JANE EYRE
By Charlotte Brontë
CAST OF CHARACTERS
 Jane Eyre: orphaned as a child she’s sent to live with her abusive aunt and cousins
(the Reeds). Later in life, becomes a governess to Mr. Rochester’s ward, Adèle. Falls in
love with Mr. Rochester. Opinionated, independent, and very moral.
 Edward Rochester: Dark and broody master of Thornfield Manor. Has one previous
wife he keeps locked in the attic. Falls in love with Jane and attempts to marry her. Is
disfigured and blinded by Bertha Mason. Byronic hero.
 Bertha Mason: Rochester’s first wife via arranged marriage. She is insane and
Rochester locks her in the attic of his house. She repeatedly breaks out and tries to kill
Jane and Rochester. Eventually kills herself by setting fire to Thornfield Manor.
 Mrs. Alice Fairfax: Housekeeper of Thornfield Manor. Elderly widow. She keeps an
eye on both Jane and Mr. Rochester.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
 Adèle Varens: Daughter of Rochester’s French mistress. Rochester takes her in as his
ward when her mother dies. Jane becomes her governess. Very excitable.
 Blanche Ingram: Rich socialite who tries to marry Mr. Rochester. Rochester flirts
with her to make Jane jealous.
 St. John Rivers: He and his sisters take Jane in after she leaves Rochester. An
extremely moral, duty-bound Christian man. In love with Rosamond Oliver, but decides
to marry Jane instead because she’d make a better wife for him as a missionary in India.
Turns out to be Jane’s cousin.
 John Eyre: Rich uncle of Jane and the Rivers siblings. Tries to adopt Jane after her
parents’ deaths, but is stopped by the Reeds. Leaves Jane his entire fortune when he dies.
 Helen Burns: Jane’s school friend. A devout Christian. Dies of consumption at a
young age.
PLOT OF JANE EYRE
 60secondrecap.com presents: Jane Eyre: A Plot Summary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wavPu4r5TI
MAJOR THEMES
&CONFLICTS
 Upholding Moral Convictions
 Searching for home and family
 Trying to be an independent woman in a male-driven world
 Navigating between social/moral obligation and passion
CONTEXT
 Originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography in 1847 under
the male pen name “Currer Bell”.
 Best seller in 1847.
 The novel contains elements of social criticism and explores
classism, sexuality, religion and feminism.
 Critics consider the text to be ahead of its time because of the
characterization of the female protagonist, Jane.
SYNTHESIS OF CRITICISM
 Kirkus Review, “Jane: A Modern Romantic Retelling of Jane Eyre.”
Review published Sept. 15, 2010. Viewed Feb. 12. 2013. Web.
www.kirkusreviews.com
 “Flashes of originality, wit and vivid imagery bring the story to life
intermittently, but the distracting improbabilities pull readers out of
the story again and again.”
SYNTHESIS OF CRITICISM
 Kapurch, Katie. ""'Why Can't You Love Me the Way I Am?': Fairy
Tales, Girlhood, and Agency in Neo-Victorian Visions of Jane Eyre” N.p.,
n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
 This article references Sandra Gilbert’s critique of Jane Eyre, who says
the reason the story of Jane Eyre is so incredibly popular during the
Victorian era is because of its inclusion of familiar fairy-tale structures
and imagery. Kapurch suggests that Jane by April Linder continues the
trend of fairy-tale inclusion by modernizing the character using current
representations of girlhood, femininity, and what it means to be a heroine.
SYNTHESIS OF CRITICISM
 Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic:
The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-century Literary Imagination. New
Haven: Yale UP, 1979. Print.
 Gilbert and Gubar use the character Bertha Mason from Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre to argue that female characters of the nineteenth
century were notoriously portrayed as either the monster or the angel.
They use Bertha to prove that even women authors of the Victorian
period struggled with characterizing female characters in a manner
other than the monster or the angel.
OTHER ADAPTATIONS
 YA Novels
-Naxos Young Adult Classics Jane Eyre
• Abridged audio version of Jane Eyre
-A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont (2010)
-Dark Companion by Marta Acosta (2012)
• YALSA Nominee in 2012 for Best Fiction for Young Adults Award
 Other Literary Adaptations
- Mrs. Rochester: A Sequel to Jane Eyre by Hilary Bailey (1997)
-Jane Rochester by Kimberly Bennett (2000)
-Jane Eyre’s Daughter by Elizabeth Newark (2008)
-Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin
OTHER ADAPTATIONS
 Film & Television
-Jane Eyre. 2006 TV version produced by the BBC.
Starred Ruth Wilson as Jane, and Toby Stephens as
Mr. Rochester.
-Jane Eyre. 2011 film version directed by Cary
Fukunaga. Starred Mia Wasikowska as Jane, and
Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester.
2011 film version
JANE
BY APRIL LINDNER
 Published in 2010
 Set in Thornfield Park
 The novel tells the tale of Jane who is forced to drop out of an esteemed East
Coast college after her parents suddenly die. She takes a job as a nanny to rockstar
Nico Rathburn who she falls in love with. A mystery involving the dark past of her
lover Nico forces Jane to question which is more important true love or staying true
to oneself.
 Similar to Jane Eyre Jane is portrayed as a strong independent character.
 A tale of a forbidden romance and a dark mystery
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Born in North Merrick, New York
 Began college as an art major
 Teaches Creative Writing, Literature and
Freshman Composition at Saint Joseph’s University
April Lindner
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 Currently working on Catherine a young adult
retelling of Wuthering Heights due out in the Spring