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Jane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.

Introduction

The novel Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel is set somewhere in the north of England, and goes through 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 acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations and oppression; her time as the governess of Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St John Rivers, proposes to her; and the finale with her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo (see the Themes section below). Literary critic Jerome Beaty notes that the close first person perspective leaves the reader "too uncritically accepting of her worldview" and often leads reading and conversation about the novel towards supporting Jane, regardless of how irregular her ideas or perspectives.[4]

Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters and most editions are at least 400 pages long. The original publication was in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century (see three-volume novel).

Brontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.

Jane's childhood

The novel begins with the titular character Jane Eyre living with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. The novel starts when Jane is ten years old and several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed was the only one in the Reed family to be kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, does not like her, treats her as a burden and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, both physically and emotionally. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane's only ally in the household even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy with only a doll and books in which to find solace. One day, after her cousin John knocked her down and she attempted to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died, and she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary, Mr Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs Reed is only too happy to agree to. Mrs Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs Reed cautions Mr Brocklehurst that Jane has a "tendency for deceit", which he interprets as "liar". Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she'll never call her "aunt" again, that her daughters, Georgiana, and Eliza are the ones who are deceitful and that she'll tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her.

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