Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

Stevie Davies (Editor), Michael Mason (Introduction), and Coralie Bickford-Smith (Illustrator)

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Charlotte Brontë's first published novel, Jane Eyre was immediately recognised as a work of genius when it appeared in 1847. Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. How she takes up the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, meets and loves Mr Rochester and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage are elements in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than that traditionally accorded to her sex in Victorian society.

• ISBN10: 0141040386
• ISBN13: 9780141040387
• Publish Date: 27 October 2009 (first published 16 October 1847)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 26 April 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Penguin Classics
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 624
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780141040387

Reviews

[Steph L]

Overview

I knew Jane Eyre when I started this novel. I enjoy the story, and I call it one of my favorites. This was the second Magna Classics I've read. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I would not rate it five stars.



Plot



The plot remains the same, with some beats of the original novel getting more, and some getting less time depending on importance, I think we could have used more time getting to know Jane as a child, and seeing her interact with the family she stayed with. Those characters are an important part of the plot, and I feel that this Manga just rushed past these interactions. We could have seen more development between Jane and Mr. Rochester as well. We see the start of a relationship, and they get married. Suddenly Jane leaves, and it leaves you wondering if she will come back if you don't know the story. What I think could have been less was Jane and her cousins later in the book. I understand why the authors made that choice; I feel it would have been a better emotional beat if this was shorter. What I loved was the courtroom scene and the scene with Mr. Rochester's wife.



Characters



The characters in this book remained true to who they were as people. I really enjoyed reading about them and they were brought to life because of the art. They were not changed much from the original novel, and they still had the essence of the original novel. The writer used what they saw in the characters in drawing from that. When you adapt a book, this is something I look for. The characters still have their difficulties, much like in the original novel.



Writing



The writing in this book was excellent. This is a more modern language than the original book, but most of the story remains the same. Even with the more modern language for the writing, you still get the points of what Jane Eyre is about, and this writing makes it easier to understand the story. I enjoyed this book, and the writing was one thing that I loved the most.



Art



The art was fantastic, and it brought the story to life. I enjoyed the designs, and how each character looked different from the others. The art style was cute and really worked for each of the characters for me.

[kalventure]

Still perfect. One of these days I will get around to writing a review.

Buddy read with Melanie 💕

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Manga Classics: Jane Eyre from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I finally read Jane Eyre for the first time this year, so it only seemed natural for me to move forward and read the Manga adaptation as well, while it was fresh in my mind. Needless to say, I loved it! Stacy King and Crystal S. Chan are incredibly talented when it comes to adapting and condensing a classic into a manga version of itself. While I can see the changes they made (it is a requirement when it comes to this sort of adaptation), I don’t feel like there was any loss to the heart or intent of the story, and I found myself enjoying it very much.
In many ways Jane Eyre really lends well to an adaptation of this form. It is a beautiful yet sad (at times) story about a young girl who’s had a rough start in life, yet despite that she never loses her hope or determination. Adding visuals to a story like this really does enhance the experience, and increase the reader’s concern for the characters introduced. The beautiful and intricate artwork did a wonderful job of setting the scene, as well as making the characters come to life.
I truly love the concept of Manga Classics. Not only do they present us with striking final products, but they make them more approachable to a broader audience. I feel like if I had been offered to read a manga version of Jane Eyre when I was younger I would have been more likely to actually have read it at the time; and I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels that way. I can’t wait to see what Manga Classics will be adapting next!

For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Rinn]

A book that I enjoyed when I had to read it at school has now, on reading it seven years later, become one of my favourites. A gorgeous story :)

[sarahjay]

What an amazing book. I'm so happy I finally read it.

Re-read 10/31. I still love it. And the Thandie Newton audiobook is fantastic.

[jnkay01]

It gets better - and more rage-filled and relatable - each time I read it.

[celinenyx]

Jane Eyre starts with Jane's terrible childhood and the awful conditions she faces at school, until she becomes a governess. Though I'm nothing like her at all, I like Jane. She doesn't mind following the path others lay down for her, but when that path goes against her principles, she takes a strong stance. The religious overtones were a bit too much for me at times, but I love how heartfelt Jane's thoughts were. Great novel.

[Berls]

This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.

I think there's always a little trepidation when you embark for the first time on a book that you loved as a child. Will it live up to the memory? Were your childhood sensibilities fine tuned enough to know if you were reading absolute crap?

