Publisher's Synopsis
"It is true that Jane Eyre is not overtly concerned with the public interests of Brontë's day. The novel focuses on the life of the mind and heart of a woman on the fringe of society. By doing this, Brontë introduced the literary world to a sphere it had yet to see and, ironically, one larger than it could contain. In Jane's struggle, the novel presents an argument, persuasive mainly through its pathos, against the 19th century norms of classism, gender roles, marriage, passion versus restraint, and convention versus truth"--.