Jane Eyre

Meet the voices

• Narrator · 旁白 — Tells Charlotte Brontë's story of Jane Eyre, starting on a wet November afternoon when no one can go for a walk.
• Young Jane · 简 — Jane at ten, a poor orphan living in her aunt's house at Gateshead, who will not let herself be bullied.
• Jane Eyre · 简·爱 — Jane at eighteen, a plain, honest orphan who leaves Lowood to be a governess at Thornfield Hall.
• Mr. Rochester · 罗切斯特先生 — The master of Thornfield Hall, a gruff, moody man of nearly forty who is rarely at home.
• Mrs. Reed · 里德太太 — Jane's aunt by marriage, a cold, rich widow who keeps her own three children close and shuts Jane out.
• Bessie · 贝西 — The Reeds' young nursemaid, quick-tempered but the only one at Gateshead who is kind to Jane.
• John Reed · 约翰·里德 — Mrs. Reed's spoiled son, fourteen, who bullies Jane.
• Mr. Lloyd · 劳埃德先生 — The kind apothecary who is called to see Jane after the red room.
• Mr. Brocklehurst · 布罗克赫斯特先生 — The grim clergyman who runs Lowood, a cold charity school for girls.
• Miss Temple · 坦普尔小姐 — The kind, fair head of Lowood school.
• Helen Burns · 海伦·彭斯 — An older girl at Lowood, patient and clever, who becomes Jane's first friend.
• Miss Scatcherd · 斯卡查德小姐 — A harsh teacher at Lowood.
• Mrs. Fairfax · 费尔法克斯太太 — The kind, chatty old housekeeper at Thornfield Hall.
• Adele · 阿黛尔 — Mr. Rochester's ward, a lively little French girl of eight who loves pretty dresses.
• Grace Poole · 格蕾丝·普尔 — A plain, silent servant who works on the third floor at Thornfield Hall.
• Bertha Mason · 伯莎·梅森 — A tall, large woman with long, thick dark hair.
• Pilot · 派洛特 — Mr. Rochester's big black-and-white dog.
• Blanche Ingram · 布兰奇·英格拉姆 — A proud, beautiful lady of twenty-five who comes to Thornfield Hall as a guest.
• Mr. Mason · 梅森先生 — A visitor from Spanish Town, in Jamaica.
• Sam · 萨姆 — A footman at Thornfield Hall.
• The Fortune-Teller · 算命的老太太 — A fortune-teller who comes to Thornfield Hall.
• Mr. Carter · 卡特先生 — A surgeon from Millcote, the town near Thornfield Hall.
• Robert · 罗伯特 — The Reeds' coachman at Gateshead.
• Mr. Wood · 伍德先生 — The clergyman of the little church at Thornfield.
• Mr. Briggs · 布里格斯先生 — A lawyer from London.
• Jane's Mother · 妈妈 — A figure like Jane's mother, seen in a dream.
• Hannah · 汉娜 — The old servant at Moor House, out on the moors.
• Diana · 黛安娜 — St. John's elder sister, a warm, lively and clever governess.
• Mary · 玛丽 — St. John's younger sister, gentle and quiet.
• St. John · 圣约翰 — The young clergyman of Morton, a good, cold man who is very sure of his duty.
• Rosamond · 罗莎蒙德 — Rosamond Oliver, the lovely daughter of Morton's rich mill-owner.
• The Innkeeper · 店主 — The keeper of an inn near Thornfield Hall.

30 chapters in 6 parts

Part 1: A Girl with No Home 没有家的女孩

Part 2: The Laugh on the Third Floor 三楼的笑声

Part 3: Equal Hearts 平等的心

Part 4: Jane's Choice 简的选择

Part 5: St. John 圣约翰

Part 6: Ferndean 芬丁

Key words in Jane Eyre

• 结婚 jié hūn: to marry
• 学校 xué xiào: school
• 房间 fáng jiān: room
• 马车 mǎ chē: coach
• 客厅 kè tīng: drawing room
• 妻子 qī zi: wife
• 楼 lóu: floor
• 笑声 xiào shēng: laughter
• 律师 lǜ shī: lawyer
• 冰 bīng: ice

Behind the story

Charlotte Brontë published Jane Eyre in 1847 and called it “an autobiography”: Jane tells her own story, from a lonely childhood in her aunt's house to her first post as a governess. About thirty-five times she turns to speak to you directly. This book keeps four of those lines, and each one opens with 读者 (dúzhě), “Reader”.

This book retells the novel in simple Mandarin, from Brontë's own English. Her 38 chapters become 30. The first six retell her whole first volume: four chapters for Jane's childhood at Gateshead and Lowood, then two for her first months at Thornfield. Some people stay in the background, such as Jane's cousins Eliza and Georgiana, who never speak here.

The story is set in the north of England in the 1830s and 1840s, in a world of candles and coaches. At eighteen Jane wants a new life. She puts a notice in the paper and becomes a governess, a 家庭教师 (jiātíng jiàoshī): a teacher who lives in a family's house and teaches its children.

Did you know?

• In Chinese the book is called 简·爱 (Jiǎn Ài), Jane's name written by its sounds. Her surname, 爱, is also the everyday Chinese word for “love”.
• Chinese writes the other English names by their sounds too: Mr. Rochester is 罗切斯特先生 (Luóqiēsītè xiānsheng), Thornfield is 桑菲尔德 (Sāngfēi'ěrdé) and Lowood is 罗沃德 (Luówòdé).
• The red room, 红房间 (hóng fángjiān), is a big, grand spare bedroom at Gateshead, cold and silent, with red curtains and a red bed. Jane's uncle, Mr. Reed, died there nine years before the story begins.
• Money in this book is counted in 英镑 (yīngbàng), English pounds. Mrs. Fairfax offers the new governess 一年三十英镑 (yì nián sānshí yīngbàng), thirty pounds a year.