Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë was written in 1847 and still stands as one of the most iconic female novels of all time. Brontë is one of three sisters, Anna and Emily, who are still well respected in the literary world. Although Jane Eyre takes the cake as one of her most iconic works, she also published a plethora of novels, like Villette and The Professor. Brontë’s work, although generated particularly in the 1800s, provides an interesting perspective of female social position that makes the reading all the more interesting in 2020, considering we have seen passage of the 19th Amendment, The Me Too Movement, etc. The expectations for females over the centuries have clearly changed, as women continually push the boundaries of equality to show that they deserve to be treated at the same standard as men. Over time, the ideals of female education and marriage have shifted, so much so that women can run their own businesses or make almost equal pay to men, while remaining single, without any dependency on a man. Jane Eyre shows just how unheard of this was for women in the past and makes us realize how far we have come today. It also addresses relevant issues like mental health, which have been drastically influenced by COVID-19 this past year.

Brontë’s novel follows the journey of a young girl named Jane Eyre as she finds herself bouncing from job to job, while at the mercy of men and their great power in society. Jane grows up without her parents and lives in a less than nurturing environment, without any connections to her biological family. She is sent away to a school for girls, The Lowood School, where she receives a good education and eventually becomes a school mistress there, as they would say at the time. Jane eventually applies for a new job and becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall for a young girl, named Adele. The master of Thornfield, Mr. Rochester, is a modest looking man, who Jane considers not very attractive, yet as her time there passes, she is thrown for so many loops that she begins to lose track of who she is and what she believes. Jane is often mesmerized by Rochester, for his grandiose social status and lifestyle, so much so she feels inferior and dependent on him. The greater their bond grows, readers can see Jane relinquish some of her desires to appease him. It made me shake the book and yell, “Jane what are you doing???” Trust me when I say that this is not the first man who tries to capitalize on the socially ingrained idea that women were supposed to do as the man saw fit.

Brontë’s writing is beautiful and not too artistically inclined that it is difficult to follow. She drags you into an alternate universe that seems so outdated to us today. I know when I saw the phrase, “556 pages,” I thought “oof,” but it did not feel long at all. Brontë does not harp on any one scene for too long, and continuously keeps the plot ever evolving. There is truly no room for comfort because Brontë keeps Jane on her toes. Let’s just say that the minute I thought things were going well, I was surprised yet again. Before beginning this novel I sat back and thought, why would I want to read the life story of a young girl in the 1800s? That sounds so boring.

I was wrong. 

This is by no means some dry tale that takes readers through the milestones of a girl's life: school, work, marriage, family, the end. Rather it is a whirlwind of highs and lows, hope and betrayal. The modern age of writers can learn a lot from Brontë’s work, because although it has been over 150 years, people still read Jane Eyre and consider it one of the greatest novels of all time.

I don’t want to spoil too much, but I don’t even think that is possible because of how many twists and turns Brontë takes readers through on this roller coaster. Just try to remember that you should always be prepared to have the rug pulled out from under you.

Imagine, having a wealthy man, who you feel a deep connection to, ask you to marry him, but just a short time after discovering that he has subjected a woman close to his heart, Bertha, to a life of suffering, so that he can move on with his future. Out of sight, out of mind right?

Now, in Jane’s position, this is quite a shock that changes not only the way readers may feel about Rochester, but the way that Jane does as well (at least for a little while). She had been milling about his great hall, thinking Rochester was a seemingly normal man who had everything. It must have been a kick in the gut to find out he could do something so horrible to a woman he “loved,” when he also claimed to love you. Talk about a mental health trip. At this point in time women were deemed so inferior to men that Rochester felt he had a right to do this to both Bertha and Jane. This betrayal broke my heart for both women.

Jane spends a great deal of the novel dealing with her conflicting feelings for Rochester and the reality of what he has done. We see her constantly torn between a new life and the one she had grown so attached to at Thornfield. Talk about a socially ingrained ideal of needing a man, because even with the knowledge that Rochester was capable of such a heinous act, she just can’t help but want to be with him. A large part of this novel is unpacking Jane’s mental processes and trying to understand the relationships that she develops along her journey. I recommend this novel for those who like to submerge themselves in the mindset of the protagonist. I could practically feel her mental suffering.

