Jane Eyre Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Jane Eyre follows an orphan girl who grows from a mistreated child into a fiercely independent young woman. Working as a governess, she falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester, but on their wedding day she discovers a secret that forces her to choose between love and her self-respect.
Jane tells her own story, looking back as an adult.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Jane Eyre | Narrator, an orphan who becomes a governess |
| Mrs. Reed | Jane's cruel aunt by marriage |
| Helen Burns | Jane's patient friend at Lowood |
| Edward Rochester | Brooding master of Thornfield Hall |
| Adèle Varens | Rochester's French ward, Jane's pupil |
| Bertha Mason | Woman hidden in the attic |
| St. John Rivers | Stern young man who takes Jane in |
| Diana and Mary Rivers | His kind sisters |
What is Jane's childhood like?
Ten-year-old Jane lives with her aunt Mrs. Reed at Gateshead, where she is bullied by her cousin John and locked as punishment in the red room where her uncle died. Terrified, she faints. She is sent away to Lowood, a harsh charity school run by the cold, mean Mr. Brocklehurst.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens at Lowood?
At Lowood Jane befriends Helen Burns, who endures injustice with calm patience, and the kind teacher Miss Temple. A typhus epidemic sweeps the school, and Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Conditions improve afterward, and Jane stays eight more years, six as a pupil and two as a teacher.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens at Thornfield?
At eighteen Jane becomes governess to Adèle at Thornfield Hall. Its master, Mr. Rochester, is moody, blunt and intrigued by her. Strange things happen: eerie laughter, a fire in Rochester's bed that Jane puts out, and a visitor, Mr. Mason, who is wounded in the night. Rochester blames the servant Grace Poole. He courts the glamorous Blanche Ingram to make Jane jealous, then proposes to Jane, who joyfully accepts.
↑ Back to the topWhat is Rochester's secret?
During the wedding ceremony, a lawyer announces that Rochester is already married. Rochester admits it and takes everyone to the attic, where his wife, Bertha Mason, lives under Grace Poole's care, suffering from severe mental illness. He was tricked into the marriage in Jamaica years ago. He begs Jane to go abroad with him, but she will not become his mistress, and she leaves Thornfield in the night with almost nothing.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens after she leaves?
Penniless and starving, Jane collapses at the door of Moor House and is taken in by St. John Rivers and his sisters. She teaches at a village school. She learns that she has inherited a fortune from an uncle and that the Rivers siblings are her cousins; she shares the money with them. St. John asks her to marry him and go with him to India, not out of love but duty. On the point of agreeing, Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her name across the miles.
↑ Back to the topHow does Jane Eyre end?
Jane returns to find Thornfield a burned ruin. Bertha set it on fire and died, and Rochester, trying to save her, lost one hand and his sight. Jane finds him at his isolated house, Ferndean, and they marry. Ten years later she writes that they are deeply happy; Rochester has regained some sight in one eye, enough to see their first son. The book ends with a letter from St. John, working in India.
↑ Back to the topMore about Jane Eyre
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.