A classic coming of age story, "Jane Eyre" is the tale of its title character, a poor orphaned girl who comes to live with her aunt at Gateshead Hall. While there she endures great emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her aunt and cousins. Jane subsequently ships off to Lowood, a Christian boarding school for poor and orphaned girls. The conditions at the school are quite brutal. The students are subjected to cold lodgings, poor food, inadequate clothing, and the harsh rule of the administrator, Mr. Brocklehurst. The maltreatment of the students is eventually discovered and after some changes life becomes more bearable. She eventually finishes her coursework and spends a period of time as a teacher at the school. After leaving Lowood she gains a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall working for Edward Rochester, a man whom she will eventually fall in love with. "Jane Eyre" is the story of one woman's struggle to overcome adversity. The novel was revolutionary in its day for its examination of the internal conflict of its protagonist and for the way in which it addressed the themes of class, sexuality, and religion in the mid 19th century. This edition includes an introduction by Mary Augusta Ward and a biographical afterword.
