Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a two-hour dramatic recreation of the literary classic by Charlotte Bronte. First published in 1847, this moving story of the improbable love between a young governess and her mysterious and tragic employer has endured as one of the best-loved novels in English literature.

Filmed entirely on location in England, the production brings the characters, plot, and scenery of Jane Eyre alive for devoted Bronte readers and for those who are unfamiliar with this great work.

Suitable curriculum links are Language Arts, literature, drama, English history, and women’s studies. Fit for eighth through twelfth grades.

Part 1

Vocabulary

• Hindustani
• akin
• asylum
• bedlam
• bigamy
• cadeau
• convention
• drawing room
• embittered
• impediment
• laudanum
• post
• pounds(currency)
• reciprocate
• shillings
• valet

Discussion Questions

1. In the opening scene, the orphaned Jane Eyre has been locked in a room for misbehaving by her aunt. Why is Jane so terrified? Have you ever been terrified by your imagination?
2. How does Jane respond to Mr. Brocklehurst’s questions when he first interviews her? What do we learn about Jane’s personality in this scene? How does her aunt, Mrs. Reed, react?
3. When Jane leaves for boarding school, she is excited about her “chance for happiness.”
4. What does she discover? Describe Lowood School. How do the teachers instruct their pupils? Why did they write on slates rather than paper? What happens when Jane accidentally breaks her slate?
5. How were deprivation and humiliation used by Mr. Brocklehurst ? How does Jane react to her punishment?
6. Charlotte Bronte’s older sisters both died of typhus while attending a boarding school in England, which Bronte would use as a model for the events at Lowood. Imagine losing your best friend and other classmates to an epidemic that raged through your school. How would you respond?
7. How does Jane’s life change when she accepts a job a Thornfield Hall? Compare the environment of Lowood School with the atmosphere at Thornfield.
8. Who is Mrs. Fairfax? Describe her position and responsibilities. How does she relate to Jane?
9. Charles Dickens was famous for using the weather to create atmosphere in his novels, such as Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. How does Charlotte Bronte use the weather and atmosphere to heighten the dramatic effect in Jane Eyre? Referring to the scene where Jane first encounters Mr. Rochester, use specific examples. Compare this scene to their later conversations in the firelit drawing room. How does the different atmosphere reinforce the events in each scene?
10. What does Jane mean when she says to Mr. Rochester, “You ask by way of command.”?
11. What does this say about Mr. Rochester? What does it say about Jane, as a governess and employee, that she would make this remark to her upper class employer?
12. After Jane saves Mr. Rochester’s life when his room is set on fire, their relationship changes. How does she feel about being in his room? Why does she hesitate to take his hand? Does that act have more symbolism than it would have for two modern people?
13. How does Jane feel the next morning when she hears he is visiting the Ingrahams?

Extended Activities

1. What themes in this book continue to have importance for readers today? In your opinion, why does <I>Jane Eyre</I> endure as a classic in literature, 150 years after it was first published?
2. Charlotte Bronte first published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym , “Currer Bell”. Why did she use that pseudonym? Explain her motivation to your class. What other famous authors have used pseudonyms?
3. Create a list of eight characters in Jane Eyre. Next to each name, write four or five adjectives that best describe this character. Be prepared to justify your analysis in class.
4. Look up the history of the word, “bedlam”, in a dictionary that provides information about the origin of words . What does it tell you about psychiatric hospitals ? Investigate the conditions of insane asylums in 19th century Britain and/or America. Present your findings in outline form to your class.
5. Jane Eyre is told in the voice of the main character. If another character was telling the story, how would the perspective change? Chose one scene from the program that you find particularly compelling, and describe it from another character’s point of view. For example, write a description of Jane’s and Mr. Rochester’s thwarted wedding ceremony from Adele’s point of view. Or pretend you are Mr. Mason and write about being attacked by your insane sister.
6. Why did Jane become a governess? Research what type of job opportunities or careers were available for young women like Jane Eyre in the mid-nineteenth century. Why were most professional careers not open to women? When did this change? Present your findings to the class, in the form of a chart or an essay.
7. Research the life of Charlotte Bronte. Create a timeline of her life on poster board and present it in class.

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre. (First published in 1847) Modern Library, 1997. Introduction by Diane Johnson.
• Daniel Pool, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. Simon and Schuster, NY, 1993. Provides historical background on the details of daily life in nineteenth-century England.
• The Brontes