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In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, a young orphaned girl, Jane, now lives with her aunt and cousins. She does not have the best life. Both of her parents died from a disease that her father carried while caring for the poor so now she is left to live with her aunt Sarah Reed and three cousins John, Georgianna, and Eliza Reed. The Reed family treats Jane as if she is a complete stranger and while Georgianna and Eliza do not interfere with Jane’s stay, John and Mrs. Reed continuously torture her. Jane’s finally able to go to Lowood School when she turns 10, and sets a life goal to be better than her aunt and cousins and to find love. However, there are many unpleasant obstacles in her way. 

Lowood is a school for orphaned girls who need an education. Here, Jane meets Helen, who is very bright and also caring. She teaches Jane the importance of living in the world as if it is a test to see that one is worthy enough to be placed in heaven. Helen becomes Jane’s only friend at Lowood but tragically, Helen soon passes away from tuberculosis. 

Jane spends six more years at Lowood without Helen and stays on another two years as a teacher. At this point, she decides that starting a new life is important. Jane finds a position as a governess at a place called Thornfield. When she arrives, she’s greeted by Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper who introduces her to Jane’s responsibilities and role. Jane settles into her new job quite well and eventually meets Edward Rochester, an intelligent but wild man and also the owner of Thornfield. 

Jane quickly becomes enraptured by Rochester’s charisma and undergoes ups and downs due to her strong feelings for him. When she learns about a beautiful woman named Blanche Ingram, whom Rochester plans to propose to, Jane believes she has no chance with Rochester and begins to have mixed feelings about Rochester. She thinks Blanche and Rochester are in love. 

My favorite part of the book came after this moment when Jane decides to focus on herself and the path she has ahead. Rather than lose her sense of self or worth, or be dependent on the affection or approval of Rochester, she strives to be someone who can stand on her own. Even as her heart is torn, Jane ventures out into the world to chart her own path and lands a job as a school teacher. The message I took away from this part of the book is that you do not need to rely on others for the things that you can do for yourself. An aspect of the book I did not like as much and thought could be improved is how much the author emphasizes love because while some amount of romanticism is fitting, I felt that Rochester’s love life is very confusing to keep up with because of how many women he is said to have loved. 

Overall, this book was very good. There were many different obstacles Jane had to overcome in order to try and find love. Many others in situations like this can relate to this book and see that eventually your time will come, but until then, work on your own goals. I would rate this book a 4/5 since it offers a good lesson to be learned by many readers.

Check out Jane Eyre from the Newport Beach Public Library!