★ 英語級數：Lower-Intermediate（初中級）
★ 本書錄音採用英式發音
十九世紀的英國文壇出現了「勃朗特三姊妹」（Brontë family; The Brontës），在三姊妹中年紀最長的是夏綠蒂．勃朗特，她在世界文學上的代表作品是《簡愛》。《簡愛》的時空背景設定在英國維多利亞時代的約克郡谷地，在那個時代，這本小說並非常規小說，不過一出版就受到讀者的喜愛，至今不墜。
《簡愛》是一本講述成長、勇氣和愛的小說，內容描述一位叫做「簡．愛」的孤兒的成長過程。簡．愛從一個個性激烈的孩子，在歷經各種環境之後，逐漸蛻變為一位成熟、獨立的女性。也因為這個原因，這本小說被視為是教育小說。
簡愛在整部小說中所做出的各種抉擇，在在顯現出她是當時代一位堅強的現代女子，她也是文學上最早出現的女性主義典範。小說中處理了許多主題，包括女性在社會、家庭、階級以及寬恕的角色。
Jane Eyre (1847) is set in the Yorkshire Dales in Victorian Britain. It was not a conventional novel of the time, but was an immediate success with the reading public and is still popular today.
Jane Eyre is a story about growth, courage and love. The novel tells the story of a poor orphan girl who grows up in a difficult environment. Jane Eyre’s character evolves gradually. The reader can see Jane Eyre’s passions as a young girl slowly turn to reason as she becomes a more mature and independent woman. For this reason the novel can be seen as a Bildungsroman.
The book is written as a first-person narrative by the protagonist Jane Eyre. In this way the reader has direct contact with Jane and her feelings and actions. Jane Eyre is a courageous woman who works hard to change and improve her situation.
After leaving her unloving aunt at Gateshead Hall, Jane Eyre goes to boarding school at Lowood Institution. She learns to become a governess and gets her first job at Thornfield Hall. Jane soon falls in love with her employer, Mr Rochester. Their love is complicated because of her position as his governess but also for another important reason: the mysterious presence in the attic of Thornfield Hall.
Jane Eyre does not stop loving Mr Rochester but she also wants to be a respected and independent woman. Her choices throughout the novel show her to be a strong and modern heroine of her time and one of the first feminist role models in literature. The novel deals with many themes including women’s role in society, family, social class and forgiveness.