Jane Eyre

By: Charlotte Bronte

This has been criticized as too dark a novel, too romantic a novel and criticized for being too unrealistic. But, in my opinion it is one of the best books ever written- if you read the unabridged version.

Jane is a young girl whose parents have both died so she lives with her Aunt and cousins, who resent her presence in their home and let her know it in every possible way. She is an intelligent child who loves to read. This does not bode well with her kin. She is treated horribly. When she is 10 she is sent to a school for girls that is run by who appears to be a distinguished Christian gentleman. In all actuality it is a place with cruel and almost insane punishments for the least of errors (and in some place, no error).

But there Jane stays, having no where else to go. After graduating she becomes a teacher for a few years but finally decides she can't stand it any more. She starts posting advertisements to be a governess. And she finds a position!

She is to be the governess of little Adele, who speaks more French than English. She is a charming little girl who seems to be rather spoiled but is still a darling.

Soon the master of the house, Mr. Rochester, arrives. He is not quite what Jane expected him to be. He is extremely blunt and rude upon occasion, but can hold an intelligent and interesting conversation. The first evening for Jane is pure torture- but the rest are not as bad. She begins to see through his bluntness, to see something else underneath. She even begins to wonder if… no… several rich families come to visit; and several beautiful young women are included in the bunch.

Jane begins to feel despondent again; everything she thought was going to happen is just falling around her. It grows even worse when she hears that Mr. Rochester is to be married. She prepares to get a new position when something wonderful happens. The next few weeks are pure bliss for Jane- she has never been so wonderfully happy. She does have some quirks of fear, like she always has had in the house. There are strange noises, and there was the time Mr. Rochester's bed was set on fire. But Mr. Rochester calms her fears and assures her everything will be fine.

The much-awaited day finally comes- and much happens- but not what Jane expects. When just the day before she was wondering if anyone could be as happy as she, she is now wondering if anyone could be as heartbroken. Mr. Rochester pleads her fiercely to stay- but she knows she cannot with while knowing who still lives.

She leaves and tries to forget him, becoming a teacher and discovering that she has inherited several thousand pounds. She also finds a little happiness in finding that she still has some surviving relatives. She lives with them and is rather content- until her cousin St. John makes a proposal. It is then she is forced to make a choice- has she really forgotten her past, or does she have to live with it? She makes her decision and is startled, when a few nights later she seems to hear and feel something.

She decides that she has to see what has happened to Mr. Rochester, Adele and the person who destroyed their happiness.

When she arrives she finds that the house has burned down, and hears an amazing story. Rushing to Mr. Rochester she finds out something wonderful yet terrible. He is blind- but he can see. He has been angry, but he grew to understand what God did.

This is a beautiful story, very long, but very good! I highly recommend it to any one.

Movies Based on the Book

Actors: Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds

Company: A&E

Director: I'm not really sure who directed this one…

Year: 1997

Acting: Beautiful! Hinds and Morton both present the their characters very well and help you to understand who they are. The rest of the actors are great, too (Gemma Jones- who is the mother in Sense and Sensibility is in here!)

Screen Play: The movie does stray from the book in some parts, and it's kind of hard to put Bronte's full novel on screen in 2 hours. I believe they stay very true to the story of the book, and make a very moving story- but there are parts they skipped. I would read the book and then watch the movie.

Filming: Filmed in lovely locations!

Things you might not like about this movie: I must admit, I saw it a year ago… I don’t specifically remember any part that I did not like. A&E usually tries very hard to stay "clean."

Rating: This was made for TV originally… I would give it a PG- the story line is a bit advanced.

But overall- this is a magnificent movie!