Jane Eyre: An Autobiography
By
Charlotte Bronte
Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by Students and Staff at the University of
Virginia, John O'Brien, Spencer Brown, Lizzie Rusnak
Currer"Currer Bell" is the pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte. Like her sisters Emily and Anne, Charlotte was aware that publishing under a woman's name might be viewed negatively by some contemporary readers, so she came up with an ambiguously-gendered pen name. Emily published as "Ellis Bell" and Anne published as "Acton Bell."
Our edition follows the first edition, published in 1847. Bronte published prefaces to the second and third editions, which we reprint here.
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION
A PREFACE to the first edition of Jane Eyre being unnecessary, I
gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of
acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark.
My thanks are due in three quarters.
To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain
tale with few pretensions.
To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened
to an obscure aspirant.
To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their
practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and
unrecommended Author.
The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and
I must thank them in vague terms; but my Publishers are definite: so
are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only
large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling
stranger; to them, i.e., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers,
I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart.
Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and
approved me, I turn to another class; a small one, so far as I know,
but not, therefore, to be overlooked. I mean the timorous or carping
few who doubt the tendency of such books as Jane Eyre: in whose eyes
whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears detect in each protest
against bigotry- that parent of crime- an insult to piety, that regent
of God on earth. I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious
distinctions; I would remind them of certain simple truths.
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not
religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck
the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand
to the Crown of Thorns.
These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as
distinct as is vice from virtue. Men too often confound them: they
should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth;
narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few,
should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ.
There is- I repeat it- a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad
action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between
them.
The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has
been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make
external show pass for sterling worth- to let white-washed walls vouch
for clean shrines. It may hate him who dares to scrutinise and expose-
to rase the gilding, and show base metal under it- to penetrate the
sepulchre, and reveal charnel relics: but hate as it will, it is
indebted to him.
Ahab did not like Micaiah, because he never prophesied good
concerning him, but evil; probably he liked the sycophant son of
Chenaanah better; yet might Ahab have escaped a bloody death, had he
but stopped his ears to flattery, and opened them to faithful counsel.
There is a man in our own days whose words are not framed to tickle
delicate ears: who, to my thinking, comes before the great ones of
society, much as the son of Imlah came before the throned Kings of
Judah and Israel; and who speaks truth as deep, with a power as
prophet-like and as vital- a mien as dauntless and as daring. Is the
satirist of Vanity Fair admired in high places? I cannot tell; but I
think if some of those amongst whom he hurls the Greek fire of his
sarcasm, and over whom he flashes the levin-brand of his denunciation,
were to take his warnings in time- they or their seed might yet escape
a fatal Ramoth-Gilead.
Why have I alluded to this man? I have alluded to him, Reader,
because I think I see in him an intellect profounder and more unique
than his contemporaries have yet recognised; because I regard him as
the first social regenerator of the day- as the very master of that
working corps who would restore to rectitude the warped system of
things; because I think no commentator on his writings has yet found
the comparison that suits him, the terms which rightly characterise
his talent. They say he is like Fielding: they talk of his wit,
humour, comic powers. He resembles Fielding as an eagle does a
vulture: Fielding could stoop on carrion, but Thackeray never does.
His wit is bright, his humour attractive, but both bear the same
relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent sheet-lightning
playing under the edge of the summer-cloud does to the electric
death-spark hid in its womb. Finally, I have alluded to Mr. Thackeray,
because to him- if he will accept the tribute of a total stranger- I
have dedicated this second edition of Jane Eyre.
CURRER BELL.
December 21st, 1847.
THE AUTHOR'S NOTE
TO THE THIRD EDITION
I AVAIL myself of the opportunity which a third edition of Jane
Eyre affords me, of again addressing a word to the Public, to
explain that my claim to the title of novelist rests on this one
work alone. If, therefore, the authorship of other works of fiction
has been attributed to me, an honour is awarded where it is not
merited; and consequently, denied where it is justly due.
This explanation will serve to rectify mistakes which may already
have been made, and to prevent future errors.
CURRER BELL.
April 13th, 1848.
