Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre, born poor and plain looking, gained love, family, and fortune
without sacrificing her principles. This is her story. Orphaned at a very young age,
she was sent to live with her aunt. Her aunt, Mrs.Reed, hated and despised her and
made her first ten years barren of kindness and love. Fortunately a doctor recommended
Mrs.Reed to send her to school. She promptly arrived at Lowood Institution.
She was not unhappy there yet she was not happy either. Mr.Brocklehurst, the
manager and treasurer, was miserly, and uncaring. His stingy ways resulted in the
death of many of the students, including her best friend, Helen Burns. That brought on
public attention to the place and the conditions soon improved. She found another good
friend in Miss Temple, the superintendent of Lowood. Jane stayed on for eight years,
the last two as a teacher. After Miss Temple married and went away, she felt bored and
wanted something new.
She advertised in the newspaper and found a position at Thornfield Hall teaching
a little French girl named Adela. Then Mr.Rochester came into her life. Through him she
experienced feelings she had never felt before: playfulness, love and even jealousy.
Mr.Rochester made her jealous by pretending to love Miss Ingram. He plotted and he
schemed until his purpose was achieved. He asked Jane to marry him, and she agreed.
What she did not know was that Edward Rochester already had a wife. He never
loved her, and when she succumbed to madness, he hated her. He was quite justified in his
opinion. Bertha, his wife, had set his room on fire, and bit and stabbed her own brother,
Richard. The fault lay in Grace Poole, who was not the most attentive woman in the world
especially when she got drunk. Edward had not informed Jane about Bertha because he was
afraid that she would be repulsed by it and refuse to marry him.
All that came out during the marriage ceremony. Mrs.Reed, on her deathbed had told
Jane about her rich uncle. This is how it came to be. During Jane’s engagement she wrote
to her uncle. The uncle had him checked out, and found he still had a wife living.
Appropriately, he had his solicitor stop the ceremony.
Mr.Rochester pleaded with Jane to stay and be his companion. He told her they would
live in France, near the Mediterranean, and that he would not lure her into becoming his
mistress. Jane, no matter how much she loved him and longed to stay with him, knew that it
was morally wrong. Taking only a little money and few things, she left immediately without
telling Edward.
She arrived at a little town destitute, having lost her money and goods. The little
food she got, she got through begging. Finally exhausted, famished, and feeling she would
die, she arrived at the Rivers’s home. Hanna, the servant ordered her to leave, but
St.John Rivers feeling pity, took her inside. She told them a little bit about her story
and gave them an alias, Jane Eliot. Gradually she got better and became friends with Diana
and Mary Rivers.
The family Rivers was an old and distinguished one. Their father however, lost the
family fortune, and left them poor. St.John was a minister with a goal of going to India as
a missionary. The girls were working as governess in wealthy families. Jane, not wanting to
be dependent on them, asked St.John to find her a job. He found her a position as a school
mistress at the village where he preached.
There she became acquainted with Rosemond Oliver. She was beautiful, rich, and
good-natured. Rosemond loved St.John, and vice versa, and her father approved of the match.
What kept them from Holly Matrimony then? St.John wanted a missionary’s wife and Rosemond
was not it. So St.John stayed aloof from her, and Rosemond feeling rejected, married
someone else. Something of equal importance happened in that small village.
Jane’s a fore mentioned uncle died and bequeathed everything to her. Jane knew
nothing of this. St.John however, knew that the missing heiress was named "Jane Eyre."
One day, he accidentally saw her real name written on a piece of paper and everything
fell together. Upon hearing it, she split the inheritance of 20,000 pounds into 4 equal
parts to give to Mary, Diana, St.John and herself. She also discovered that they were her
cousins, and she became even more exited at hearing that than the news of her inheritance.
St.John did not overlook that or any other of her good qualities. Still lacking a
wife to go to India with, he asked her to marry him. Jane would not consent because she
knew no love existed or will ever exist in their relationship. After his relentless
"wooing" she compromised by saying that if she saw a sign from God that she was to be
St.John’s wife, she would obey. When she was praying, she heard Edward’s voice say "Jane,
Jane, Jane!" The next day she hastened to Thornfield.
What she found there shocked her. Thornfield had been burned to the ground. She
heard the horrible tale from an ex-servant. He told her that the place had burned down
when Bertha set Jane’s former bed on fire. Then she went onto the roof and jumped to her
death. Because Edward would not leave until everyone was safely out of the house, by the
time he got on the staircase, it crashed down and he was buried underneath. One of his
eyes was knocked out, the other blinded, and also had a hand amputated.
Jane, glad he was still alive, went to him. Edward was extremely happy to see her
and asked her to marry him again. She agreed. He regained limited sight in one eye and was
able to see their son born. Diana and Mary both married for love and are happy. St.John went
to India without Jane and will never marry, because he succumbed to illness and was going
to die.
