Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Book Card for Jane Eyre

Powerful Essays
1408 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Book Card for Jane Eyre
Book Card

Title: Jane Eyre Author: Charlotte Brontë Publication Date: 1847
Plot: Jane Eyre, a young orphan at the time, is living with her uncle’s family, the Reeds at Gateshead Hall. She is neglected by her aunt, Mrs. Reed and her cousins. Soon Mrs. Reed decides to send Jane to Lowood Institution, a school for orphans. Jane is sent with the impression that she is rude and deceitful but a caring administration member named Miss Temple helps Jane clear stained reputation. When schooling begins for Jane, she makes a friend, Helen Burns, who later dies of typhus fever.
Jane spends a total of eight years at Lowood, learning then teaching. Wanting to try something new, Jane takes a job at Thornfield Hall teaching a young girl named Adele. Jane later learns that the care taker of Thornfield
Hall is Mrs. Fairfax and the owner is a Mr. Edward Rochester. Jane one day receives a letter that calls for her presence by Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter from her uncle asking for her to live with him. Soon after, Jane's aunt dies and she returns to Thornfield.
After returning to Thornfield, Jane begins to develop jealous over Mr. Rochester's proposal of marriage to Blanche Ingram. Fortunately, Mr. Rochester professes his love for Jane. At the wedding ceremony a lawyer declares that Mr. Rochester may not marry because he is still married to a Mr. Mason’s sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester confesses about his past marriage and explains that the arrangement was a trick for his father to gain funds. Mr. Rochester also explained that Bertha had lost her sanity and that he kept Grace Poole at Thornfield Hall to care for Bertha. Mr. Rochester asks Jane to with him to the south of France as husband and wife though they cannot be married. Jane refuses Mr. Rochester’s offer because she feels that it is wrong to be with an already married man and leaves Thornfield Hall at midnight.
Jane travels through England using the little money she had saved. St. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother, saves her. After she regains her health, St. John finds her a teaching position at a nearby charity school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John is too reserved.
The sisters leave for governess jobs and St. John becomes closer with Jane. St. John discovers Jane's true identity, and astounds her by showing her a letter stating that her uncle John has died and left her his entire fortune. When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance, but have since resigned themselves to nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding her family, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come to Moor House to stay.

Thinking she will make a suitable missionary's wife, St. John asks Jane to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India, but rejects the marriage proposal. Jane's resolve begins to weaken when she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.
Setting: Takes place in England, more specifically Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield Hall, Moor House, Lean, and Ferndean Manor.
Characters
Jane Eyre - Main character who is an orphan. She obtains an education, weds Mr. Rochester, and develops into a sensible and caring lady.
Mrs. Reed - Insensitive and thoughtless aunt of Jane who is the widow of Jane’s uncle.
Bessie - Nurse of Gateshead Hall and shows compassion towards Jane
Georgiana Reed - Mrs. Reed’s daughter who is seen as attractive and eventually weds a wealthy bachelor.
Eliza Reed - The second daughter of Mrs. Reed who is reserved, quiet and pious. She goes on to be a devoted Catholic nun.
John Reed - Son of Mrs. Reed who is arrogant and rude. He chooses to beat Jane for punishment and entertainment.
Helen Burns - Jane’s first and only friend in Lowood School. She unfortunately dies of typhus fever during an outbreak.
Mr. Rochester - Owner of Thornfield Hall and spouse of Jane.
Bessie - Caretaker of Thornfield Hall and pleasant acquaintance of Jane.
Bertha Mason - First wife of Mr. Rochester from Jamaica who went insane. She is kept in the attic of Thornfield Hall by Mr. Rochester.
Mr. Mason - Brother of Bertha Mason and friend of Mr. Rochester. He is from Jamaica who objects at Jane and Mr. Rochester’s wedding ceremony.
Mary and John – Couple who takes in Mr. Rochester and Jane at Ferndean after the fire at Thornfield Hall.
Point of View: The entire novel is narrated in the first point of view of Jane. I think this choice best showed the mental development and maturity Jane has gone through. I also like that Jane speaks to directly to the reader at times.
Vocabulary:
1. Sanguine – adj. Optimistic or positive.
2. Salubrious – adj. health-giving; healthy.
3. Appanage – n. a gift of land, an official position, or money given to the younger children of kings and princes to provide for their maintenance.
4. Jests – n. a thing said or done for amusement; a joke.
5. Ascetic – adj. exceedingly strict or severe in religious exercises or self-mortification.
6. Pelisse – n. an outer garment lined or trimmed with fur.
7. Superciliousness – adj. the trait of displaying arrogance by patronizing those considered inferior
8. Countenance – n. a formal procession of people walking, on horseback, or riding in vehicles.
9.
Literary Elements:
Metaphor
Symbolism

