1. Title.
Jane Eyre.

2. Author.
Charlotte Brontë.

3. Source.
´´´

4a. Number of pages.
47 pages.

4b. Number of chapters.
The book is not devided in chapters.

5. Publisher; time and place of publication.
The publisher of this book is the “Penguin Books.” (The book belongs to the serie “Penguin Readers.”) The first publishing was in 1846. The book that I have read now, is published in 1991.

6. Explanation of title.
The title of the book is Jane Eyre. The book is called like that because the main-character is called Jane Eyre.


7. Fiction yes/no.
I don’t know if this story about Jane Eyre has happened in real life, but there is nothing which never could have happened. It is possible that the story is true.

8. Point of view.
The story is told by Jane Eyre herself. So the book is written in the
I-perspective.

9. Description of the main characters.
Jane Eyre is the main-character in the book. She is a gentle and intelligent girl who grows up in the house of her aunt and three cousins. She does not think very positively of herself, which is why her self-confidence is low. She has a quite calm character, but it fast upset about something.

Mr Rochester is Jane’s employer at Thornfield Hall. He is a stern-looking man, but behind it he is a loving person. He is married with Bertha Mason, a mad woman. He is very sad about this marriage, but does not want to show it. He is a noble and stately man.

Adèle Varens is the girl, living on Thornfield Hall. She is the daughter of a dancer in Paris and Mr Rochester takes care of her. Jane comes to teach her English, because she is French. It is a little girl with a cute character.

10. My opinion.
Jane Eyre is a very special book. When I searched for a book in the main library of Rotterdam, I saw this book. (I have the video at home.) I thought I could use it for my portfolio.

It was very easy to read it, I was finished reading it in half an hour. It was easy to understand, because there were no flashbacks. Most of the time I find flashbacks very confusing.
I think the story was very predictable at times. Just an example: when Jane marries Mr Rochester, you can expect that the wedding will not continue, because otherwise the story would already have finished.
A lot of things are happening and they are very well described. That made me to continue the reading.
Jane Eyre is a good book to discover how people lived 2 centuries ago. Further there is a love story in it, a lot of people like love stories (so do I). That could be a reason too why I like the book.
What was quite confusing, were the pictures in the book. When you have seen the movie first and than read the book, you already have a picture in your mind of what the main-characters look like. When you see the pictures in the book, they are totally different. But I did not really care about that. I think the book is really good and easy to understand.

11a. Beginning.
The story begins with an introduction of Jane Eyre, when she tells something about herself and how it came that she lives with her aunt. She is ten years old at the beginning of the book and is not very happy. Her aunt dislikes her very much because she is very intelligent and when Jane starts to fight with her cousin John, she is locked up in the ‘Red Room.’ She becomes depressed and after a talk with the doctor she is send to the Lowood School. There she makes a new friend, Helen Burns, and she learns a lot.
After 18 years she has to leave the school. Jane wants to become a teacher and when she has found a job as teacher, she leaves the Lowood School and moves to Thornfield Hall, were she has to teach Adèle Varens, a French Girl. This is the beginning of a totally new life.

11b. End.
A lot of things happened after the failed wedding of Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester. Jane left Thornfield Hall and moved in by her cousin St John. Without knowing what happened at Thornfield Hall after her failed wedding, she becomes a rich young lady. Her (unknown) uncle in Madeira died and left her all his money. After a few weeks, her cousin St John asks her to marry her and help him in India. Jane, still in love with Mr Rochester refuses and wants to visit Mr Rochester.
When she arrives at Thornfield Hall, she does not believe her eyes. The castle has been burned out and nobody lives there any longer. A man, sitting beside the road, tells her that Mr Rochester is still alive, but became blind during the fire. He lives 30 miles away from Thornfield Hall and Jane goes to Ferndean and meets Mr Rochester again. When he asks Jane again to marry her she says yes and after 3 days she became Mrs Rochester. Two years after the wedding Mr Rochester can see again with one eye and so, the story ends with a happy end.


