Jane Eyre is an orphan penniless and plain but full of courage and spirit. She has endured incredible hardship to secure her humble status as a governess in the household of her brooding employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane's sharp wit and defiant nature meet with Rochester's sardonic temperament. Charlotte Brontë lived from 1816 to 1855. Jane Eyre appeared in 1847 and was followed by Shirley 1848 and Violette's 1853. In 1854, Charlotte Brontë married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholas. She died during her pregnancy on March 31, 1855 in Haworth Yorkshire. Jane Eyre is published by Charlotte Bronte on 16 October 1847 by Smith Elder and Co of London. The first American edition was published the following year by Harper and Brothers of New York. Jane Eyre is a Blidungsroman which follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine including her growth to adulthood and her love of Mr.Rochester the brooding master of Thronefield Hall. Charlotte Brontë's has been called the "first historian of the private consciousness" and the literary ancestor of writers like Proust and Joyce. The book contains elements of social criticism with a strong sense of Christian morality at its core, and it is considered by many to be ahead of its time because of Jane's individualistic character.