A summary of the plot

The novel opens at Gateshead Hall where

orphaned 10-year-old Jane is the adopted child of

her Aunt Reed. Neglected and emotionally

rejected by her aunt, Jane is cruelly treated by her

cousins, Eliza, Georgiana, and John, especially

the latter. After one incident, where Jane

uncharacteristically retaliates, she is locked in the

red room in which her Uncle Reed had died and

suffers terrifying delusions.