Resumo de Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, is about an orphan girl, who does not seek riches, only to have a family, love, acceptance, and happiness. Throughout her life she goes from one place to the next, looking for somewhere to belong, and instead, finding losses and disappointments along the way. This novel deals with the importance of status, religion, education, adultery, desire and duty.

Jane, born into a low class was orphaned when both her parents died. She was taken in by her rich uncle to live with him and his family at Gateshead-Hall. As a baby she got all the love and attention she needed from him, but then he too died. As Jane grew up, she realized that she was not a part of the family. To be a part of the family, she had to accept being beaten by her cousin John, and mistreated by her aunt and cousins. After her aunt locked her away in a red room, causing her to hallucinate, she realized the only way out, for her to find happiness was to leave the house. She was told by the maid that she was worst off than a slave, and that the family did not want to be associated with such a poor relative. Jane got the opportunity to leave the house and go to school on the condition that she never returned to Gateshead-Hall. Jane accepted and gladly told her aunt what she really thought of her.

At Lowood School, for poor or orphaned girls, Jane was at a loss. Her biggest fear at the school was Mr. Brocklehurst, the school treasurer, who could have ruined her with only a word from her aunt. Brocklehurst was rich, powerful and a hypocrite, who did not practice what he preached. He used religion, charity, and morality to strike fear in his students. He tried to control the women by humiliating them, as he did with Jane. She gained two friends after showing courage through her humiliation, Miss Temple, the superintendent, who became a mother figure to her, and Helen Burns, an older student, who was like a sister to her. Their companionship and encouragement helped Jane through her studies.

She was happy for a time, until Helen Burns died from the typhus fever. Jane questioned her faith and whether there was an after life; Helen was very intellectual and spiritual, and used to help her with her questions. Her death was a painful loss for Jane, but she took comfort in still having Ms. Temple, and for eight years, delighted in her studies and eventually rose to the top of her class. She was a teacher for two years, then decided to leave.

Jane got a governess position at Thornfield Hall for Adele, a little French girl. She took a liking to the house, Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper, and the little girl. She fell into a routine at Thornfield, but after a while got bored and was ready to leave, when the master of the house, Rochester, returned home. She stayed and as time passed, she fell in love with him, though he paid her no attention.
Though their caste kept them apart, she was ready to do anything for him. With all the weird things going on in the house, the weird laugh, the burning of Rochester?s bed, Mason being stabbed, Jane was still ready to marry Rochester, even after her veil was destroyed, all because he promised to explain everything to her after they were married. But at the alter, she found out that he was already married, and that his wife Bertha, who was insane, was still living in the house. She couldn?t be with him anymore, and decided to leave, despite his pleading. She could not be his mistress and have him commit adultery. She wanted to leave him, Adele, and Thornfield Hall behind and start a new life and a new existence.

Leaving Thornfield behind, she became destitute, with no food and nowhere to sleep. In the town of Whitcross, she was a wanderer. She felt that a person in her caste had no right to ask for anything, so she went hungry, got weak, and was ready to die when sisters, Diana and Mary, governesses, and their brother St. John, a clergyman. They became friends, and she was haappy at Whitcross. She soon foundd out that an uncle whom she had never known, died and had left her an inheritance, and that her three friends were in fact her cousins. She split the money in four, and they were a happy family. She had her happy family, but was still longing for her love. She wasn?t prepared to serve God if it meant entering a loveless marriage with St. John. There was someone out there who loved her, and she went after him.
She went to Thornfield to find it burned to the ground. Bertha had burned the house down, then killed herself. Rochester?s hand was amputated and he was blind. He lived at Ferdean, a manor house, with his handyman and his wife.

They were happy to be reunited, and standing on equal grounds. Jane was wealthy and independent, while Rochester was physically dependent and not a wealthy. They were in the middle class. They loved eachother, though their status had changed. And for them to be together, his wife had to die.

Resumos Relacionados