, AUTHOR
This GCSE guide was written by Kerry Lewis, author of ‘Mr Bruff’s Guide to
Grammar’ and ‘Mr Bruff’s Guide to A’ Level English Literature’. Both books have
been number one on the Amazon secondary education best seller lists, and the
A’ level book has also been number one on Amazon’s curricula best seller list.
Kerry has been a member of the mrbruff.com team since May 2014. You can
follow her on Twitter @Mrs_SPaG.
The entire text is copyright © 2016 by Kerry Lewis. No part of this book may
be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted by either electronic means or in
printed format without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
DEDICATIONS
Kerry Lewis would like to thank Andrew Simmons for offering his expertise and
support with the final draft of this book. She would also like to thank Christina
Turner and Sylvie Bartlett-Rawlings for their help with the German and French
translations respectively; she has greatly appreciated their bilingual input.
Mr Bruff would like to thank Sunny Ratilal and Sam Perkins, who designed the
front cover of this eBook.
1 | Page
, INTRODUCTION
Charlotte Brontë was 31 years old when ‘Jane Eyre’ was published under the
male pseudonym of Currer Bell. It was one of the earliest novels written from
the perspective of a female, and it became an immediate best seller.
Why was it so popular? First of all, Jane is not the conventionally beautiful
heroine. Small, plain Jane is based on a real woman: Charlotte Brontë herself. In
a time when women were judged by their looks, many readers—at that time,
mainly women read novels—could relate to Jane. Some may also have identified
with the novel challenging contemporary beliefs about the role of women, who
were restricted by their gender. Of course, it is a wonderful love story, but
independently-minded Jane questions the role of a Victorian wife, who becomes
the legal property of her husband upon marriage. Defying the stereotype of the
passive female, Jane has the self-confidence to be guided by her own ideas
about what is right and wrong.
Nearly two hundred years later, readers are still swept into Jane’s narrative to
share her thoughts and feelings. We are intrigued by the strange laughter in
the dark of the night at Thornfield Hall; suspicious of the enigmatic Grace
Poole, suspected of setting fire to Mr Rochester’s bedclothes; and unnerved by
the ‘Vampyre’ attack on the mysterious Mr Mason. Finally, some of the
supernatural events turn out to be real, which makes it even more thrilling!
As well as containing lots of analysis of language and form, this GCSE revision
guide examines the structure of the novel in a completely new way—Freytag’s
Pyramid applied to each setting rather than the entire novel. An analysis of
context has been blended into themes, to reflect the marks available for
context in the GCSE specifications.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to his wide range of revision guides, Mr
Bruff has a flourishing YouTube channel with hundreds of videos focusing on
GCSE English language and English literature as well as the A’ levels in English
literature and language. His videos have been viewed over 9 million times across
198 nations—sample them on https://www.youtube.com/user/mrbruff. Mr Bruff
can be contacted at . We hope you find this revision guide
useful!
Kerry Lewis @Mrs_SPaG
2 | Page
, CONTENTS
The Author: Charlotte Brontë…………………………………………………………………………………………4
Significance of the Title……………………………………….………………………………………………….………8
Form and Genre……………………………….………………………………………………………………………………….9
Setting……………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………….……14
Structure…………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………..17
Gateshead (Chapters 1-4): Summaries and Structure……………………………………….…...19
Lowood (Chapters 5-10): Summaries and Structure ……………………………………………….21
Thornfield Hall (Chapters 11-27): Summaries and Structure ………………………………23
Moor House/Marsh End/Morton (Chapters 28-36): Summaries and Structure.31
Thornfield and Ferndean (Chapters 36-38): Summaries and Structure………….…35
Language………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………...36
Theme and Context: Social Class……………………………………………………………………………...…46
Theme and Context: Gender Roles and Relations………………………………………….……....…55
Theme and Context: Passion versus Restraint……………………………………….…………......…69
Theme and Context: The Supernatural…………………………………………………………………….…75
Theme and Context: Religion…………………………………………………………………………………………83
Theme and Context: The Family/Home…………………………………………………………………….…88
Theme and Context: Attitudes to Foreigners………………………………………………………..…92
Theme and Context: Education………………………………………………….……………………………….…95
Characters…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....98
Useful Quotations………………….…………………………….…………………………………………………....…106
Example GCSE Exam Responses…………………………………………………………………………….......112
3 | Page
This GCSE guide was written by Kerry Lewis, author of ‘Mr Bruff’s Guide to
Grammar’ and ‘Mr Bruff’s Guide to A’ Level English Literature’. Both books have
been number one on the Amazon secondary education best seller lists, and the
A’ level book has also been number one on Amazon’s curricula best seller list.
