Jane Eyre Book Review

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

1847

Classic Victorian Fiction, Gothic 

Spoilers!

Jane Eyre is a book that has been sitting on my shelf for years now collecting dust. I’d picked it up at a yard sale a couple years ago. I finally convinced myself to finish Jane Eyre because my critical methods course was going to discuss the novel and I didn’t want the ending to be spoiled. My class discussed Jane Eyre in relation to postcolonialism and racism, which I will touch on in my review

Going into this review, I’m honestly split on my feelings. I can’t say I disliked Jane Eyre because the writing and Jane Eyre the character are both exceptional, but the plot is just so problematic from a 2020 standpoint.

Jane Eyre follows orphaned Jane in three different parts of her life, first as a young girl moving to a strict boarding school, then as a 18-19 year old working as a governess for Mr. Rochester and lastly after she leaves the Rochester home to find herself.

Before getting into my biggest issues, I want to mention that Jane Eyre is superbly written. Bronte has a really great way with words and I found Jane Eyre to be relatively easy to get into once I made it through the first couple chapters. The first person narration through Jane’s eyes was really interesting and kept me invested. From Jane’s perspective, there is a lot to learn about class during the nineteenth century. As an orphan, Jane does not have much to her name and only has the option of working as a teacher or governess. Jane’s hope for a better life is captivating because women of the nineteenth century were not supposed to have dreams of a life outside of marriage and motherhood.

As much as I love the themes of class and gender explored in Jane Eyre, the book is a romance novel. Nineteen year old Jane Eyre and her forty year old boss Mr. Rochester are the couple we’re supposed to be rooting for as readers, but the relationship has so many red flags that make it hard to support. Firstly, Jane works for Mr. Rochester. Even though codes of today didn’t exist, that doesn’t mean their roles are not equal. Not only was Rochester Jane’s boss, but as an incomeless woman, Jane had a lot to lose if the relationship didn’t eventually work out. While Jane was of age when she met Rochester, the emotional manipulation and gaslighting Rochester puts Jane through was one of the largest red flags I have ever read. Rochester lied about not having a wife, having kept her locked in a small room in his house for over a decade, and the overt racism he uses makes him more of a villain than a potential suitor.

All parts of the book about Bertha were incredibly heartbreaking. It was impossible for me to feel mad at Bertha for preventing Rochester’s and Jane’s marriage knowing how much she has suffered because of Rochester’s hands. The imagery of animals used to describe her character is meant to dehumanize her, and her mental illness is attributed to her skin colour.

Rating 2.5/5: I think Jane Eyre was a reminder to me why classics and their assumed “value” should be questioned when classics have a role in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. While I’m not denying that the sections about Jane’s desire for freedom aren’t empowering, any book with explicit racism should be discussed with care. Out of all the classics I’ve read from this period, I would not recommend Jane Eyre at all.