Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bront?
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-11-01
Features: Since the publication of Jane Eyre, it has been one of the most widely read works in British fiction for over a hundred years. It is both classic and, including in our country, generations of young people around the world often begin their appreciation of British and world literature by reading it. It is also “popular”—not only men and women of various ages who have some knowledge of literature but also those who have little contact with it, are very familiar with the pitiful life of the orphan Jane Eyre and her yet moving love story with Rochester through the repeated film adaptations and other artistic forms. This long novel, which records the life of an ordinary woman who is not extraordinary but also not tragic, has such enduring artistic charm. What is the secret behind it? As indicated on the dust jacket of the first edition of this book, it is an “autobiography,” or more accurately, a novel with a strong autobiographical element. Although the author sometimes denies that the protagonist is her, a large amount of evidence shows that while the “story” in the book is fictional, the lives of many characters, including the protagonist, as well as their environment, atmosphere, and even many details of their lives, are undoubtedly drawn from the author’s and those around her real experiences. By the way, novels written in the first-person perspective are not uncommon, but it is hard to imagine that Jane Eyre could have achieved such a strong effect without using the first-person point of view. Ancient Chinese scholars advocated that literature should be written with tears and blood, and modern writers, though they may express it differently, all agree that genuine experience with life is one of the fundamental conditions for great works. This is probably where the success of Jane Eyre lies. Through the portrayal of Jane Eyre’s experiences, the book exposes the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, criticizes the capitalist society’s oppression of poor children, reflects on charitable causes, and reflects women’s desire for freedom and equality.