Themes:
This novel is a bildungsroman, or a novel that deals with a person’s moral and psychological formative years and development.
Love - Jane had not experienced true love until she met Mr. Rochester. Although there were some challenging obstacles in their relationship, Jane still loved Mr. Rochester regardless.
Independence – As Jane’s years as a woman, she spent it working and choosing not to rely on others, but herself.

Quotations:
1. “To this crib I always took my doll; human beings must love something, and, in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow” (pg. 26). I believe this statement shows an example of human nature and it offers insight to Jane’s yearning for affection, even if it may be from a little doll.
2. “Well has Solomon said, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” I would not now have exchanged with all its privations for Gateshead and its daily luxuries” (pg. 80). This shows that Jane was grown very comfortable at the institution where she gained her education rather than the estate where she was neglected by her family.
3. “My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between men and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol” (pg. 305). This quote shows that Jane has found and fallen in love. The love for Mr. Rochester has consumed her.
4. “Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still ne dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still: if you raved, my arms should confine you, and not a strait waistcoat – your grasp, even in fury, would have a charm for me: if your flew at me as wildly as that woman (Bertha Mason) did this morning, I should receive you in an embrace at least as fond as it would be restrictive” (pg.305). In this quote, Mr. Rochester is trying to prove his strong and dedicated love for Jane.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The plot of Jane Eyre follows the form of a Bildungsroman, In the novel, there are five distinct stages of development, each linked to a particular place: Jane’s childhood at Gateshead, her education at the Lowood School, her time as Adèle’s governess at Thornfield, her time with the Rivers family at Morton and at Marsh End (also called Moor House), and her reunion with and marriage to Rochester at Ferndean. From these experiences, Jane becomes the mature woman who narrates the novel retrospectively. The main relationship which affects the character of Jane is that of Mr.Rochester, and this relationship also changes throughout the novel, from Master/Governess, to companions, to lovers, to distrust and eventually to marriage.…

    • 3248 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From her troubles with the abusive Reed family, her friendships at Lowood, her love of Mr Rochester and her time with the Rivers family, Jane 's character remains strong and vigilant despite the hardships she endures. Through the course of the novel, Jane 's character changes slightly but moreover reinforces itself as Jane uses people, situations and her personal experiences to gain knowledge, and assist her gaining her full character.…

    • 862 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chapter seven sees Jane slightly more experienced to the ways of Lowood School. She has come to accept the poor conditions laid down by Mr. Brocklehurst, however has not yet learnt to ignore them and Bronte describes Jane suffering a lot in this chapter. This lack of food and appalling living conditions are down to the head of the school, Mr. Brocklehurst. This man uses his apparent strong beliefs in Christianity as an excuse to provide the children of Lowood with the absolute bare minimum. Brocklehurst claims his "mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh", presenting the idea that perhaps Brocklehurst is simply a man that has a immensely firm grasp of his beliefs and has made it his "mission" in life to enlighten others into the ways of christianity.…

