Jane Eyre is one of the most complex novels of the mid-nineteenth century, offering more than progressive political content and trenchant social observation. Modern readings of Jane Eyre, however, tend to focus on these aspects, often to the neglect of the novel's many other excellent qualities. Jane Eyre's most striking feature is its heroine, who narrates the book approximately ten years after the events of the story take place. (In fact, the first edition of …showed first 75 words of 509 total…

…showed last 75 words of 509 total…ane Eyre is filtered through another literary tradition--that of the gothic horror story. A form that became popular in England in the late eighteenth century, the gothic horror story features supernatural encounters, remote landscapes, and eerie mysteries designed to create an atmosphere of suspense and fear. Jane encounters ghosts, dark secrets, plots, and mysteries throughout her story, mitigating the moral seriousness of her social observation with the gripping and crowd-pleasing psycho-drama of gothic romance.