The title of the book, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë, is named after the protagonist. The heroine of this novel, Jane Eyre, has a personality that I greatly admire. By writing about a love story between a governess and her master, Brontë shows readers Jane’s fierce independence and unwavering integrity. Jane rejected marrying her master, Mr. Rochester, multiple times; the reason being that she refused to let her love for him justify the things he had done (and his secrets) that were against the morals that defined her as a person. “Jane Eyre” is not just a silly romance story written with a few fancy words, but a novel written to teach readers a valuable lesson about integrity and staying true to ourselves. Unlike most stories written in her time, Brontë creates a protagonist who isn’t the typical flawless heroine and doesn’t write Mr. Rochester as a handsome romantic interest who saves the day. In contrast, Mr. Rochester is described as “ugly” by none other than Jane herself, and Mr. Rochester can get impatient of Jane’s occasional tempers. They are not the perfect, beautiful couple of most romance stories, and I think that makes this novel unique in a good way since readers are often tired of reading about the same types of characters in every story.

Brontë writes all of this using a beautiful, gothic atmosphere and includes vivid details for every scene. Every detailed description of a landscape or new setting that Brontë writes about all serve a purpose to the mood and even to the plot. The plot twists are also interesting for the reader, and it kept me interested in the book, especially when Brontë started building suspense by writing about unlucky omens before Mr. Rochester’s secret was revealed. Many symbolic objects are used in the book, an important one being a lightning-struck tree as a symbol for Jane and Mr. Rochester’s relationship. My only critique about the writing of this story is that it is written with vocabulary and slang from the Victorian time period, making it difficult for students like me to read. There are many words and phrases I never heard of which I had to search for the definition of to understand. Otherwise, “Jane Eyre” was a wonderfully written book with memorable characters and interesting plot twists that I recommend to readers of my age and older.

Reviewed by Angela Li