Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre came into the world accompanied by scandal. The sharp wit and passionate independence of its genteel, impoverished-heroine rubbed against the raw edges of social class, women's roles, the limits of women's desire, and the strictures of family duty. As Elizabeth Rigby, an early critic, famously wrote: "we do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at .home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre." Rigby's response might seem overstated today, but Jane Eyre was a radical in her own time, a woman who decided her own future with regard to little but the dictates of her own mind and soul.

...

A young governess falls in love with her employer in this classic coming-of-age tale set in 19th-century England.

THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

A concise introduction that gives readers important background information;

A chronology of the author's life and work

A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context;

An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations;

Detailed explanatory notes;

Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work;

Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction;

A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience.

INTRODUCTION

CHRONOLOGY OF CHARLOTTE BRONTES

  LIFE AND WORK

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF JANE EYRE

JANE EYRE

NOTES

INTERPRETIVE NOTES

CRITICAL EXCERPTS

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE INTERESTED READER