Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Bronte, first published in 1847. It erupted onto the English literary scene, immediately winning the devotion of many of the world's most renowned writers, including William Makepeace Thackeray, who declared it a work "of great genius." Widely regarded as a revolutionary novel, Bronte's masterpiece introduced the world to a radical new type of heroine, one whose defiant virtue and moral courage departed sharply from the more acquiescent and malleable female characters of the day.

The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, and is considered ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and its exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.