Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

'Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? - You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty, and as much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: - it is my spirit that addresses your spirit...

If anyone ever needs to test the passion potential of a would be lover, then read them this speech of Jane Eyre to Edward Rochester. If they remain luke-warm dump them!

For like Cathy's famous exclamation 'I am Heathcliff!' in Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte's lonely heroine articulates her profound love for Rochester in one of the most compelling declarations of love ever written. Jane is courageously and unnervingly direct throughout this remarkably intense novel. . She is 'antisocial' in her daring transcendence of her sex., and it is the very 'anti-sociality' of her address that vindicates her speech as being utterly self-presencing and authentic. Angry-Jane? Damn right she is!

Never listened to as a child and being accustomed only to truly 'read as if for life', Jane speaks as only a lonely person could .And in her solitary quest for truth, she finds her spirit's reward; she is longer 'buried with inferior minds'; or 'trampled upon'. She speaks and is heard in her entirety- she masters her 'masters' soul!

-Spoiler- We start off learning about Jane's past and her growing both emotionally and physically. Jane then goes to work and is perfectly fine when Mr.Rochester-the man that every woman dreams of- turns up. He's intelligent, handsome in a non-obvious way and grabs her heart although she cannot say. After a lot of playing around he finally confesses his love and she practically falls into his arms. Upon getting married it is discovered that Mr. Rochester has a lunatic of a wife. She runs away in the dead of night and, after some complications she builds a life for herself which is pleasent. After being offered a chance to go to a foreign country and do a job of her dreams her newly found cousin offers his hand in marrige to her, however she cannot accept. When her cousin goes away she says she will be away for a few days and sets off back to none other than Mr. Rochester.

She finds devestation, and pain, and agrees to marry a disabled Mr.Rochester. The novel ends on a high, a great read for anyone.

Charlotte Bronte dazzles with her empowering story charecters, a win win for anyone

It is great to see a classic written by a woman; we can get a completely different view on so many things. What amuses me is the comparison between then and now, what is considered 'dishonourable'. The chapters on the boarding school inspire terror, but more could have been made of the death of her friends. Overall, however, worth reading just to say that you have.

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre is the classic example of the Victorian novel. Jane is an orphan studying at a boarding school for girls who are of high birth but have no monetary support. Eventually Jane leaves to become a nanny. She falls in love with her employer but upon discovering his dark secret, flees and is saved from death by a brother and sister couple who, in a strange coincidence, happen to be distant relatives. As is typical in Victorian novels, fate conspires to make Jane and the man she loves suitable by a raising of Jane's situation and the lowering of his, as he is also suitably punished for his sins.

It is a great read, it's well-written, it's a great story, even if you know that in these books it all works out as it should in the end. If you're a fan of romance novels, then you must read Jane Eyre!