Jane Eyre was written by Charlotte Bronte and published in 1847 under the pen name “Currer Bell”. It was originally titled Jane Eyre: An Autobiography and charts the progress of the title character through five phases of her life in the first person narrative. Jane is first seen as a young orphan in the care of a cruel aunt, who sends her away to a harsh private school. After graduation and two years as a schoolteacher she takes a position as a governess at the estate of Mr. Rochester, which leads to an offer of marriage that is undone by an unfortunate discovery. She leaves, is taken in by strangers who turn out to be relatives, and discovers she has inherited a small fortune. After spurning an offer of marriage, she impulsively returns to Rochester, with whom she reunites.

The events of the novel are internalized and seen strictly thorough Jane’s eyes with an intensity more closely associated with poetry than fiction in that era. As such, the book helped revolutionize the art of the novel and stands as an early example of the bildungsroman, or novel about the overall self-development of the main character. Many consider Jane Eyre to be ahead of its time not only in form but in its social criticism and explorations of class, religion, and an emerging feminist perspective.

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