What 'Jane Eyre' Is Really All About.

                                                'Jane Eyre', by Charlotte Brontë.

Like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, modern literary interpretations of Jane Eyre tend to inaccurately impose modern ideas onto it. It is often described as a great feminist work, due to the independence and struggles of the novel's female protagonist. The assumption is that Eyre, and Brontë, disliked Victorian patriarchy just as much as today's women do.

Not so, according to the Ignatius Criticial Edition. "One of the finest novels ever written, Jane Eyre is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature," says the series website. "Whereas most modern teaching of the text misreads or misinterprets Charlotte Brontë's devout and profoundly ingrained Christian faith and intentions, this critical edition emphasizes the semi-autobiographical dimension of the novel, exposing feminist critiques of the work as being woefully awry and illustrating Brontë's belief in the hard-earned, hard-learned blessings of sanctity and reverence." CT.