Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester

Charlotte Brontë's romantic heroine finds true love

by David Johnson

Charlotte Brontë's 1847 masterpiece, Jane Eyre, is perhaps the ultimate romantic novel. Jane Eyre was a plain, but intelligent orphan, living with unpleasant relatives. At 18 Jane accepted a teaching post at Thornfield Hall. She fell in love with her employer, Edward Rochester.

They agreed to be married. However, on their wedding day, Jane learned that Rochester had another wife, an insane woman kept closeted upstairs. Broken-hearted, Jane left the house.

Eventually, Jane inherited a fortune and decided to return to Thornfield. She discovered the house on fire. The mad Mrs. Rochester died in the conflagration and Jane happily married Rochester, who had gone blind in the fire.