英文名是Charlotte Brontë,艾米莉·勃朗特之姐。出生在英格兰北部约克郡一个与世隔绝的村子里。父亲是个穷牧师。她曾和其他几个姐妹一起被送进一家生活条件恶劣、教规严厉的寄宿学校读书。夏洛蒂当过教师和家庭教师,也曾与妹妹艾米莉一起于1842年去比利时布鲁塞尔学习法语和古典文学。
夏洛蒂·勃朗特的全部作品集
《简爱》是英国著名作家夏绿蒂·勃朗特的代表作品,女主人公简爱是一个追赶求平等与自主的知识女性形象,本书以其感愉的对于一位灰姑娘式人物奋斗史的刻划而取胜,《简爱》也是女性文学的代表作品,是全世界能阅读小说的妇女必读的经典之作。
简·爱自幼父母双亡,投靠冷酷的舅母,但舅母无情地抛弃了她。她在一所慈善学校做了六年的学生和两年的教师。十八岁时,简·爱受聘到桑菲尔德府学当家庭教师,认识了主人罗切斯特。两人都被对方独特的气质和丰富的感情所吸引,于是不顾身份和地位的巨大差距深深相爱了。正当他们举行婚礼时,有人证明罗切斯特的前妻还活着。简·爱知道他们不可能有平等的婚姻,于是选择了离开。后来,简·爱意外遇见了她的表兄妹们,并从叔叔那里继承了一笔遗产。但她无法抵御对罗切斯特的刻骨思念,于是便回到了已经失去了财富、身体也遭到火灾严重摧残的罗切斯特身边,毅然跟他结婚。在爱的沐浴下,罗切斯特找回了幸福和健康。
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character, a small, plain-faced, intelligent and honest English orphan. The novel goes through five distinct stages — Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood Academy, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism and sinister Gothic elements.Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters; most editions are at least 400 pages long (although the preface and introduction on certain copies are liable to take up another 100). The original was published in three volumes — Volume One (comprising chapters one to fifteen), Volume Two (sixteen to 26) and Volume Three (27 to 38).