Audio1
Librivox recording of Chapter One, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio2
Librivox recording of Chapter Two, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio3
Librivox recording of Chapter Three, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio4
Librivox recording of Chapter Four, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio5
Librivox recording of Chapter Five, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio6
Librivox recording of Chapter Six, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio7
Librivox recording of Chapter Seven, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio8
Librivox recording of Chapter Eight, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio9
Librivox recording of Chapter Nine, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio10
Librivox recording of Chapter Ten, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio11
Librivox recording of Chapter Eleven, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio12
Librivox recording of Chapter Twelve, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio13
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio14
Librivox recording of Chapter Fourteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio15
Librivox recording of Chapter Fifteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio16
Librivox recording of Chapter Sixteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio17
Librivox recording of Chapter Seventeen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio18
Librivox recording of Chapter Eighteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio19
Librivox recording of Chapter Nineteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio20
Librivox recording of Chapter Sixteen, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio21
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty One, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio22
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Two, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio23
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Three, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio24
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Four, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio25
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Five, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio26
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Six, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio27
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Seven, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio28
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Eight, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio29
Librivox recording of Chapter Twenty Nine, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio30
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio31
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty One, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio32
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Two, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio33
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Three, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio34
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Four, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio35
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Five, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio36
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Six, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio37
Librivox recording of Chapter Thirty Seven, read by Elizabeth Klett.Audio38
Librivox recording of Chapter TThirty Eight, read by Elizabeth Klett.
Title Page
JANE EYRE.
An Autobiography.
EDITED BY
CURRER BELL.CurrerCurrer"Currer Bell" is the pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte. Like her sisters Emily and Anne, Charlotte was aware that publishing under a woman's name might be viewed negatively by some contemporary readers, so she came up with an ambiguously-gendered pen name. Emily published as "Ellis Bell" and Anne published as "Acton Bell." Our edition follows the first edition, published in 1847. Bronte published prefaces to the second and third editions, which we reprint here. THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION A PREFACE to the first edition of Jane Eyre being unnecessary, I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark. My thanks are due in three quarters. To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions. To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure aspirant. To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author. The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and I must thank them in vague terms; but my Publishers are definite: so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling stranger; to them, i.e., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers, I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart. Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me, I turn to another class; a small one, so far as I know, but not, therefore, to be overlooked. I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as Jane Eyre: in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry- that parent of crime- an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth. I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions; I would remind them of certain simple truths. Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as is vice from virtue. Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. There is- I repeat it- a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between them. The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth- to let white-washed walls vouch for clean shrines. It may hate him who dares to scrutinise and expose- to rase the gilding, and show base metal under it- to penetrate the sepulchre, and reveal charnel relics: but hate as it will, it is indebted to him. Ahab did not like Micaiah, because he never prophesied good concerning him, but evil; probably he liked the sycophant son of Chenaanah better; yet might Ahab have escaped a bloody death, had he but stopped his ears to flattery, and opened them to faithful counsel. There is a man in our own days whose words are not framed to tickle delicate ears: who, to my thinking, comes before the great ones of society, much as the son of Imlah came before the throned Kings of Judah and Israel; and who speaks truth as deep, with a power as prophet-like and as vital- a mien as dauntless and as daring. Is the satirist of Vanity Fair admired in high places? I cannot tell; but I think if some of those amongst whom he hurls the Greek fire of his sarcasm, and over whom he flashes the levin-brand of his denunciation, were to take his warnings in time- they or their seed might yet escape a fatal Ramoth-Gilead. Why have I alluded to this man? I have alluded to him, Reader, because I think I see in him an intellect profounder and more unique than his contemporaries have yet recognised; because I regard him as the first social regenerator of the day- as the very master of that working corps who would restore to rectitude the warped system of things; because I think no commentator on his writings has yet found the comparison that suits him, the terms which rightly characterise his talent. They say he is like Fielding: they talk of his wit, humour, comic powers. He resembles Fielding as an eagle does a vulture: Fielding could stoop on carrion, but Thackeray never does. His wit is bright, his humour attractive, but both bear the same relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent sheet-lightning playing under the edge of the summer-cloud does to the electric death-spark hid in its womb. Finally, I have alluded to Mr. Thackeray, because to him- if he will accept the tribute of a total stranger- I have dedicated this second edition of Jane Eyre. CURRER BELL. December 21st, 1847. THE AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION I AVAIL myself of the opportunity which a third edition of Jane Eyre affords me, of again addressing a word to the Public, to explain that my claim to the title of novelist rests on this one work alone. If, therefore, the authorship of other works of fiction has been attributed to me, an honour is awarded where it is not merited; and consequently, denied where it is justly due. This explanation will serve to rectify mistakes which may already have been made, and to prevent future errors. CURRER BELL. April 13th, 1848.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER, AND CO. CORNHILL
1847.
