Overview of Jane Eyre 1847

Jane Eyre, written in first person, goes through 5 main stages:

- Her childhood at Gateshead, where she was tormented by her Aunt Reed and cousins

- Her education at Lowood school, where she gains friends, Helen Burns and role models, teacher 

  Miss Temple, but still suffers from bullying from Mr Brocklehurst

- Her time at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her employer Mr Rochester

- Her time with the Rivers Family, where she is proposed to by her cousin, St John, and asked to 

  travel to India with him

- She returns to Thornfield to marry her first love Mr Rochester, who had fallen ill. Mr Rochester 

  regains his sight to see their first born son.

Bronte, C (2011)

Both of Jane's parents die several years before the story begins. She is living at her uncle's house, with her aunt and her two daughters and one son. Jane is physically and mentally abused by her aunt and cousins, and her only comfort is a ragged doll and books. 

Jane is eventually is allowed to leave to gain an adduction at Lowood, but once she arrives, she is publicly humiliated by the head teacher Mr Brocklehurst. Her only friends remain to be Helen Burns and teacher Miss Temple, until Helen Burns dies in Jane's arms. 

After 6 years at Lowood, Jane leaves as Miss Temple did. She applies for a private teaching position, and gains a place at Thornfield Hall. On her journey to Thornfield, a man falls of his house and Jane helps him. This later turns out to be Mr Rochester, the master of he house. She starts to fall in love with Mr Rochester, as she spends more time with him. 

Jane returns to Gateshead to care for her dying aunt Mrs Reed. Jane finds out that her uncle John Eyre is still alive, and she regains contact with him as she returns to Thornfield, after Mrs Reed dies. On Jane's return, Mr Rochester proposed to her. During the wedding ceremony, Mr Mason declairs they cannot get married, because Mr Rochester is married to Mr Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr Rochester explains how he was forced into a marriage, and once married, Bertha was descending rapidly into madness, so he locked her away, hiring a maid to look after her. 

Jane leaves Mr Rochester, and is forces to beg for food on the streets. She accidentally passes family members of John Eyre, and learns she had inherited a large sum of money from his death. Jane travels to the Rivers' home, and decided to split the money between her cousins. St John, a cousins of hers living at the Rivers' home, proposes to her, and asked Jane to travel with him to India. Jane's instincts take her back to Thornfield to find Mr Rochester. Bertha had set fire to the house and jumped off the roof. Mr Rochester had lost a hand and his eyesight in the event. Jane stays with him and they eventually get married. Mr Rochester gains his sight back just in time for seeing his first born son.