Jane Eyre: Preface

The color-coded bars in this section make it easy to track the themes throughout the work. Each color corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart. For instance, indicates that all six themes apply to that part of the summary.

Summary Analysis Themes

Writing as her pseudonym “Currer Bell,” the author thanks her public and her publishers, but attacks literary critics who expect authors to stick to stylistic and moral conventions. Instead, she explains that appearances and beliefs must be examined and the plain truth must be revealed.

Bell’s comments offer an early suggestion of Jane’s personality. Independent and inquiring, Jane breaks through conventions and gets to deeper truths about society.

She dedicates her novel to someone who she thinks does this brilliantly—William Thackeray, the Victorian satirist and author of Vanity Fair. She praises Thackeray for being a “social regenerator” who writes books to correct the warped social system.

This dedication shows one of the main objectives of Jane Eyre: to expose social problems and then “regenerate” or reform them.