    • 1677 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre was a nine year old orphan who lived with her aunt, Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed didn't want Jane, so therefore she was sent to Lowood Charity School to be disciplined. On her first few hours of being there, Jane finds out that only Mr. Brocklehurst, the master of the school, was the only one allowed to decide what happened there. One afternoon Jane decided to draw a portrait of who had become her friend, Helen Burns, and asked her to take off her cap to expose her beautiful red hair. When Mr. Brocklehurst saw that his rules were not being followed, he asked them to be taken in order. Since Jane was a rebel and thought that this was not righteous, she contradicted what he had ordered. As punishment, their hair had to be cut off. One of the kind women who worked there, Ms.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre Essay

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jane grows up and moves on to a new place. She’s given a tutoring job by Mrs.Fairfax. She tutors a young girl, Adele. Mr. Rochester, Adele’s caregiver, has experienced some betrayal too. He was tricked into marrying a mental ill woman. Adele’s mother was very promiscuous and he knows he may not be her father. Jane and Rochester fall in love and get engaged. On the wedding day, she’s informed Rochester is married. This betrayal comes in the form of heartbreak. In throws her in the depth of her despair. Jane was always honest with him but he wasn’t with her. There was an act of betrayal between Rochester and his crazy wife, Bertha. The two were still married, yet he was trying to marry another woman while Bertha is living in the basement. That only contributed to her mental illness.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane expresses her desire to be with Rochester when she says, "I'll not leave you on my own accord" (Bronte 546). This is the first time in the novel that Jane expresses content with who she is with where she is living. Jane describes her marriage by saying, "I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am" (Bronte 554). It is evident that Jane feels a close connection with Rochester, and this is one of the first times in her life that she does not feel isolated from everyone she is with.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thornfield Quotes

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rochester, which only made her feel envious of Blanche because she thought that there was no way that Mr. Rochester would love her over Blanche. Jane was soon proven wrong when Mr. Rochester told her that he truly love her and he was just using Blanche to make her jealous; after that, they quickly decided to get married. That was the positive that came from her first problem that soon became part of the second. For the majority of the time, Jane assumed the person that did the mysterious acts of setting Mr. Rochester’s bed on fire and destroying her veil was Grace Poole because Jane didn’t know here and because of the insane sounding laughter the where Grace was. This was proven wrong when a man named Richard Mason interrupts Jane and Mr. Rochester’s wedding by saying that Mr. Rochester was already married. It turns out that Mr. Rochester was already married to Richard’s sister Bertha, who Mr. Rochester keeps locked in the because she has gone mad. The whole time, it was Bertha who was commenting the worrisome acts throughout the…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eva Braun

