Well ladies, I will admit that I have read the book JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte several times. There are different movie versions, but the one I’ll talk about today is the one with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke which was filmed way back in 1983.

To let you know a bit about the story:

Jane Eyre is an orphan who is sent to live with her aunt and uncle and cousins. The uncle dies shortly there after, and Jane is raised in a home where she is unwanted and unloved by her aunt and three cousins. As punishment for striking her cousin John, (after he slapped her first!) is to be first locked up in the room where her uncle died, and eventually sent to Lowood School, a charitable school for young girls.

Life at Lowood is harsh, bleak, especially with Mr. Brocklehurst as its owner. Freezing temperatures, cold moldy porridge and harsh punishments and rules are the order of the day. But not everything is bleak for Jane. She strikes up a friendship with the headmistress Miss Temple, and even gets a best friend Helen Burne. But when Typhus fever strikes Lowood, it takes its toll. Helen dies, and Jane greaves for her lost friend.

At the age of eighteen, Jane has been teaching at Lowood for two years. When Miss Temple marries, Jane longs for something more than her lot in life, so she advertises and is accepted a post at Thornfield hall as governess to her new student Adele. The housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax is a kind old woman, who acts in a sense as the mother figure that Jane never had.

Thornfield is a beautiful place, but everything changes for Jane on an icy road at night. She frieghtens a horse, who stumbles on the ice, and tosses his rider. Going to the stranger’s aide, Jane stays with him to make sure the man can get onto his horse. A dog named Pilot accompanies the man, after a brief conversation, the man gallopes off, and Jane returns to Thornfield. Upon her return however, Jane sees the same dog Pilot, and wonders what he is doing here. It turns out that the stranger is no other than Mr. Edward Rochester, the owner of Thornfield. A sometimes sarcastic, hard, highly mysterious man.

There are many twists and turns in Jane and Mr. Rochester’s story. Jane saves Mr. Rochester from being burned to death in his bed, Edward reveals his past, and the fact that he is Adele’s father to Jane. There is a servant in the household, Grace Poole that disturbs Jane, she believes it was Grace that tried to burn Edward, but when she reveals these fears to Edward, he dismisses it out of hand.

Their attraction for each other grows, and eventually Edward asks Jane for her hand in marriage, which she agrees to. At the wedding however, it is revealed that Edward still has a wife. Bertha, his wife is mad, and he brought her from Jamaica, where they were married, and had Grace look after her. Jane leaves, rather than stay and becomes Edward’s mistress, as he wants. Destitute with no money, or food, Jane is saved by St. John and his sisters. Jane eventually becomes a school teacher in the village where she lives. St. John is a minister, and reveals to her that an uncle she never knew of has died and left her an heiress with 10,000 pounds. A fortune!

St. John tells Jane that he is going to go to India to be a missionary, and tells her they must marry. Jane refuses him, and his ideas of love. She feels no love towards him. Then from across the moors, Jane hears Edward calling her name over and over. “Jane!” She tells him to wait for her, and immediately goes back to Thornfield to see him. There she discovers that Bertha set fire to the house. Edward got all the servants out, but saw Bertha up on the roof, and went to try to save her. Instead of go with Edward, she throws herself off the battlements, and dies. On his way down the great staircase, it collapses on top of Edward; he is blind and looses his left hand.

Scarred, bitter, and heartbroken, Edward lives a half life. Jane finds out where he is and goes to him. At first, Edward thinks he is either going mad, or dreaming, but when they touch each other and he holds her in his arms, he knows she is still living. Not wanting to let Jane go, now that he has her back in his life, he asks her to be his wife. She says yes. After 2 years of being married, the sight in one eye returns to him, and they even have a child together.

I LOVE this book, and I love this movie version as well. I applaud Jane in so many ways, that even after she discovers the truth that Edward has a wife, she doesn’t give into temptation, she doesn’t merely become his mistress, she leaves and ultimately is rewarded for doing the right thing.

There is also a Broadway Musical CD of Jane Eyre available. Yes, I have it too, and encourage you to take a listen, see if you can find it. The music is beautiful.