"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones."
This quote comes from the bold voice of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, one the greatest and most celebrated literary heroes of all time. First published in 1847, Jane Eyre follows the turbulent and tedious journey of an English girl. An orphan before the age of ten, Jane resides with her wealthy, hateful aunt, Mrs. Reed. Before her husband died, Reed promised that all responsibility for the young Jane Eyre would be accounted for. Life with the Reed family however, proved to be a terrible environment for someone born of a lower social class to live in. Everyone safe a sympathetic housemaid named Bessie treated Jane with the utmost discontent. It isn't until respected entrepreneur Mr. Brocklehurst sends a carriage for her that Jane leaves Gateshead far behind to obtain an education and an appropriate sense of discipline. Eight years of life at Lowood, a meager school for orphaned girls, leaves Jane eager to find a new home and a new set of objectives to handle. This impulse takes her to Thornfield Hall where a position as governess is available. From here, Jane meets her benefactor, Edward Rochester and lives under his shadow as mentor and teacher of his illegitimate daughter Adéle. This first part of the novel reveals Jan Eyre as a woman forced to endure a life no one would envy and only she could persevere. A coming of age story from far in the past, Jane Eyre can bring strength to any lonely struggler at any time.
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