Jane Eyre (Signet Classics) by Charlotte Bront? Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.93 You Save: $0.02 (0%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Jane Eyre (Signet Classics)
Book Review: Reality Jane
Summary: 5 Stars
We were forced to read Jane Eyre in high school. My teacher was so derisive of Jane and the choices she made that I was turned off.
I reread this in my 20's and OMG, what I missed! This book is the Victorian equivalent of a Jerry Springer episode.
Jane goes through hell and high water, and like most humans makes a couple of bad choices and mistakes but I kid you not, if someone was telling me this story now, I would have thought they got it off Oprah, Springer, or Dr. Phil.
If you can get past the old fashioned language and Jane's habit of taking the long way around explaining things, you'll love this book. Jane is a friend to keep.
Book Review: NOT EXACTLY AIRPLANE READING
Summary: 4 Stars
Charlotte Bronte beautifully constructs each sentence in "Jane Eyre" with an exacting precision that is at once dated and elegant.
While the story can be a bit overwrought in almost a parody like way--it hasn't aged especially well--all of that is a minor distraction to enjoying the exquisite craftsmanship with which Bronte writes.
Bronte is as much an architect as a storyteller--every sentence and event ties to an often unexpected event or occurance later in the book. She doesn't just churn out prose in the assembly-line fashion of hacks Janet Evanovich or Stephen King. When you read Bronte, you understand what is meant by "classic." She is the difference between junk food (Evanovich/King) and a gourmet meal.
This isn't airplane reading and you won't breeze through it in days. It's the sort of book you savor for 20 or 30 pages and perhaps return to a week later.
And if you are not a student who resents it as "required reading," you'll truly thank yourself for voluntarily finishing a book of such style and class.
Book Review: Jane Eyre is a wonderful roance novel full of romance, dark secrets, and suspence!
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book to be a great novel. I feel that this story was better that some, because it was based on real life experiences from the life of the author, Charlotte Bronte.
The story has a good amount of suspense that keeps the reader wanting to find out what happens next.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys old English books from the late 1800's, and to romance novel readers!
~SUMMARY~
Jane Eyre is orphaned as an infant, and left to the guardianship of her Aunt Reed. There at Gateshead Hall, she is horribly mistreated by the Reeds, against the dying wish of her Uncle Reed.
At the age of 10, Jane is accepted to Lowood School after being interviewed by the schools owner: Mr. Brocklehurst. Jane takes an instant disliking to him, and when she arrives at the school, he stands Jane on a pedestal and tells everyone that she is a liar, which is not true. She later proves to everyone that she is not a liar. During her time at the school, Jane meets a girl named Helen Burns. They immediately become best friends, to the very end. Sadly, this end comes all too soon. Helen is one of the 7 fatal cases during the typhus epidemic at the school. Jane remains at the school for a good 10 years, 2 of which were spent as a teacher, until she advertised as a governess.
Jane's advertisement is answered by a Mrs. Fairfax, of Thornfeild Hall. Jane arrives to meet her pupil: Adel?, a French little girl, who was left to Mr. Rochester by her mother. Mr. Rochester is the master of the Thornfeild estate, and first meets Jane when she assists him and his spooked horse on a lane one afternoon. By this time, Jane has been at Thornfeild for a few months. Mrs. Fairfax had previously informed Jane that she will rarely see Mr. Rochester, as he sometimes leaves for days, weeks or even months at a time. Mr. Rochester then accuses her of being a witch and casting a spell on his horse, and then asks her some questions, learning that she is his newly appointed governess.
When Jane returns to Thornfeild Hall, she sees the dog she encountered earlier, and discovers that the stranger from the road is Mr. Rochester himself when he calls for her later that evening.
Evening talks become a daily habit, and both characters fondness for each other grows...
One night, Mr. Rochester returns home with group of friends he has invited to stay. There Jane meets Blanche Ingram, one of the many people who treat her as if she is a servant, whom everyone expects Mr. Rochester will marry, although she is only attracted to his money.
That night, another guest, Mr. Mason, is badly injured, but Jane is not told how, only that she must care for his wounds in silence until the doctor arrives. Jane assumes this has to do with the strange and violent Grace Poole.
During Jane's stay at Thornfeild, Jane witnesses a series of strange happenings, as well as a strange laugh she will hear periodically at night. These are said to be the doings of a drunken servant named Grace Poole.
