Jane Eyre • A Brief Introduction• The heroine, a penniless

orphan, has been left to the care of her aunt Mrs. Reed. Harsh and unsympathetic treatment rouses her defiant spirit, and a passionate outbreak leads to her consignment to Lowood Institution (based on Cowan Bridge, which the author herself briefly attended).

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• There, consoled for the severity of the regime by the kindness of Miss Temple and a fellow orphan, Helen Burns, who dies in Jane's arms of consumption, she spends some miserable years, eventually becoming a teacher.

• On Miss Temple's marriage she obtains a post as governess at Thornfield Hall to Adele, the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Rochester, a Byronic hero of grim aspect and sardonic temper.

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• After much resistance she agrees to marry him, but on the eve of their wedding her wedding veil is rent by an intruder who Rochester assures her is a servant, Grace Poole, but who is the next day revealed to be his mad wife Creole Bertha, confined to the upper regions of the Hall for years, whose unseen presence has long disturbed Jane.

• Rochester, despite Jane's plainness, is fascinated by her sharp wit and independence, and they fall in love.

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• The marriage ceremony is interrupted by Mrs. Rochester's brother from the West Indies and, despite Rochester's full confession and pleadings with Jane to stay with him, she flees.

• After nearly perishing on the moors, she is taken in and cared for by the Revd St John Rivers and his sisters Mary and Diana.

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It emerges that they are her cousins, and that Jane has inherited money from an uncle; the legacy is equally divided between the four. Under pressure from the earnest appeals and strong personality of the dedicated Rivers, she nearly consents to marry him and share his missionary vocation in India.

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• But she is prevented by a telepathic appeal from Rochester. She returns to Thornfield Hall to find the building burned.

• Rochester blinded and maimed from his attempt to save his wife from the flames. She marries him, and in the last chapter we learn that his sight is partially restored.

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• From its first publication, the novel's exceptional emotional and narrative power made it a success, though, despite its strict adherence to conventional moral standards, it was considered by many to be unsuitable for young ladies.

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• Jane Eyre, plain-looking but full of emotion, is a rebellious woman character striving for freedom and equal social status with men. And women's freedom and equal social status with men is one important theme of the novel. This theme is expressed in the narration of Jane's life in different period of her life.

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