An abridged version of Jane Eyre was used as my literature text in Grade 8. Now that Elizabeth is collecting the classics using her pocket money, I read the original book for the first time.
I agree with Joyce Carol Oates, who wrote the introduction, that in having Jane marry Rochester is a triumph for the service class. Most novels written before that time championed marriage between people of the same class or with money. To be valued for brains, character, personality traits and not fortune ushered in a new era.
It is interesting that even in those days, orphans were brought up with education and not trade training. Yet for someone like Jane, without a teaching post or a governess placement, she was worse off than a lady's maid.
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