An Autobiography.
EDITED BY
CURRER BELL.CurrerCurrer"Currer Bell" is the pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte. Like her sisters Emily and Anne, Charlotte was aware that publishing under a woman's name might be viewed negatively by some contemporary readers, so she came up with an ambiguously-gendered pen name. Emily published as "Ellis Bell" and Anne published as "Acton Bell." Our edition follows the first edition, published in 1847. Bronte published prefaces to the second and third editions, which we reprint here. THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION A PREFACE to the first edition of Jane Eyre being unnecessary, I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark. My thanks are due in three quarters. To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions. To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure aspirant. To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author. The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and I must thank them in vague terms; but my Publishers are definite: so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling stranger; to them, i.e., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers, I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart. Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me, I turn to another class; a small one, so far as I know, but not, therefore, to be overlooked. I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as Jane Eyre: in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry- that parent of crime- an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth. I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions; I would remind them of certain simple truths. Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as is vice from virtue. Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. There is- I repeat it- a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between them. The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth- to let white-washed walls vouch for clean shrines. It may hate him who dares to scrutinise and expose- to rase the gilding, and show base metal under it- to penetrate the sepulchre, and reveal charnel relics: but hate as it will, it is indebted to him. Ahab did not like Micaiah, because he never prophesied good concerning him, but evil; probably he liked the sycophant son of Chenaanah better; yet might Ahab have escaped a bloody death, had he but stopped his ears to flattery, and opened them to faithful counsel. There is a man in our own days whose words are not framed to tickle delicate ears: who, to my thinking, comes before the great ones of society, much as the son of Imlah came before the throned Kings of Judah and Israel; and who speaks truth as deep, with a power as prophet-like and as vital- a mien as dauntless and as daring. Is the satirist of Vanity Fair admired in high places? I cannot tell; but I think if some of those amongst whom he hurls the Greek fire of his sarcasm, and over whom he flashes the levin-brand of his denunciation, were to take his warnings in time- they or their seed might yet escape a fatal Ramoth-Gilead. Why have I alluded to this man? I have alluded to him, Reader, because I think I see in him an intellect profounder and more unique than his contemporaries have yet recognised; because I regard him as the first social regenerator of the day- as the very master of that working corps who would restore to rectitude the warped system of things; because I think no commentator on his writings has yet found the comparison that suits him, the terms which rightly characterise his talent. They say he is like Fielding: they talk of his wit, humour, comic powers. He resembles Fielding as an eagle does a vulture: Fielding could stoop on carrion, but Thackeray never does. His wit is bright, his humour attractive, but both bear the same relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent sheet-lightning playing under the edge of the summer-cloud does to the electric death-spark hid in its womb. Finally, I have alluded to Mr. Thackeray, because to him- if he will accept the tribute of a total stranger- I have dedicated this second edition of Jane Eyre. CURRER BELL. December 21st, 1847. THE AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION I AVAIL myself of the opportunity which a third edition of Jane Eyre affords me, of again addressing a word to the Public, to explain that my claim to the title of novelist rests on this one work alone. If, therefore, the authorship of other works of fiction has been attributed to me, an honour is awarded where it is not merited; and consequently, denied where it is justly due. This explanation will serve to rectify mistakes which may already have been made, and to prevent future errors. CURRER BELL. April 13th, 1848.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER, AND CO. CORNHILL
1847.
Page Title Page