12. Extra Assignment; a filmscript; lights and music; scene 5.
Scene 5: Helen Burns is dying.
Helen Burns is laying in her bed, very ill. Jane Eyre is opening the door softly and watches her.
Helen: (with a soft and ill voice) Who, who’s there?
Jane: (softly) It’s me, Jane Eyre. I came to visit you.
Helen: (tries to sit straight up in bed) You are not allowed to come here! What if they will discover you?
Jane: They will not. Don’t mind about that. Lay down again, that’s better for you.
Jane is putting Helen back in her bed.
Helen: Jane, I need to say you something.
Soft, sad music is fading up slowly and the light is becoming less bright.
Jane: (sad) I think it is better when you will not tell that.
Helen: You need to accept it. That’s life Jane, that’s what God wants.
Jane: Than, tell me the horrible thing you wanted to say me.
It is quite for a long time.
Helen: (very weak) I need to say goodbye, but don’t cry! I will have it there better than here, in this smelly, old school. I will go to large, green fields, with the sun shining on my hair. I won’t have to wear my little hat, I’m free like a bird. I…
Helen starts to caugh. (Music more exciting) It’s becoming worse and worse. Suddenly it stops. (Music becomes calm again.) Jane holds Helen’s hand and says with tears in her eyes:

Jane: Don’t talk anymore. It’s no good for you. Go sleep again. I will stay with you.
Helen: (more weak than first) I feel it coming. (spotlight at Helen + music very ominous) Oh Jane, why does it take so long?! It’s hurting me so much. Please Jane, promise me you will get a better life than staying here at this school. Please, I will bless you. I will keep watching you when I am dead. I promise.
Than Helen dies. Jane starts to cry softly and than louder and louder. Untill Miss Temple comes into the room and sees Jane.
Temple: Oh Jane, what are you doing here?
Close up of Jane. Then, Miss Temple sees that Jane is crying.
Temple: Oh poor girl, I’m so sorry. Go to your bed now, we will talk further tomorrow-morning.
End of scene 5.

13. Genre:
The most important genres in this book are love and relationships. Jane never had a real relationship with her parents, they both died when she was very young. When she stays in her aunt’s house, nobody likes her, especially her aunt, so she could never start a relationship. At the Lowood School, she becomes best friends with Helen Burns, who dies after a few years.
When Jane moves to Thornfield Hall, everything changes and she develops relationships with Adèle and Mrs Reed. After a long time she discover she loves Mr Rochester. So you see, almost everything in this book is about love and relationships.

14. Climax/Anti-climax.
The climax of this story is what happened on Jane’s wedding day. When they are standing in front of the priest, Mr Mason rushes in and yells: “Mr Rochester is already married, he cannot marry Jane Eyre!” This is the starting point of the unraveling of the complex series of incidents which happened at Thornfield Hall.


15. Style.
The language-use in the book is just normal British English. The Story is very realistic written.

16. Imagery.
There is no imagery in this book. There is no fantasy in this book, it is very realistic written.

17. Summary.
Jane Eyre begins when she was a little girl of 10 years old. She lives with her aunt and three cousins, but is not happy. After a fight with John, the oldest cousin, she is locked up in the ‘Red Room,’ a room which is very cold and dark. When Jane is aloud to get out of the room, she gets depressed. After having talked with a doctor, she is send to the Lowood School, a public school for girls.
After 18 years at the Lowood School, Jane Eyre becomes teacher at Thornfield Hall, where she has to teach Adèle Varens English, a little French girl. The house owner, Mr Rochester, returns from a long journey and meets Jane. They are getting more related to each other, but suddenly a lot of horrible things happen. A guest, Mr Mason, who stays at Thornfield Hall is almost murdered and Mr Rochestor was almost burned literally. Jane does not know who the founder is, but Mr Rochester does not want to say it.
After a long time, Mr Rochester asks Jane to marry her. Jane, totally in love with Mr Rochester, says yes. On their weddingday, Mr Mason rushes into the church and stops the wedding. He tells everybody that Mr Rochester already is married and that he cannot marry Jane Eyre. Mr Rochester shows everybody Bertha Mason, a mad woman and the wife of Mr Rochester. Mr Rochester tells everybody that Bertha is the one who started all those crimes.
After having seen all this, Jane Eyre leaves Thornfield Hall. She travels for two long days and when she finally stops somewhere, she can move in at St John, who seem to be later her cousin.

A few weeks later, Jane gets a letter from somebody. It says that her uncle in Madeira died and left her all his money. She is a rich young woman and decides to visit Mr Rochester.
After a long journey back, she discovers that Thornfield Hall is burned down completely. She asks a man, beside he road what happened and she discovers that after her leaving of Thornfield Hall, the castle has been burned down. Bertha and a few of Mr Rochester’s servants died during the fire, but Mr Rochester survived. He became blind and lives now in Ferndean. When Jane goes to Ferndean, Mr Rochestor asks her to marry him. She says yes and after 3 days, she is called Mrs Rochester.