don't turn into the usual cliché, there are synchronicities and symmetries. Is a very peculiar novel indeed, if you like English 19th century literature you will find Jane Eyre fascinating.About the AmazonClassics Edition is as always, given the work was written originally in English, excellent. Jane Eyre is free of grammar errors, the formatting is quite professional and the typography modern, and the always useful X-Ray function, which in sum makes it quite comfortable to read. What I adore of these editions is that there are neither introductions nor footnotes by modern scholars, the novel only has a very short biography of Charlotte Brontë at the end, which, added to the strange omission in the first page of the original year of publication, gives the illusion of reading Jane Eyre as if it had been published this morning. A highly recommended edition.

Jane Eyre is the quintessential Victorian novel. It literally has everything that was typical of the period, but, unlike other novels, it has all the elements in one story. At the centre is the romance between Jane and Rochester, which is enhanced by gothic elements such as the uncanniness of the doppleganger and the spectre like qualities of Bertha. In addition, it is also a governess novel; these were an incredibly popular type of storytelling in the age and for it to be combined with gothic elements, which are interposed with a dualistic relationship between realism and romance, is really quite unique. The correct term for this is a hybrid, in which no genre voice is dominant; they exist alongside each other creating one rather special book.And this is so, so, special; it’s an excellent piece of literature. Jane’s journey is gut wrenching and emotional. Through her life she experiences real sorrow, the kind that would make a lesser person give up. She also experiences real friendship, the type that comes across perhaps once in a lifetime. But, most significantly, she experiences true love and the development of independence to form he own ending. I really do love this book. Bronte utilises the first person narrative, which creates a high degree of intimacy with her character; it makes me feel like I know Jane as well as she comes to know her own self.“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”Jane’s a strong willed individual. From a very young age she had the clarity of intelligence to recognise the injustice that was her life; yes, she is narrating her story retrospectively, though she still had the perceptiveness to realise how mistreated she was. I love the pathetic fallacy Bronte uses at the beginning. The child Jane looks out the window, shielded by the curtain, and witnesses the horrible weather. It is cold and bleak; it is windy and morose; thus, we can immediately see the internal workings of Jane’s mind. The weather reflects her feelings throughout the novel, and at the very beginning the situation was at its worse. This can also be seen with the fire imagery that represents her rage when she is shoved in the red room; it later mirrors that of Bertha’s fury.Everybody needs love, children especially so. These early experiences help to define her later character, and, ultimately influence how she sees the world; she still hides behind a curtain in Rochester’s house when he flirts with Miss Ingrum. These experiences set her on an almost perpetual quest for love, for belonging and for the independence to make her own decisions. She finds friendship in the form of Helen Burns; she gives her some sound advice, but Jane cannot fully accept such religious fatalism. However, it does inspire her, a little, to continue with life; she realises, no matter what happens, she will always have the love of her greatest friend. Jane clings to this idea, but, ultimately, has to seek a more permanent solution to her loneliness. She needs a vocation, one that will fulfil her and give her life meaning; thus, she becomes a governess and crosses paths with the downtrodden, miserable wretch that is Mr Rochester.Sometimes I feel like Rochester didn’t know quite what he wanted. When he sees Jane he sees a woman with strength, blunt honesty and integrity: he sees an emotional equal. This attracts her to him, which develops into love. However, when he tries to express his love he does it through trying to claim her as his own. Through doing so, not only does he show the nature of Victorian marriage, he shows his own deep vulnerability. He loves her mind, her intelligence, and he too wants to be loved. He longs for it with a frightening passion. So, instead of doing things the way Jane would have wanted him to do, he overwhelms her with expensive affection. By doing so he almost loses her. All Jane wanted was his heart, nothing more nothing less.By showering her with such flattery and expensive items, he insults her independence. He risks destroying the thing that attracted him to her in the first place, their equality; their mutual respect and love. He takes away her dignity. I really don’t think the original marriage would have worked. Ignore the existence of the mad woman in the attic; I just think Rochester would have spoilt it. It would have become too awkward. They needed to be on the same societal level as well as one of intellect and character. The ending is touching and a little sad, but it is the only one that could ever have worked for these two characters. Without the tragedy there could never have be rejuvenation and the chance for them to be together on equal terms, no matter what it cost to get there.If that wasn’t enough reason for me to love this book, there are also elements of fantasy and desire. This is a realism novel, it pertains to credible events, but the suggestions of fantasy only add to the strong romantic notions. Rochester is enamoured by Jane; he cannot believe that a woman like her actually exists. All his misguided notions are brushed away in an instant. Whilst he views Jane as special, it is clear that he realises that other women may also have a similar rebellious voice, only hidden. He considers her an elf, a witch, an improbable woman that has captured his desire, his heart, his soul, his life. He knows he will never be the same again. From Jane’s point of view, her first encounter with him is otherworldly. She had grown bored with her governess role, and when she sees the approach of Rochester and his dog Pilot, she sees the gytrash myth; she wants to see something fantastical instead she finds her heart, which is something much rarer.Then there are also the feminist elements. Jane transgresses the boundary associated with her gender in the Victorian age. For a woman to be recognised as having equal intellect to that of a man was sadly a rare thing. Women could actually attend university, but the downside was they could never get the full degree. They could spend months studying, though never be recognised as actually having gained the qualification. It was just another attempt to keep women under the thumb, so for Bronte to portray the truth of Jane’s equal intellect is a great step for the recognition of women, and women writers. This book received a whole host of negative reviews at the time of its publication for this element alone. Stupid really, but that’s misogyny for you.Reader, I love this book. I really could go on, but this is getting kind of long. I hope I’ve made it clear why I love this story so much. I shall be reading this again later this year to correspond with my exams, which I’m already looking forward to- the reading that is, not the exams. I don’t think will ever have read this story enough though.

