In Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) the English came as close to having a Voltaire of their own as they ever came. A clear-sighted and fearless critic, he had the knack of making furious controversies volcanic and of making people see red wherever he introduced his comments, and he introduced them everywhere. In addition, he was one of the classic prose stylists of English literature, as he went cutting and slashing among the prejudices of his age,...

Primeiro romance de Charlotte Brontë, uma das irmãs que compõem a famosa família literária inglesa, Jane Eyre conta a história de uma jovem em busca de uma vida mais significativa na sociedade inglesa do século XIX. Por meio da abordagem de temas como a subordinação da mulher, relações familiares abusivas que geram traumas futuros e o crescimento moral e espiritual da personagem principal, Jane Eyre foi publicado originalmente em 1847,...

"Jane Eyre is a novel of passion - of anger, defiance, and of overwhelming desire. No novel, before or since, has caught so precisely the complex emotions of childhood, where feelings of powerlessness can mix with rage, and a bitter sense of injustice. From the early scenes, where Jane is locked in the red room, and learns to defy her aunt, through the oppressive regime of Lowood School, we follow the turbulent swell of Jane's feelings. Her psychological...

The authoritative text reprinted in this volume is the third edition, published in 1848 (the last edition corrected by Charlotte Bronte). The notes to the text pay particular attention to literary and Biblical allusions and to words and phrases not readily available in desk dictionaries. They also include translation of French passages. The backgrounds section of this Norton Critical Edition offers generous samplings of Charlotte Bronte's early writings,...

In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall, a country estate owned by the mysteriously remote Mr. Rochester. "One of the finest novels ever written, 'Jane Eyre' is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature. Whereas most modern teaching of the text misreads or misinterprets Charlotte Brontë's devout and profoundly ingrained Christian faith and intentions,...