Katherine Kendall

I'm rereading Jane Eyre this summer. The first time I read it was years before earning a degree in English Literature. I'm just not impressed. I'm a quarter of the way through the book and this sums it up: 1. 10 year old Jane is treated mean by her wicked Godmother and all the rest of the children in the household, except for Bessie. 2. Jane is sent away to Lowood School, a place where the children are also treated mean (uncared for and half starved.)- Jane's friend, Helen dies. 3. Jane grows up and " Advertises". She becomes a teacher, a governess to a 7 year old child that no one claims. 4. The Master of the house is indeed a pedophile and already trying to get with a teenager the second she walks through the door. But it took 130 pages to explain what could have been said in a couple of chapters. I once thought this was a good piece of literature. But I have to say that I prefer Charlotte Bronte's writing over her sister. "Wuthering Heights" kept my interest.