The review is about the product and not the writer's work.Normally Amazon reviews do not mention the publication, hence the reader is confused whether the print is abridged, quality of the print etc.This review is for Fingerprint publication.I have got many classics from Fingerprint publishers. The print size is good. The paper quality is good.Their books in general are unabridged.So it makes sense to go for their version of the book.

Wow what a wonderful story! I have had a hard back copy of this book since my birth as it is (was as now I'm married) my namesake and I am embarrassed to say I have never read it! Well I finally decided to give this classic a read but in kindle format and I am glad I did! With 'ye old English' I used my kindle dictionary to help me through some of this book, I am so glad I did! I can honestly say what it is a wonderful story and extremely well written. I will definitely be reading it again but I shall pull out my leather bound book version. It truly is an inspiring novel and very descriptive and it was wonderful to get lost back in time.

This is one of my favourite books, perhaps my absolute. Excluding children's books, I have read this one far more than any other, and that's got to be saying something because I couldn't name another pre-20th-century novel that excites me like this, or even another Brontë novel that I particularly like.I love Jane; although my personality doesn't run in complete tandem with hers, I feel like I 'get' her and therefore across time I am also 'got', in a way only introverts could understand. Jane is a voice for the voiceless, in more ways than one of course, since she also stands up for women and the poor and abused. Brontë has a sharp wit that she just throws in every now and then when I wouldn't even have thought to make a moment funny that really brings this seemingly quiet but actually fiery character to life. It is a thrill and joy every time Jane speaks her mind despite what convention states is proper for her sex and place in society; it is therefore also a joy that she meets a character who responds with that same thrill and joy to her words and actions as I do.When I start reading the book each time, I grow excited as I look forward to certain moments I know are coming. It's impossible not to sympathise with an unfairly treated child, and when little Jane finally snaps and stands up to her tormentors, the words seem to crackle. The same is true when she grows up and takes her job at Thornfield Hall. Every encounter with Mr Rochester can't come quick enough. Some of these, and of course the bedroom fire, are moments I'd happily seek out just to read off the cuff. They are thrilling, funny and always deliciously too brief.There are two chapters somewhere towards the end of the middle that dampen my spirits each time I reach them. (view spoiler) But then we are back on track - Jane's flight and near starvation bring tears to my eyes, and her encounters with St John Rivers hold an interesting appeal, although each time I read the novel I discover I despise him more and more thoroughly. I delight in the contrast between Rochester and St John, it perfectly fuels the desire to reach the climax of the story regardless of previous wrong-doing by certain people, handing out dramatically balanced comeuppance with love and compassion, making the ending so rewarding.Despite all this, I don't think the book is perfect. There are times when the narration seems to waffle on too much, oddly out of sorts with the sharper, wittier stuff that I love. The first two pages don't exactly zing. I have never understood why the ending focuses on St John (am I not supposed to revile him?). I could probably do without the direct addresses to the reader all the time. The untranslated French leaves me baffled. Diana and Mary are barely realised as characters while Brontë seems to describe St John's words far more than she actually shows them to us, telling us he has this mesmerising power that we never get to experience, which makes it all the more difficult to understand how anyone could possibly like him. Also as time goes on, I find it harder to grasp exactly why Mr Rochester feels the need to make Jane jealous by pretending to be interested in Blanche Ingram - it's a lot of fun for the reader, but it just feels like a silly scheme put in by the writer rather than a logical thing a real person would actually do, (view spoiler) One must also wonder what the hell delusion Mr Rochester is living in that he thinks he could ever get away with his other more serious deception (I don't know why I'm being coy, like anyone on the planet doesn't know what his secret is), how did he think Jane was going to react when she finally found out, since he did intend to tell her?But where it is good, which is most of it, it soars right off the page into my heart. The friendship between Jane and Rochester is one of my favourite relationships in literature. It is exactly the right blend of passion and chasteness that suits my tastes, and has probably influenced my tastes in other fiction. I just love reading about characters who see something in each other that other people are too blind to see.

The AmazonClassics kindle edition reproduces the text of the Project Gutenberg version, which unfortunately includes many transcriber's errors. The Wordsworth edition is much higher quality, and is worth the small fee.