Disclaimer: This article includes spoilers for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 and remains a classic today. Referred to as a gothic bildungsroman romance, the book follows a young poor woman named Jane and her life: childhood, adolescence, and entry to adulthood. As readers, we accompany Jane on her journey through life, the lessons she learns, and the people she meets. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë gives us an inside look at what it was like to be a woman in the 1800s, through Jane’s life events and her self discovery.

A major part of the novel focuses on Jane's childhood. Her parents both died before she could remember and she was left in the custody of her uncle who then passed away. After her uncle's passing, Jane was left in the hands of her aunt Mrs. Reed and lived with her aunt, cousins, and servants. Her childhood had a big impact on how she views herself and acts as an adult. Mrs. Reed treated Jane like a burden and her cousins were less than kind to her. She was often cast aside and neglected in the Reed home. Jane labels herself as unloveable, claiming that nobody could ever love her due to the disposition and simplicity of her life. Her ideology is rooted in her childhood and how her aunt, cousins, and servants treated her as a child.

I enjoyed this deep dive into Jane's childhood. Throughout the book, I could connect her actions and mannerisms to events or habits in her upbringing. The inclusion of Jane's childhood allows us to see the development of Jane which completely makes the book. In my opinion, when it comes to development from her childhood to being an adult, Jane is a static character, she carries her childhood with her to adulthood. Jane continues to believe she is unlovable even after she has left Reed's house. If Charlotte Brontë had not included this section then we could not truly understand why Jane is the way she is.

Religion is an essential aspect of Jane's life and is a recurring topic. However, we are never given a deeper understanding of Jane's beliefs. When Mr. St John is asking Jane to go to India and marry him, this is when we see a peek into Jane's thoughts on religion. It shows she heavily believes in God and frequently lives her life by it. However, Jane states that what God would want her to do is marry Mr. St John and accompany him to India. Jane doesn't do that, she runs off to find Mr. Rochester. Constantly throughout the book religion is mentioned somehow, and Jane uses religious advice and knowledge to make life decisions. 

In contrast to Jane's staticness from childhood to adulthood, she does develop in a religious sense. After rejecting Mr. St John's offer, she has blatantly gone against God's word. Religion has dictated and been such an integral part of her life for a long time, often serving the happiness or needs of the people around her. At the end of the book, her choice to find Mr. Rochester shows religious defiance and development from her previous views and how she was brought up to believe and live by God. In the case of religion, towards the end of the book, Jane shows dynamic character qualities with a change in her morals from the book's beginning to the book's resolution.  

Charlotte Brontë's writing style was very pleasant to read. Compared to other classic literature books I've read, the language level was somewhere in between a Jane Austen novel and a Sylvia Plath book. Some references I didn’t understand and some I did, but overall her writing style was great. My favorite part of Brontë's writing is how Jane's thoughts are expressed—her writing doesn't contain much whimsy. It's very matter-of-fact and brutally honest. I love how Jane acts, she's extremely funny despite her lack of effort. 

One unique part Charlotte Brontë included in her writing was the fourth wall breaks. Jane commonly breaks the fourth wall and refers to the readers. I loved these sections, and when she refers to the readers it feels like an older Jane looking back at her life with wisdom and advice.  It adds a special and unique quality to the books, separating them from all conventional types of author's craft.

Overall, Jane Eyre was an amazing book and received 4.9/5 stars from me. Point one was deducted from the total because I struggled to get through the 200-400 page mark. I struggled due to the small lull in the middle of the book where most of it was Jane's day-to-day and lacked action. I loved this book so much and would recommend it to someone else. So yes, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is 100% worth the read.