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.