Speaking of poor, innocent people, we are currently in the middle of the relentless COVID-19 pandemic. Come March, it will be going on a year that people have been afraid to leave their homes and are living their lives according to numerous restrictions, such as wearing a mask or quarantining. For over a month, people were told to stay home in order to protect everyone from incidental spread. Looking back on this time of isolation and uncertainty, I can’t help but raise one question and that is that maybe we are all suffering like Bertha during this pandemic? After all we are all locked away from the outside world and everything we once knew.

It is a known fact that suicide and mental suffering rates have increased recently due to the demand for isolation if you have been exposed. In Jane Eyre, readers come to find out that Bertha is mentally ill (sorry, I don’t want to give too much away), just like so many individuals are today. With limited social interaction and the inability to go out to dinner, see friends, or even do your job as you normally would, people feel uneasy. Bertha had limited access to society, with only the presence of Grace Poole to keep her company, just as we were all restricted in our homes, only able to physically interact with our immediate families. The Center for Disease Control has conducted studies of individuals during this last year in order to gather data about recent increases in mental illness, suicide, and substance abuse (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm). As of late June 2020, even though the main part of quarantine has come to an end, 31% of Americans admitted to struggling with anxiety or depression. Not only this, but 13% stated they have experienced an increase in substance abuse, while 11% said they genuinely contemplated suicide. These increases were ultimately brought on particularly by social and economic stress in everyday life and these stressors proved to be so influential that the rates of suicide were the highest they have been since World War II.

You see, it is important we call awareness to this problem because of how prevalent it has become. This is our new norm and who knows if it is ever going to be “normal” again. People are afraid, institutions of higher learning have changed their ways, jobs are shifting more remotely, and many individuals don’t feel comfortable outside without a face mask on. This situation is certainly not what anyone has been used to, but it is important that we take steps to try and improve the situation. When I read Jane Eyre, there were so many places where I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the characters, yet Bertha particularly pulled at my heart strings. Maybe that is just because so many of us feel like her, given the pandemic. It is important that we provide everyone with mental support systems whenever possible because that can make all the difference. Rochester abandoned Bertha and left her to struggle with her problems, which did not end in rainbows and sunshine. She didn’t have the resources to help herself because a man took the opportunity away from her, but that is not the case today. There are so many online platforms, like the suicide hotline for instance (800-273-8255), that can help people overcome this monumental road block in our lives.

Reading this book now, I can’t help but feel sympathy for what Bertha had to endure. Although it was a different time, there were many ways that could have been handled differently, more humanely. Maybe that is my own personal bias, given the current times and the unyielding emphasis on proper mental health treatment, but this novel calls attention to the fact that it always needs to be treated appropriately. Rochester, although he was definitely not thinking clearly about the repercussions of his actions, worsened the effects of Bertha’s mental illness to the point that she “lost her mind” as some may say. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but you will just have to read to find out. Not only is it dangerous to try and push someone’s mental illness to the wayside, but it is completely irresponsible. In all honesty, it makes it better this novel was published in the nineteenth century because there is at least the excuse of strict marriage expectations and lack of belief in mental illness. Something like this, presented in this day and age is catastrophic and unbelievable. It is an event that would make the front page of the New York Post within hours. Clearly, ideals and the ways that we look at things have changed over the centuries, but one thing that has become stronger than ever is the idea that we need to support the mentally ill, who struggle with anxiety, depression, etc. Given, COVID-19, people clearly needed to be locked inside, but in the meantime their struggles cannot be ignored. Out of sight, out of mind, does not apply because we may regret not helping when we had the chance.

I encourage you, if you are reading this, to give Jane Eyre a chance. I can genuinely say that it made me proud to see how much progress women have made in their fight for equality over the years, but it also felt applicable to what so many people, man or woman, are going through now. We are all trapped and may be struggling, just as Bertha was. Sadly, she didn’t have anything to distract herself, but individuals today do. This novel transported me into another world and made me forget about everything I had been going through. I hope you will give it a chance, like I did because I now consider it one of my favorite novels. After all, it has been around for over one hundred years.