When I started rereading Jane Eyre, I only had a smidgen of those fears though. I mean it is a classic for a reason, right? And I had just finished reading Becoming Jane Eyre and it had excited in me an urge to revisit Jane and Mr. Rochester. So I went to Librivox to see if I could find a good, free audio version for my reread.

I struck gold! They had many recordings and one just so happened to be a dramatic performance with a different voice for every single character! The reading of the cast took a good two or three minutes (which I fast forwarded of course lol). The narrator's voice (Eden Rea-Hedrick) and the voice of Jane Eyre (Elizabeth Barr) were fantastic! Since that's the voice I heard most, its the one most worth mentioning - but everyone was really good. There were brief moments where the audio itself wasn't great - you could tell they had patched it and not everyone had equally good microphones. But this was the minority of the time - and really, how can I complain when this was a free dramatic performance?

The audio was not the only treat, though. Last time I read Jane Eyre, I was 14. I remember that I devoured it, reading it in one night. I grew a bit tired toward the end, and I remember that bit not being my favorite. But oh, how I loved Jane and Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester!

As an adult, I marvel at Jane Eyre, or Charlotte Brontë really. I see much more clearly now why this was so well received and why it remains a classic. The sophistication with which Charlotte Brontë weaves scriptural allusions, references to other great pieces of literature, social commentary, political commentary, and even religious commentary blows my mind. Now that I understand the England she wrote in, I realize Charlotte was a very educated, socially aware and opinionated woman - and tenacious enough to write her views into a novel, even if she did hide behind a pen name for a while.

Adding to that, the insights into her life that I gleamed from reading Becoming Jane Eyre, made reading Jane Eyre so exciting. I was reminded at every turn of things in her life and saw how they influenced and inspired the story she wrote.

If you haven't read it yet, I seriously recommend Jane Eyre. It's the story of a plane Jane orphan with a very difficult life, searching for her place in the world and love - familial love, friendly love and even romantic love eventually. What's not to love?

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

When Jane Eyre was originally published, it was called Jane Eyre: An Autobiography edited by Currer Bell (Charlotte Brontë’s pen-name), which in itself is a fascinating insight into this classic novel. The idea Charlotte Brontë wanted this to be viewed as an autobiography implies this is more of a social commentary more than a classic gothic novel. This is what I want to focus my review on; what did she want to say about the world when she wrote this book?

Most people know the plot of Jane Eyre, so we can skip that and go right into the analysis. Bildungsroman is the primary genre of Jane Eyre, which is basically a coming of age story that documents the psychological and moral growth of its protagonist, which is interesting because on the surface there doesn’t seem to be much growth for Jane Eyre. Apart from the class struggle; Jane Eyre was an educated orphan who always believed she was low class. She constantly discriminates against herself about her class and this ultimately allows Mr Rochester to be the dominating force he is in their relationship. However it isn’t until Jane has money and returns to find Rochester blind and cripple, that she agree to marry him; what does that say about the social balance?

Though there is a whole idea of independence that plays out within this novel as well. I never thought that Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester had any chemistry and the first proposal was forced upon her. Thankfully it was revealed that Rochester was already married and Jane got out of the position she was in. She had to learn independence and the ability to make decisions for herself. This was tested when St. John (which I discovered is meant to be pronounced together like sin-jun) asked her to marry him.

There is a strong sense of religious morality at the core of Jane Eyre, just look at when St. John proposed to Jane Eyre, it allowed her to played with the idea of a moral decision. There is also an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness that comes into play in this scene. Jane sees John as a brother but he tries to pressure her by implying that it is her Christian duty to marry him and work as a missionary in India. Her refusal to marry him but still travel to India as a missionary was met with disdain. John tries to emotionally blackmail her into marriage using God’s will as ammunition, even though there is no love and would only be a marriage of convenience.

I know I may have asked a few too many questions in this review, but there are some interesting thoughts to be had about Jane Eyre. I am not going to go into how Mr Rochester is the Byronic hero, the gothic themes, or how people should view this book as a Romantic novel and not a romantic book. Personally I think there are interesting elements within this classic book but Charlotte Brontë is my least favourite of all the Brontë sisters. This is the first time reading Jane Eyre and I might read it again at some point; but I hope I offered some interesting insights into the book.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2015/01/03/jane-eyre-by-charlotte-bronte/

[nitzan_schwarz]

One of my all times' favorites, I've read this book in about every edition available in my language and at least two other editions in English. And I've read each edition too many times to count...