Kerry has been a member of the mrbruff.com team since May 2014. You can
follow her on Twitter @Mrs_SPaG.
The entire text is copyright © 2016 by Kerry Lewis. No part of this book may
be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted by either electronic means or in
printed format without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
DEDICATIONS
Kerry Lewis would like to thank Andrew Simmons for offering his expertise and
support with the final draft of this book. She would also like to thank Christina
Turner and Sylvie Bartlett-Rawlings for their help with the German and French
translations respectively; she has greatly appreciated their bilingual input.
Mr Bruff would like to thank Sunny Ratilal and Sam Perkins, who designed the
front cover of this eBook.
1 | Page
, INTRODUCTION
Charlotte Brontë was 31 years old when ‘Jane Eyre’ was published under the
male pseudonym of Currer Bell. It was one of the earliest novels written from
the perspective of a female, and it became an immediate best seller.
Why was it so popular? First of all, Jane is not the conventionally beautiful
heroine. Small, plain Jane is based on a real woman: Charlotte Brontë herself. In
a time when women were judged by their looks, many readers—at that time,
mainly women read novels—could relate to Jane. Some may also have identified
with the novel challenging contemporary beliefs about the role of women, who
were restricted by their gender. Of course, it is a wonderful love story, but
independently-minded Jane questions the role of a Victorian wife, who becomes
the legal property of her husband upon marriage. Defying the stereotype of the
passive female, Jane has the self-confidence to be guided by her own ideas
about what is right and wrong.
Nearly two hundred years later, readers are still swept into Jane’s narrative to
share her thoughts and feelings. We are intrigued by the strange laughter in
the dark of the night at Thornfield Hall; suspicious of the enigmatic Grace
Poole, suspected of setting fire to Mr Rochester’s bedclothes; and unnerved by
the ‘Vampyre’ attack on the mysterious Mr Mason. Finally, some of the
supernatural events turn out to be real, which makes it even more thrilling!
As well as containing lots of analysis of language and form, this GCSE revision
guide examines the structure of the novel in a completely new way—Freytag’s
Pyramid applied to each setting rather than the entire novel. An analysis of
context has been blended into themes, to reflect the marks available for
context in the GCSE specifications.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to his wide range of revision guides, Mr
Bruff has a flourishing YouTube channel with hundreds of videos focusing on
GCSE English language and English literature as well as the A’ levels in English
literature and language. His videos have been viewed over 9 million times across
198 nations—sample them on https://www.youtube.com/user/mrbruff. Mr Bruff
can be contacted at . We hope you find this revision guide
useful!
Kerry Lewis @Mrs_SPaG
2 | Page
, CONTENTS
The Author: Charlotte Brontë…………………………………………………………………………………………4
Significance of the Title……………………………………….………………………………………………….………8
Form and Genre……………………………….………………………………………………………………………………….9
Setting……………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………….……14
Structure…………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………..17
Gateshead (Chapters 1-4): Summaries and Structure……………………………………….…...19
Lowood (Chapters 5-10): Summaries and Structure ……………………………………………….21
Thornfield Hall (Chapters 11-27): Summaries and Structure ………………………………23
Moor House/Marsh End/Morton (Chapters 28-36): Summaries and Structure.31
Thornfield and Ferndean (Chapters 36-38): Summaries and Structure………….…35
Language………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………...36
Theme and Context: Social Class……………………………………………………………………………...…46
Theme and Context: Gender Roles and Relations………………………………………….……....…55
Theme and Context: Passion versus Restraint……………………………………….…………......…69
Theme and Context: The Supernatural…………………………………………………………………….…75
Theme and Context: Religion…………………………………………………………………………………………83
Theme and Context: The Family/Home…………………………………………………………………….…88
Theme and Context: Attitudes to Foreigners………………………………………………………..…92
Theme and Context: Education………………………………………………….……………………………….…95
Characters…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....98
Useful Quotations………………….…………………………….…………………………………………………....…106
Example GCSE Exam Responses…………………………………………………………………………….......112
3 | Page