Jane then receives a letter from Gateshead Hall, telling her that Mrs. Reed is requesting Jane to come visit her on her death bed. There she learns that a distant Uncle Eyre wished to adopt Jane, but Mrs. Reed replied saying that Jane died in the Typhus epidemic.
Jane returns from Gateshead Hall 3 weeks late because of funeral arrangements for her aunt to an anxious Mr. Rochester, who feared her to never return. Later, in the garden, he asks Jane to marry him, and she gladly accepts, to the dismay of Mrs. Fairfax.
The wedding was interrupted by a man who announced that Mr. Rochester was already married! Mr. Rochester then confesses as he brings the wedding attendees up to his attic. There he shows everyone his "wife:" Bertha Mason, an insane and deadly violent woman, looked over by Grace Poole. She is kept there because Mr. Rochester doesn't have the heart to send her to an asylum.
In her dismay, Jane runs away from Thornfeild Hall. Leaving her belongings in a stage coach by accident, she has no other option other than to become a beggar or die on the streets.
She finnally is taken into the Rivers residence. Here St. John, and his 2 sisters care for her, and she becomes like one of the family. She later learns that John Eyre (the uncle from the letter) has died and left Jane his fortune. During this, she learns that the Rivers are her cousins. She shares the fortune with them.
St. John repeatedly asks her to marry him and join him as a missionary during her time there. They both know he does not love her, but he thinks Jane would be a good missionary wife.
One night, Jane hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling to her, and runs from St. Johns house to Thornfeild Hall. There she finds the estate burned to the ground. Bertha had set fire to it and Mr. Rochester was blinded when he unsuccessfully tried to save her life.
Jane and Mr. Rochester, never losing any feelings for each other during their time apart, then marry.
Book Review: Jane Eyre
Summary: 4 Stars
Jane Eyre is a moving book that retells the hardships that a lone child goes through on her way to become a woman. As a girl, Jane is most defiantly hated and has to suffer under the rulings of her Aunt Reed. She is picked on buy her cousins and does not receive the tiniest amount of respect.
At Lowood School, Jane learns to accept and let go of her cruel past. Jane goes through school and becomes a well learned and mannered lady.
Soon after the beginning of her second teaching year, Jane gets a post at Thornfield Mansion as a governess. But as she gets to know her new home; she finds herself falling in love with the odd and mysterious Mr. Rochester.
Jane thinks she has a wonderful life and everything will turn out right after all. But will it? When the love of her life reveals a secret, Jane's life may be changed forever.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is an extradinary novel. I loved the way it detailed her surroundings and let me picture what was happening. Charlotte Bronte has written a fabulous book and I recommend it to everyone who likes to challenge themselves with a great novel.
Book Review: A Great Love Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Not intended for the melancholy, this classic literature is full of hope, full of love that you rarely find in writings those days. Jane Eyre, a plain and poor girl, a cast out among her known rich relatives, tried to make her way in this world when she advertised for governess position and received a call from Thornfield Hall. In this place, she was presented with a very agreeable student and company, Mr. Edward F. Rochester. The courting game began slowly but surely towards Jane who was still a naive girl of eighteen. Together they overcame their differences such in age and had planned to be married soon. But a terrible secret broke out and Jane fled from the Hall, leaving her crushed love behind. In her sanctuary, she found another kind of suitor in the form of a cousin, St. John Rivers. She loved him as a brother and she thought the feeling is mutual until a proposal came and the true character of St John revealed but still with power to control her resolution, in the name of his holy purpose. Right at that moment, a supernatural thing happen (which I guarantee will cause your hair stand on end) that called her back to the beloved Thornfield Hall and its master. I don't think this event was out of place. In fact, it served as the last, elegant seal on the round up.
A profound love story with two unlikely characters. No beauty beyond compare and no handsome prince 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. Through this tale, Ms Bronte also conveyed her opinion and principle about love, marriage, physical display, conceited faith, gender equality and sound educated mind, especially of women.
Her style in expressing the main characters' personality and principal was a thorough exploration of the mind and heart without too much side comments which often sidetracked a narrative. Expressive dialogs and vivid description were her main strengths that I like most. Though it is still consistent with the writing style of its era, it will reward satisfactorily every modern reader who faithfully peruses its chapters.