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Mr.Brocklehurst believed Mrs. Reed and Jane went to Lowood School and she was shunned because Mr. Brocklehurst told to students to do that. This is what he said “And you, girl. [He has Jane stand on her stool] This is the pedestal of infamy, and you will remain on it all day long. You will have neither food nor drink for you must how barren is the life of a sinner. Children, I exhort you to shun her, exclude her, shut her out from this day forth. Withhold the hand of friendship and deny your love to Jane Eyre, the liar.”(Bronte). Then after Jane she goes Lowood becomes a teacher. After a few years as a teacher Mrs. Temple leaves. Jane then looks for work elsewhere. Then she…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In chapter 11 when Jane first arrives at Thornfield She is unsure of her surroundings and the description of the thorn trees alludes to fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty and Briar Rose. This conveys Jane’s innocence and shows the reader how childlike Jane is at this stage of the novel in terms of emotional development. The theme of Jane’s limitations is also highlighted, and Jane’s focus on Mrs Fairfax’s “bunch of keys” shows the insecurity she feels about not having control over her present or future. However, Jane draws comfort from the discovery that Mrs Fairfax is also a “dependent”. This shows a departure from the uncertainty she felt when she first arrived at Thornfield, and the use of the same word as was used by John Reed in the first chapter shows how much she has developed since then in order to be able to overcome the distress that the word first caused her. This emphasises the extent to which Jane has already developed and gives the reader an impression for the scope of development still possible for Jane. In the progression from the eleventh to the twelfth chapter we can see how Jane has used her connection with Mrs Fairfax to allow her to become aware of the positive aspects of the other inhabitants of Thornfield Hall and showing that she has already become more mature and is willing to reconsider her initial opinions on the residents of Thornfield like Adele and Rochester. Jane begins chapter 12 by saying: “the promise of a smooth career...was not belied on a stronger acquaintance with the place.” She feels secure at Thornfield and that her impression of the place was correct, reading the novel…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    At Thornfield, Jane has finally found someone who loves and cherishes her fervently. Jane discovered that Mr. Rochester covered up his marital status and she felt betrayed and hurt by his deceit. After deciding unbendingly to leave Thornfield and Mr. Rochester behind, in this passage, Jane bids farewell to her master though Rochester continuously pleads for her to stay. From Rochester’s speech, he finally realizes that Jane is not going to yield to his wishes from her indomitable manner, but he still yearned for her to be by his side. Rochester passionately uses anaphora to emphasize that no matter how he implored Jane to stay, he vested no power over her. Besides Jane’s thirst for approval from others, another motif in the book is that she submits to no one and sacrifices her principles for nothing, such as her rejecting St. John’s proposal of marriage. Rochester juxtaposes the Jane that loved and treasured him to the Jane that repulsed and broke free of his love with an image of a “resolute, wild, free” and triumphant creature that refuses being controlled and held captive in its cage any longer. He also confessed that although he is the master of the house, he is not able to posses Jane’s self-willed soul. Jane’s character shines as she develops into a mature woman who dictates her own destiny. She would rather break free of Rochester’s…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jane Eyre’s excursion throughout Charlotte Bronte’s novel encompasses of a sequence of exploits in which Jane is challenged with variations of entrapment followed by escape which serves as an act of overcoming. In the course of the novel, Jane finds herself imprisoned in Victorian England’s strict and complicated social hierarchy, one of Bronte’s most important themes, and her struggle against prejudice prevails throughout. Jane’s quest to be loved, too, embodies deviations of entrapment and escape as Jane searches continually in order to gain love without surrendering herself in the process. In addition, Jane’s brushes with different models of religion lead her to form her own morals and philosophies, unlike those of society.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jane Eyre is a young orphan being raised by Mrs. Reed, her cruel, wealthy aunt. One day, as…

    • 2684 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre: Wasteland

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the ending of the novel, Jane moves away from her ex-fiance and sulks with a different family which turns out to be hers. Then she finds that the psychotic Bertha has committed her lover, Rochester was blinded in the fire Bertha had started and died in. She returns to him and they live out the rest of their dull lives happily ever after.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Jane’s journey to find freedom continues, she’s face with more obstacles. This includes her life at Lowood School which the conditions at this school are far from idyllic (perfection). However, Jane is able to succeed academically and she is also able to develop new skills that were helpful for her in every opportunity that was given to her. Even though she was succeeding in Lowood, she still struggle to find self-fulfillment and freedom because she was still treated poorly and was locked down. At Lowood, Mr. Brocklehurst, a religious hypocrite who uses the school funds for his own benefits and have a better lifestyle for him and his family was the one who mistreated Jane. “this is sad, a melancholy occasion; for it comes my duty to warn…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre may feel as if the matter of marriage is oppressing her. The dreams she received after the engagement suggests she secretly fears being submitted. Also, she may rage at the idea of losing her freedom and yielding to a higher power, which in this case is Rochester. Jane herself does not show all of these emotions, but they are animated through the actions of Bertha. Bertha tearing the bridal veil could stand for a metaphorical sign or warning for Jane as to not get married. On another note, Bertha is also the obstacle that stops the wedding from persisting on; she is not only a metaphorical element, but is also a physical obstacle as well.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics