Brief Biography of Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte was born on April 21, 1816 in Thornton, Yorkshire. She was the third
child of Maria Branwell Bronte and the Reverend Patrick Bronte’s six children. Her father
was an Irishman and the curate of Haworth from 1820 until his death in 1861. When
Charlotte's mother died in 1821, the six children were cared for by their aunt, Elizabeth
Branwell. Four of the five sisters were sent to school at Cowan Bridge, which is portrayed
as Lowood School in Jane Eyre. Charlotte studied at Miss Wooler's School at Roe Head in
1831 and 1832. She later taught there from 1835 to 1838. The Bronte sisters tried for ten
years to make their living as governesses. Finding the occupation dreadful, they tried to set
up their own school, which, sadly, also failed. Charlotte and Emily left for Brussels in 1842
to learn French and German. There, Charlotte fell in love with Professor Heger. Back at
Haworth in 1845, the sisters wrote poems and novels. Emily's Wuthering Heights and
Anne's Agnes Gray were published. Charlotte's Jane Eyre was published in 1847 and it
became an instant success. Shirley (1849), Villette (1853) and The Professor (1857),
posthumously, complete the list of her novels. She died of terberculosis in 1855, a year
after her marriage to the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls.
Background
The Victorian Age refers to the period in England when Queen Victoria reigned, (1837–
1901). During this time, the Industrial Revolution created profound economical changes in
society. The introduction of machinery changed England from primarily an agricultural
country to an industrial one, and created a great social upheaval. Production lead to the rise
of factories in the cities, and the need for factory workers. Farm workers migrated from
rural to urban communities in large numbers, which created mass unemployment. The
living conditions for the masses were poor, which created a huge rift between rich and
poor.
Summary
The story begins with the ten year old Jane. Orphaned at birth, her parents both died of
typhus, she was left to live at Gateshead Hall Manor with her aunt-in-law, Mrs. Sara Reed.
Mrs. Reed whom already had three children; Eliza, John and Georgiana, had reluctantly
agreed to raise Jane, they were all cruel and spiteful to her leaving her miserable. As
punishment, Jane is locked in the red-room where her uncle Mr. Reed has died. So
overcome with fear when she sees her own reflection in the mirror, she thinks it is a ghost
and has a fit. The apothecary console visits Jane and recommends that she be placed in a
school.
Being exposed to such a difficult childhood, Jane was awkward and shy. Mr. Brockelhurst
arrives and accepts Jane into Lowood Institution, a semi-charitable institution for girls.
Mrs. Reed warns Mr. Brockelhurst that Jane is deceitful. Later, however, Jane confronts
Mrs. Reed on her own deception and cruelty and she eases up.
Jane, alone, travels to the school 50 miles away. The surroundings are unpleasant as are the
food and the overall feeling of the place. At Lowood, Jane is fortunate to befriend Helen
Burns.
The conditions of the school are terrible. It is so cold in the school that water freezes in the
basins. The children have too little food and clothing, but they never lack having sermons.
Mr. Bockelhurst arrives and makes an example of her by calling her a liar and an agent of
the Evil One. Miss Temple, the French teacher, comforts Jane so much so that Jane begins
to study French. Typhus sweeps through the school, killing many students. Jane befriends
a girl named Mary Ann Wilson. Later Helen dies of consumption.
Jane does so well at Lowood that at the age of 18 she has become a teacher. Miss Temple
gets married and leaves Lowood. Jane decides it is her time to leave and puts out and
advertisement. Mrs. Fairfax of Thornfield responds to the ad. Bessie visits jane and lets
her know that Mr. Eyre of Madeira had come to see her at Mrs. Reeds 7 years past.
In October Jane is taken by servant John to Milcote, a village 6 miles from Thornfields.
She meets Mrs. Fairfax, who is the widow and manager of household, as well as Jane’s new
student, Adele Varens. Adele is an orphan who was born on the continent and primarily
speaks French. Jane hears odd sounds and Mrs. Fairfax tells her it is the servant Grace
Poole.
On her way to Hay to mail a letter in January, Jane sees a man with his dog (we later know
him as Mr. Edouard Fairfax de Rochester), who is riding a horse, but falls off the moment
of their encounter. She helps him, but he fails to introduce himself.
Back at the manor he rudely interrogates Jane, listens to her playing the piano and inspects
her paintings. Later, she finds out from Rochester, that he has been master at Thornfield
for only 9 years since his elder brother Rowland died. She also implies that there had been
some harsh treatments imposed on him by both his father and brother.
Rochester calls Jane in. Jane is quite blunt and not cowed by him. He tells her he is a
sinner and has had a hard time of it. She encourages him to repent. Then he tells of his
affair with the opera singer Celine Varens. She had Adele, but Rochester is still unsure if
Adele is his child, but Celine left him for another man. That evening, Rochester’s bed is set
on fire (by Bertha) and Jane saves his life. Grace Poole is blamed, and Jane and Grace are
becoming friendly.
The following morning, Jane is shocked to find a self-composed Grace Poole. Rochester
has gone to see the lovely Miss blanche Ingram, in Leas, at the home of the Eshton’s.
While he is away, Jane finds she is having feelings for them She struggles with this. She
also begins to suspect there is a secret about Grace Poole. Rochester returns with several
guests, including Blanche. Jane brings in Adele, then stays out of sight. Blanche belittles
governesses and plays the piano while Rochester sings. Each evening Rochester insist that
Jane be present.
Blanche plays charades with Mr. Fairfax including one of marriage.As jane thinks of her
feelings for Rochester, she notices Blanche to be superficial, unkind and unworthy of
Rochester. A Mr. Mason arrives from the West Indies, unfortunately as an unwanted guest
of Rochester. A fortune teller arrives and insists on telling Blanche’s fortune, which is
unfavorable, and to the skeptical Jane. The fortune teller alludes to Jane’s loneliness, asks
her about her feelings, gives an riddle for a fortune and then reveals himself as Rochester.
That night is a full moon and in the middle of the night, a cry rings out. Mason has not
only been stabbed, but also bitten. Rochester makes it seem as if it were not a problem and
has Jane tend to him. She knows Rochester’s explanation is a lie. A surgeon comes attends
the wound and is quickly taken away. Rochester speaks indirectly of a past error, years of
voluntary banishment and the joy he now receives (from her being there), but then he talks
of Blanche.
Jane is asked to return to Mrs. Reed, who after her son John’s suicide, has had a stroke.
Mrs. Reed is dying. Bessie and Robert greet her, and the daughters are civil. Mrs.Reed
then informs her of a letter she received from a Mr. John Eyre of Madeira about 3 years
earlier. He wanted to adopt Jane and make her his heiress. Mrs. Reed, out of spite, wrote
him to say that Jane had died, she asks and receives Jane’s forgiveness for this. Jane stays
there until Mrs. Reed dies.
Jane returns to Thornfield. She is surprised at how little preparations are being made for
Rochester and Blanche’s wedding and at his attentions toward her. Rochester reveals that
he will marry Miss Ingram in a month and there will be no position for Jane here, but he
has lined one up in Ireland. Jane is distressed and doesn’t want to leave, but resigns herself
to it.
Rochester suddenly reverses and says there will be no wedding to Miss ingram and asks
Jane to marry him. Jane is shocked and does not believe the words he is saying. Finally he
swears to Jane and she accepts his proposal happily. A rainstorm comes and they must run
inside, and there is such a great storm thet evening that Rochester checks on her several
times. In the middle of the night The tree under which Rochester proposed to her is struck
by lightning.
Rochester has a mind to give Jane jewels and expensive gifts. Jane is embarrassed, and
prefers a modest appearance. Mrs. Fiarfax is quite distressed at the news, warns Jane to
take care, that rich men never marry their governesses.
A month later and after many preparations, the Jane’s wedding is to be tomorrow
Jane is disturbed by something she saw last night. She waits for Rochester to return from
business and tells him about it. Last night, with a strong wind blowing, she seemed to hear
a howling sound while she lay in bed. She then had a series of nightmares revolving around
her care of a little child. She woke up in the middle of the night to see a strange woman
who, after looking through her closet, ripped Jane's wedding veil. The woman then looked
at Jane, who fainted. Rochester tries to avoid explaining for now, but worried for her safety
suggests Jane should sleep with Adele.
Rochester and Jane are on the way to the church the following morning. Jane notices two
strangers. The priest begins the ceremony, but when he asks Rochester if he will take Jane
as his wife, one of the strangers objects to the marriage. As it turns out Rochester was
already married, 15 years prior to Bertha Mason. Jane’s uncle had sent these men to stop
the marriage. Jane decides she must leave. .
Rochester is beside himself and asks her to leave with him. Jane refuses and he tells her of
how it had happened. His father and brother had arranged the marriage to Bertha, her
mother’s insanity (which had been kept secret). Bertha quickly descended into madness
and so he resolved to hide her existence. He took her back, secretly disguised, to England,
and hired Grace Poole to care for her. Jane listens, but still cannot accept this, so in the
middle of the night, she sneaks off
Jane has left without any money, so she wanders the moors, and sleeps out on the Heath.
No one will hire her, not will they help her. She is desperate enough to try bartering her
personal belongings. She finally seeks help in the rain at St. John River's home--his maid
refuses her but he arrives and takes her in.
She gradually recovers, chastises the servant for refusing her at her time of need, then
becomes friends with her. St. John asks many questions, of which she answers vaguely and
gives a false name. Jane becomes friends with St. John’s sisters, Mary and Diane. St. John
is dark and preaches Calvinistic doctrine. He offers Jane the schoolmistress position at
Morton, a village school, and she accepts. St. John’s uncle (John Eyre) dies, but they do
not inherit the money. His sisters must leave to become governesses.
Jane debates her decisions and the present situation of her meager surroundings and coarse
students, wonders if she did the right thing leaving Rochester. St. John arrives, alludes to
his struggle to overcome his urges, says he will be leaving for the east to be a missionary.
Miss Rosamond Oliver comes by, flirts, and invites St. John to come over. He is
uncomfortable with her and declines.
J is well accepted by the villagers. Rosamond drops by frequently to encounter St. John. J
probes his conflicted feelings for Rosamond, concludes he should marry her. He loves her
but knows she would not be a good missionary's wife.
He leaves, but soon returns. He questions Jane about a monogram he had noticed earlier.
Finally she confesses her true identity. He then reveals they are, in fact, cousins. Her
mother’s brother was St. John River’s father. [Also, St. John's mother had children John
Eyre of Madeira and Jane's father.] jane’s uncle John has left her 20,000 pounds to her.
Jane decides to live at Moor House, the old family home which was going to be abandoned,
and to share her inheritance with St. John and her cousins.
St. John disapproves of Jane's enjoyment of simple worldly pleasures. He has no
appreciation for the improvements she makes to the house. Mary and Diane return. Miss
Rosamond is to be married. St. John wants J to learn Hindustani. He is leaving in 6 weeks
and asks her to marry him to help with his missionary work, though he conveys no love to
her. J agrees to go but not to marry him. He is cool, austere, disapproving to her.
Jane is tortured by St. Johns cold behavior. She thinks about Rochester and what has
happened to him. She is seriously considering marrying St. John, when she hears
Rochester’s voice cry out. She cries out, “I am coming,” and breaks free of St. John.
Jane returns to Thornfield Hall and finds that the previous autumn, it had burned down.
The innkeeper tells her that it was Bertha who had started the fire, and Rochester tried to
save her, beut she was able to jump to her death from the roof. Rochester was badly injured
as a burning beam fell on him, (he lost and eye and has been blinded). He is now living at
Ferndean.
She goes to Ferndean and finds it is buried in a woods, neglected. After much convincing,
Rochester and Jane are joyously reunited. She readily agrees to marry him. He tells her how
he turned in desperation to God and how he cried out one night to her--the night she heard
him, and he had heard her reply.
"Reader, I married him." Jane and Rochester have a quiet marriage. She writes to Moor
House and Cambridge and tells her cousins the news; the females are joyful, but she does
not hear from St. John until six months later, and he does not mention the marriage. Finding
Adèle unhappy at her strict boarding school, Jane enrolls her in a better school closer to
home, and she blossoms there. After ten years of marriage, Jane is still enthralled with her
union with Rochester. Two years into their marriage, Rochester's vision improved slightly
in one eye, enough to see their newborn son. Diana and Mary are both married, while St.
John tirelessly continues his missionary work in India and remains unmarried, as he always
will, since he is a "faithful servant" to God.
Quotes
Quote 1: "'And you ought not to think yourself on an equality with the Misses Reed and
Master Reed, because Missis kindly allows you to be brought up with them. They will have
a great deal of money, and you will have none: it is your place to be humble, and to try to
make
yourself
agreeable
to
them.'
'God will punish her: He might strike her dead in the midst of her tantrums, and then where
would she go? ...Say your prayers, Miss Eyre, when you are by yourself; for if you don't
repent, something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney, and fetch you
away.'" Chapter 2, pg. 10
Quote 2: "'Mr. Brocklehurst, I believe I intimated in the letter which I wrote to you three
weeks ago, that this little girl has not quite the character and disposition I could wish:
should you admit her into Lowood school, I should be glad if the superintendent and
teachers were requested to keep a strict eye on her, and above all, to guard against her worst
fault, a tendency toward deceit. I mention this in your hearing, Jane, that you may no
attempt to impose on Mr. Brocklehurst.'" Chapter 4, pg. 28
Quote 3: "'I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love
you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed; and this book about
the liar, you may give it to your girl, Georgiana, for it is she who tells lies, and not I.'"
Chapter 4, pg. 30-31
Quote 4: "'But I feel this Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them,
persist in disliking me. I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I
should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is
deserved.'" Chapter 6, pg. 50
Quote 5: "What a singularly deep impression her injustice seems to have made on your
heart! No ill-usage so brands its record on my feelings. Would you not be happier if you
tried to forget her severity, together with the passionate emotions it excited? Life appears to
me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs." Chapter 6, pg. 50-51
Quote 6: "And I clasped my arms closer round Helen; she seemed dearer to me than ever; I
felt as if I could not let her go; I lay with my face hidden on her neck. Presently she said in
the sweetest tone,--'How comfortable I am! That last fit of coughing has tired me a little; I
feel as if I could sleep: but don't leave me, Jane; I like to have you near me.'
'I'll stay with
you, dear Helen: no one shall take me away.'
'Are
you
warm,
darling?'
'Yes.'" Chapter 9, pg. 71
Quote 7: "Women are supposed to be very calm generally; but women feel just as men feel;
they need exercise for their faculties and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers
do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would
suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they
ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the
piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they
seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex."
Chapter 12, pg. 96
Quote 8: "'Because I disliked you too fixedly and thoroughly ever to lend a hand in lifting
you to prosperity. I could not forget your conduct to me, Jane--the fury with which you
once turned on me; the tone in which you declared you abhorred me the worst of anybody
in the world; the unchildlike look and voice with which you affirmed that the very thought
of me made you sick, and asserted that I had treated you with miserable cruelty. I could not
forget my own sensations when you thus started up and poured out the venom of your
mind: I felt fear, as if an animal that I had struck or pushed has looked up at me with human
eyes and cursed me in a man's voice.'" Chapter 21, pg. 210
Quote 9: "'Gratitude!' he ejaculated; and added wildly--'Jane, accept me quickly. Say,
Edward--give me my name--Edward--I will marry you.'
'Are you in earnest?--Do you truly love me? Do you sincerely wish me to be your wife?'
'I do; and if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear it.'
'Then, sir, I will marry you.'
'Edward--my little wife!'
'Dear Edward!'
'Come to me--come to me entirely now,' said he: and added, in his deepest tone, speaking in
my ear as his cheek was laid on mine, 'Make my happiness--I will make yours.'" Chapter
23, pg. 224
Quote 10: "I was in my own room as usual--just myself without obvious change: nothing
had smitten me, or scathed me, or maimed me...Jane Eyre, who has been an ardent,
expectant woman--almost a bride--was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale; her
prospects were desolate...I looked at my love...it shivered in my heart, like a suffering child
in a cold cradle...Mr. Rochester was not to me what he had been, for he was not what I had
thought him. I would not ascribe vice to him; I would not say he had betrayed me but the
attribute of stainless truth was gone from his idea; and from his presence I must go, that I
perceived well." Chapter 26, pg. 260
Quote 11: "I felt desolate to a degree. I felt--yes, idiot that I am--I felt degraded. I doubted I
had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence. I was
weakly dismayed at the ignorance, the poverty, the coarseness of all I heard and saw round
me. But let me not hate and despise myself too much for these feelings: I know them to be
wrong--that is a great step gained; I shall strive to overcome them...In a few months, it is
possible, the happiness of seeing process, and a change for the better in my scholars, may
substitute gratification for disgust." Chapter 31, pg. 316
Quote 12: "As for me, I daily wished more to please him: but to do so, I felt daily more and
more that I must disown half of my nature, stifle half my faculties, wrest my tastes from
their original bent, force myself to the adoption of pursuits for which I had no natural
vocation. He wanted to train me to an elevation I could never reach; it racked me hourly to
aspire to the standard he uplifted. The thing was as impossible as to mould my irregular
features to his correct and classic pattern, to give to my changeable green eyes the sea-blue
tint and solemn lustre of his own." Chapter 34, pg. 351
Quote 13: "'I scorn your idea of love,' I could not help saying, as I rose up and stood before
him, leaning my back against the rock. 'I scorn the counterfeit sentiment you offer: yes, St.
John, and I scorn you when you offer it.'" Chapter 34, pg. 359
Quote 14: "I recalled the voice I had heard; again I questioned whence it came, as vainly as
before: it seemed in me--not in the external world. I asked, was it a mere nervous
impression--a delusion? I could not conceive or believe: it was more like an inspiration.
The wondrous shock of feeling had come like the earthquake which shook the foundations
of Paul and Silas's prison: it had opened the doors of the soul's cell, and loosed its bands--it
had wakened it out of its sleep, whence it sprang trembling, listening, aghast; then vibrated
thrice a cry on my startled ear, an din my quaking heart, and through my spirit; which
neither feared nor shook, but exulted as if in joy over the success of one effort it had been
privileged to make, independent of the cumbrous body." Chapter 36, pg. 371
Quote 15: "'My living darling! These are certainly her limbs, and these her features; but I
cannot be so blest, after all my misery. It is a dream; such dreams as I have had at night
when I have clasped her once more to my heart, as I do now; and kissed her, as thus--and
felt that she loved me, and trusted that she would not leave me...Gentle, soft dream, nestling
in my arms now, you will fly, too, as your sisters have all fled before you: but kiss me
before you go--embrace me, Jane.'" Chapter 37, pg. 382
Quote 16: "I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more
than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms;
consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once as free as in
solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a
more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his
confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character--perfect concord is the
result." Chapter 38, pg. 397