Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) Paperback – August 15, 2006

SPOILER ALERTIt’s not hard to see why Jane Eyre is considered a masterpiece. The first that becomes apparent is the author Charlotte Brontë’s deeply beautiful command of the English language throughout the novel, with descriptions of vengeance like:"Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time. As aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy; its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned."Or something even akin to prose poetry when the protagonist discusses cold and icy lands:"Of these death-white realms I formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children’s brains, but strangely impressive. The words in these introductory pages connected themselves with the succeeding vignettes, and gave significance to the rock standing up alone in a sea of billow and spray; to the broken boat stranded on a desolate coast; to the cold and ghastly moon glancing through bars of cloud at a wreck just sinking."But it’s a lot more than imagery that makes Jane Eyre remarkable. The eponymous protagonist and the first person narrative that she is rendered to us in was revolutionary for its time for being incredibly psychological and intimate. Jane is profoundly communicative and lets us know her every thought, feeling, and emotion through a level of intimacy that is only familiar to us when speaking to a very close best friend. One cannot overstate the emotional vigor of the novel and how easy it is for the reader to relate to Jane’s experiences. For example, when she begins to fall for someone, she poetically describes the fine details of the man’s face, the mental insecurity over whether or not it’s reciprocal, and the anxious spilling of a cup of coffee as she awaits news concerning him.Much has been discussed about the political, moral, and religious content present in Jane Eyre, and while in many cases Brontë is not overt with her ideology but rather shrouds it in symbolism, it would be hard to not describe the literary work as mostly progressive or left-wing. The novel was published only months before the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, and in many ways it captures some of the radical spirit that began to brew just prior. The feminism of Jane Eyre is clear: when Jane finally marries Rochester at the end, she does this through a much more egalitarian and noncoercive position previously brought about by a previous ascension to a social class equal to Rochester’s. Additionally, in an earlier chapter, Jane explicitly herself polemicizes to the reader that it’s ignorant to condemn women to things like sewing and playing the piano just because it’s the custom of that gender. On the other hand, it’s possible to argue that Jane Eyre’s progressivism has limitations because of the way it has depicted Bertha Rochester, a woman of color, and that this depiction of her being essentially demonic in nature is potentially representative of 19th century colonialism and racism.Jane Eyre is undeniably a work that is full of Christian ideology, but it’s also difficult to characterize this Christianity as merely evangelist and doctrinal. If it was, Brontë could have ended the story by having Jane accept St. John’s marriage proposal and devote the rest of her life to evangelist pursuits in India for the glory of her religion, and the work would likely have never entered the mainstream secular canon. On the other hand, Jane’s severely reluctant and painful decision to initially leave Rochester and his genuine love for her because he was legally married to another woman (and despite it being a loveless marriage) was a memorable scene vastly important for demonstrating both Jane’s individualism and her commitment to a certain level of Christian morality. At other times, the presence of Christianity in the work is more symbolic and beautifully fused with imagery:"I must keep to my post, however. I must watch this ghastly countenance—these blue, still lips forbidden to unclose—these eyes now shut, now opening, now wandering through the room, now fixing on me, and ever glazed with the dulness of horror. I must dip my hand again and again in the basin of blood and water, and wipe away the trickling gore. I must see the light of the unsnuffed candle wane on my employment; the shadows darken on the wrought, antique tapestry round me, and grow black under the hangings of the vast old bed, and quiver strangely over the doors of a great cabinet opposite—whose front, divided into twelve panels, bore, in grim design, the heads of the twelve apostles, each enclosed in its separate panel as in a frame; while above them at the top rose an ebon crucifix and a dying Christ."Despite the frequent ideological questions surrounding the work, Jane Eyre is a romance novel at its heart, and that means its appeal is universal. It’s a must read for any person with even a passing interest in literature, and simply one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written. Brontë’s capability in being able to not only develop highly three-dimensional characters and a riveting plot but to do so through a poetic use of language makes her equal parts writer and artist. Jane Eyre is thus a moving painting, a painting that depicts matters as intellectual as feminism and as familiar and emotional as love.

There is so much to be said for this novel that it's difficult to know where to begin. It is a superb evocation of a time and place; it is a complex, detailed character study; it has a believable and compelling plot; and, more than anything else, it is a magnificent love story.Of course, love stories are the common denominator of human existence and have been the subject of literature since mankind first put charcoal to rock, so the fact that Jane Eyre is a love story is nothing terribly significant. No, what makes this novel so special is the thoughtfulness with which its narrator, Jane Eyre herself, documents her love affair. She is extremely intelligent, she carefully analyzes her feelings and actions, and she is scrupulously honest with both herself and her reader. This is what sets it apart: it is the depth of these thoughts and feelings that make the novel interesting. Beyond that, though, it is the character of Jane, slowly revealed, that makes the novel a delight.The plot is Jane's story. Orphaned, she is sent to live with her cruel aunt and cousins. At the age of ten she is sent away for good to a charity school, at which she gets her education, but which is run in such a miserly fashion that many of the students there actually die of disease and starvation. Jane survives, and at the age of eighteen, is able to secure a position as a governess to a child in a great house of England: Thornfield Hall. It is owned by Edward Rochester, the man who will become the centerpiece of her life.How the two begin to slowly realize their affection for one another, how they then cautiously begin to act on their feelings, and how they must then surmount the obstacles in their path--both societal and self-inflicted--are what make up the bulk of the novel. There are at least a few surprises along the way. The strong-willed Jane's moral code requires that she respond to these difficulties in certain ways. It is to the novel's and the author's great credit that these decisions are never simply made; Jane agonizes over them in heart-wrenching fashion. As in life, the standards one chooses to live by can be difficult to maintain.This defining tension is what drives the novel, but that it is delivered in such a skillful and assured way is what raises it to its lofty status. The dialogue, particularly, is fantastic. It is the stuff of an actor's dream: much of it can be interpreted in several different ways. Jane describes Rochester as being moody and tempestuous, and he often is, but at the same time--particularly after Jane agrees to marry him--he is hilariously wry and bemused. Jane comes across as being earnest and pleading, but she can be very playful and is often flirtatious. As mentioned above, these are deep, achingly human characters.The setting is also very evocative. The English countryside, class system and moral understanding were obviously familiar to those who read the book in Ms. Bronte's day, and probably familiar to many of us in this day and age. Nevertheless, Ms. Bronte took the time to document these things carefully. The descriptions of Rochester's home, the lanes in front if it and its orchards and fields; the destitute and grimly cold school for girls; and the small country town where Jane makes the acquaintance of a small group of benefactors towards the end of the novel are all a testament to life as it existed at this distant time and age.The novel is looked upon as a classic and should be. Ms. Bronte not only created a beautiful piece having to do with the nature of love--personal to her but universal in nature--but did so in such a spectacular way that she actually makes the reader feel this love, both for her creation, and for her.