JANE EYRE

JOHANA Mª GUTIÉRREZ LÓPEZ 2ºBach

jane eyre

cHARACTERS

JANE EYRE

She is the main character and also the narrator of the novel. She has no parents or money, so that she feels alone. As well, she has a strong character. She is an intelligent and honest girl, who fights to get justice, morality and liberty.

MRS REED

She is the widow of Mr Reed, Jane's uncle. She treats Jane with cruelty while she is raising her at Gateshead. She has always thought that her husband loved Jane more thant his own children.

ELIZA, GEORGIANA & JOHN REED

They are Jane's cousins. They are cruel with her, but the meanest person of all is John, who always humiliates her. He becomes drunk and commites suicide when his mother stops paying his debts. Later, Georgiana marries a wealthy man and Eliza becomes the Mother Superior in a convent in France.

MR BLOCKLEHURST

He is the school's financial manager. He is cruel and hypocritical, because he steals money from the school to maintain his lifestyle.

MISS TEMPLE

She is the headmistress at Lowood School. She is the kindest teacher. She looks after Jane and Helen. She is also Jane's role model.

HELEN BURNS

She is Jane's closest friend at Lowood School. She becomes ill of typhus fever and dies in Jane's arms.

EDWARD ROCHESTER

He is the owner of Thornfield and Jane's master. He is a wealthy man with a dark past. He doesn't seem an ordinary nobleman. He likes travelling around Europe and also he interacts with Jane frankly and directly.

MRS FAIRFAX

She is the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. She likes spending time with Jane. She is a relative of Mr Rochester's.

ADÈLE

She is actually Mr Rochester's daughter. He brought her from France after her mother's death, Celine, who was Rochester’s mistress. She is Jane's pupil at Thornfield.

DIANA & MARY RIVERS

Both of them are sisters, Jane's cousins and intelligent and kind ladies. They are independent and work as governesses. They and their brother help Jane before she leaves Thornfield Hall.

St JOHN RIVERS

He is the brother of Diana and Mary and the vicar of Morton. He seems cold and reserved, but he is a good man with a strong belief in Good. He asks Jane to marry him to go to India together.He is the brother of Diana and Mary and the vicar of Morton. He seems cold and reserved, but he is a good man with a strong belief in Good. He asks Jane to marry him to go to India together.

The story takes place in...

GATESHEAD HALL

Gateshead is the mansion where Jane spends most of her childhood. It was left to her aunt, Mrs. Reed, by her uncle.

LOWOOD SCHOOL

Lowood is a harsh boarding school for poor orphaned girls like Jane Eyre. It is described as a very gloomy place, with lots of burnt porridge and cruelty.

THORNFIELD HALL

Thornfield Hall is Edward Rochester's mansion, Jane's employer and lover.

What is the story about?

Jane Eyre is a little girl who lives at Gateshead Hall with her cruel aunt and cousins. Both her aunt and her cousin John Red are always arguing with her, so she feels lonely. One day, after an argument, Mrs Reed decides to send Jane to Lowood School, which is a boarding school. At Lowood, she meets a girl called Helen Burns and they soon become good friends. Unfortunately, Helen dies of typhus fever. After eight years, she is a great student. Then she works as a governess of a French girl called Adèle at Thornfield Hall. Furthermore, she meets Mr Rochester who is the owner of the mansion. Both of them fall in love the first time they meet and decide to marry. On the wedding day, Jane finds out that Rochester is already married with Bertha Mason. Although she loves him, she runs away. Later, she lives at Moor House with her cousins and she works as a teacher. St John, asks her to marry him, but she can’t stop thinking about Rochester. Then she goes to look for his lover. Face to face, she realises that he has become blind and has lost his left arm, but this is not important for Jane, who still loves him.

About the author

CHARLOTTE BRONTË

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was born in Yorkshire, in the north of England. After her mother’s death, she was sent to boarding school Cowan Bridge with her two elder sisters. Her experiences at this school as bad living conditions are reflected in the early part of her novel, Jane Eyre. Both of her two sisters died and she returned home. While she was studying at Haworth, she spent time with her younger sisters Emily and Anne. Moreover, Charlotte did her first attempts at poetry and novel. She worked as governess, and then she and Emily travelled to Belgium to improve their foreigner languages, where she fell in love with her married teacher. She returned home, where she couldn’t start a school as she liked. As well, there were other difficulties at home. Despite these problems, her sisters and her, continued writing. All of them took men’s names (Charlotte called Currer Bell), such women were not considered good writers, and published their poems. Charlotte’s own first novel, Jane Eyre (1847), was an immediate success. She accepted marrying Arthur Bell Nicholls, and they married in 1854, but she died in 1855 by a cold.

About the novel

Jane Eyre is Charlotte Brontë best-known novel. It was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Currell Bell and was an immediate success, and was praised by readers and critics alike. She wrote four novels, three of which were published in her lifetime. The fourth one, which was originally rejected for publication, was published posthumously Her works have a high reputation, and also her novels are interesting studies of the situation of women in the nineteenth century. The author is one of the best romantic novelists. Besides, nowadays Jane Eyre is considered a classic of English literature and the first feminist novel

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