The film without the cuts. And the book itself.
She will not be loved at the cost of herself.
Jane Eyre
A plain, watchful young woman whose stillness never means surrender.
Gateshead Hall
A comfortable house where every warm room reminds Jane she belongs to no one here.
Shelter from the cold brings no comfort when home itself feels punishing.
Read →Glad of No Walk
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.
I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.
Jane says she is glad, and gives a child's reasons: cold fingers, raw twilight. But listen to what actually saddens her on those walks home, and it isn't the weather at all. It's being scolded by Bessie and made to feel smaller than Eliza, John, and Georgiana. Before we know anything else about her, we know she is the child in this house who measures herself against the others and comes up short. The bad weather is a reprieve.
Jane is named an outsider before she can speak
Mrs. Reed draws her own children close and leaves Jane on the margins of the family circle.
Bewick’s History of British Birds
A book of birds is the one thing Jane can call her own, until John Reed says she cannot.
Edward Fairfax Rochester
A dark, abrupt master whose need for love is tangled with secrecy and command.
Jane Eyre: An Autobiography
The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.
The Jane Eyre World, as it plays on your phone
- Meet the people. 36 characters, each with a portrait, who they are and what they want.
- Walk the places. 22 places, each pictured, and what happens there.
- Follow the plot. The turns of the story, in order, so you always know where you are.
- Taste the original. 33 key passages in Charlotte Brontë’s own words, each with a short reading of what it is doing.
- The complete book. Every word, in a reader made for your phone. From any passage, one tap opens the book at that very page.
Step inside Jane Eyre
Free, in your inbox in about a minute: the World and the complete book, on your phone.