Jane Eyre

In Our Time: Culture

BBC

History

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2015

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The story of Jane Eyre is one of the best-known in English fiction. Jane is the orphan who survives a miserable early life, first with her aunt at Gateshead Hall and then at Lowood School. She leaves the school for Thornfield Hall, to become governess to the French ward of Mr Rochester. She and Rochester fall in love but, at their wedding, it is revealed he is married already and his wife, insane, is kept in Thornfield's attic. When Jane Eyre was published in 1847, it was a great success and brought fame to Charlotte Bronte. Combined with Gothic mystery and horror, the book explores many themes, including the treatment of children, relations between men and women, religious faith and hypocrisy, individuality, morality, equality and the nature of true love.

With

Dinah Birch Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Liverpool

Karen O'Brien Vice Principal and Professor of English Literature at King's College London

And

Sara Lyons Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Kent

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time, for more details about in our time, and for our terms of use please go to BBC.co.uk.
0:08.0	Radio 4. I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.0	Hello, in 1847 Jane Aow was published with the author's name given as Curra Bell.
0:16.0	It was the work of Charlotte Bronte, written at the Hoeth Hauspausnage in Yorkshire,
0:21.0	and it brought her success at the fame that long outlived her short life.
0:24.9	It's the story of an orphan brought up by a cruel aunt and then sent to the harsh Lowwood school.
0:29.3	From there she becomes governors at Thornfield Hall for the ward of Mr Rochester and overcomes many obstacles in life and romance including the fact that he's still married to a woman he keeps hidden away.
0:43.0	Jane now quickly became one of the most popular works in English fiction and remains popular.
0:47.0	For this strength of the main character Jane and the tightly bound themes of personal freedom,
0:52.0	equality for women and the need for education and the
0:54.6	role of religion.
0:55.6	With me to discuss Jayna Burch, Professor of English Literature and Pro Vice Chancellor
1:01.1	for Research at the University of Liverpool, Karen O'Brien, Vice-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Liverpool,
1:03.6	Karen O'Brien, Vice Principal and Professor of English Literature at King's College London,
1:08.4	and Sarah Lyons lecturer in Victoria literature at the University of Kent.
1:12.6	Diana Birch, what do we need to understand about Charlotte Bronte's family
1:16.4	in her early life?
1:18.1	Well, she was born in Yorkshire, a Yorkshire woman in 1816. She was the third of six children born into a happy and
1:29.0	thriving family, remarkable parents. I think one thing we do need to know about is the extraordinary nature
1:36.3	and career of her father, Patrick Bronte, who was Irish, born as the son of a poor farmer in County Down, who had worked his way to success
1:48.8	and gentility as an Anglican clergyman through education. He had founded his own school at the age of 16,
1:58.0	which I do think is a very remarkable thing. How many 16 year olds do we know who could found their own school?
	...

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