Jane Eyre (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre", published in October 1847, was an immediate success, going into second and third printings by spring of 1848. Even Queen Victoria, according to her diary, read the story to Prince Albert until midnight. The tale of the "poor, obscure, plain, and little" governess, her brooding employer, Edward Rochester, and the madwoman secreted in the attic, "Jane Eyre" is considered a staple of Gothic and Victorian literature.

A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman’s quest for freedom. This updated edition features a new introduction discussing the novel’s political and magical dimensions. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor—qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved?