Waylaid on the Road to Riches

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brönte, tells the story of . . . well, Jane Eyre, a neglected orphan who suffers the vicissitudes of delightfully vicious relatives, a horrific boarding school, the inconvience of absolute penury and dependence, and the relative discomfort of being, as she puts it, "little and plain."

Emerging surpisingly emotionally intact from these various trials, Jane accepts a position as a governess in a lonely, foreboding great English household. Eventually, she falls in love with Rochester, her master, who is big, scary, snotty, and was played quite nicely by Orson Welles in the black-and-white movie version. (As an interesting side note, Timothy Dalton--believe it or not--gives a very satisfactory performance in the role as well, although he is really much too slight and pretty to be the 'ideal' Rochester.)

I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say that the meek triumph, true-love overcomes obstacles, and big scary (sexy) men are tamed. I can feel my bodice ripping even as we speak. Jane Eyre gives you a little of everything you come to Victorian novels for: intrigue, romance, wind-swept moors, references to exotic travels, superstitions and ghostly apparitions, and deeply repressed sexual desire. Elements of the plot show up regularly on modern day soap operas.

To learn more about Charlotte Brönte, Jane Eyre, and everything else you ever wanted to know about the Victorian novel, check out the fabulous Victorian Web.

And be on the lookout for Jane Eyre, The Musical, directed by John Caird, who brought you the 19th c. French pot-boiler, Les Miserables.

Finally, one web-head has felt the need to recast Brönte's classic tale as Jane Eyre Gerbil.