لخّصلي

Jane Eyre begins on a cold November day at Gateshead with somber wind and penetrating rain (6). Jane is ten years old; she is reading Bewicks History of British Birds in the same room as her cousins John, Eliza, and Georgiana. An orphan, Jane is reminded regularly that she is not from the same station in life as her cousins, with whom she now resides. "You are a dependent... you have no money," she is told by her bullying cousin John (10). John attacks Jane in front of his sisters, but Jane's aunt blames her for the incident and has her locked in the "red-room," the place in which her uncle died. While in the red-room, Jane reflects on her life. She remembers her uncle, who brought her to his home at Gateshead after her parents died and states that he made his wife promise to care for Jane as "one of her own children (15).
She imagines that her Uncle Reed's ghost has entered the room because his wife did not keep the promise and she begins to scream. The servants, Bessie and Abbot, come to her rescue, but Mrs. Reed orders Jane back into the room where she falls unconscious.
Jane awakes with the feeling that she's had a nightmare. Mr. Lloyd, the family doctor, is there. He leaves the room and Jane overhears Bessie and Sarah talking about her condition. Jane declares that the incident gave her nerves a shock, and that she feels the "reverberation to this day" (19). After talking to Jane about her life at Gateshead, Mr. Lloyd suggests to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent away to school.
Through Abbot and Bessie's discussion, Jane learns that before she was born, her mother married a poor clergyman and was cut off by her father. Her mother and father died within a month of each other from typhoid fever (25).
November, December, and half of January pass, while Jane still hopes to be sent away to school. Meanwhile, she continues to endure cruel treatment from her aunt.
Mr. Brocklehurst, the director of the Lowood School, arrives and speaks to Jane about religion. Mrs. Reed tells him that she wants Jane to be raised with humility and consistency (34); she adds that Jane has a tendency to be a liar. When Brocklehurst leaves, Jane confronts her aunt about the hardships she has endured and in doing so feels as if she has experienced a sense of vengeance (37). Four days later, Jane begins her fifty-mile journey to Lowood School, and on a dark and rainy day, she arrives at her new home. The next day she meets her classmates and teachers. Jane soon realizes that the living conditions will be harsh at Lowood, as the girls are overworked and given scant meals. Mr. Brocklehurst arrives at the school and informs the teachers and students that Jane is a liar (67). Thankfully, she is later vindicated (75). While Brocklehurst preaches humility and poverty to the girls, he misappropriates the school's money to fund a posh life for his family. Jane endures several months at Lowood, and as spring arrives, so does an outbreak of typhoid fever. Helen dies, and when a doctor arrives, he finds Jane sleeping next to her (81).
His cruelty exposed, Mr. Brocklehurst is discharged from his duties (84).
Jane spends six more years at Lowood, and then she stays and teaches there for two more years. She decides to seek a position as a governess and applies for a position at Thornfield. She accepts the position and learns that she will care for a young French girl named Adele who is the ward of Mr. Rochester (102). Rochester tells lane that Adèle is the daughter of a girlfriend for whom he once felt grand passion; sadly, the woman ran off and left her child.
Though she sees little of Rochester and describes him as "changeful and abrupt," Jane realizes that she is falling in love with him (129). One evening, after hearing a demonic laugh, Jane gets out of bed and discovers that Rochester's room is on fire (151). He tells her that it must have been started by his drunken servant Grace Poole.