Hello everyone! It's been a few months since I've written a book review. It's been a busy season in my life, with traveling, work picking up, and the holidays creeping up. I'm happy to share that I have been reading, just a little slower and I was reading a pretty big book.
I was attracted to Jane Eyre as I was walking into a Half Price Books with nothing specific in mind and saw this beautiful cover. I opened it up and while I'm not a big earlier than 1930's book fan, I did find Jane Eyre to be intriguing and I found myself wanting to read it. So here I am and here's my full review on Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
About the Author
Charlotte Bronte was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became English Literature classics.
She attended school at Roe Head in January 1831 and left at the age of 15 to teach her sisters,
Emily and
Anne, at home, returning in 1835 as a governess. In 1839, she undertook the role of governess for the Sidgwick family, but left after a few months to return to Haworth, where the sisters opened a school but failed to attract pupils. Instead, they turned to writing and they each first published in 1846 under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Although her first novel,
The Professor, was rejected by publishers, her second novel,
Jane Eyre, was published in 1847. The sisters admitted to their Bell pseudonyms in 1848, and by the following year were celebrated in London literary circles.
Charlotte became pregnant shortly after her marriage in June 1854 but died on 31 March 1855, almost certainly from
hyperemesis gravidarum, a complication of pregnancy which causes excessive nausea and vomiting.
Synopsis
Our story is a first-person narrative from the perspective of our title character, Jane Eyre. It's set somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760–1820). It has five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her mysterious employer, Edward Fairfax Rochester; her time in the Moor House, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St John Rivers, proposes to her; and ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. Throughout these sections, it provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo.
Review
I thoroughly enjoyed my time getting to know the highs and lows of our character. Our author put a great deal of emphasize into what Jane was feeling, how she reacted to everything and everyone and made her feel real from her youthful beginnings to her young adulthood. Jane is written in a way that makes the reader feel sympathy towards her when the rest of the people in her world were cruel.
Next to Jane are a plethora of side characters, both good and bad. They are all written in a way to help Jane, so it does feel like everyone has a purpose, even if it's a small one like the wagon guy who picks up Jane and takes her over there. There's also a short moment where Jane is homeless and penniless and she's by this house waiting for the leftovers these people throw out and give to their pigs. And this little girl comes out and it's in this short and small interaction that I felt that Jane realizes how far she has come and at that moment in her life, she was just surviving. This all to say, her interactions help shape Jane into who she is, just like our real-life interactions do.
Even though this book was written in the 1800's, I found myself not having the most difficult time comprehending what I was reading. Everything pretty much made sense. The grammar and punction of the 1800's can throw you off a bit, but I found it more interesting than annoyed on all the different spellings and use of commas and periods, etc.
Overall
Overall, I enjoyed my time reading Jane Eyre. I think it's a very adventurous story filled with twists, turns, romance, and oddly put grammar. I recommend it if you are looking to read an older book. Thank you for reading this review. Until next time, Happy Reading!
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