Editing Jane Eyre (section)

==Context==
[[File:The Salutation, Manchester.jpg|thumb|right|The Salutation pub in [[Hulme]], Manchester, where Brontë began to write ''Jane Eyre''; the pub was a lodge in the 1840s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jane Eyre: a Mancunian? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/10/10/101006_jane_eyre_feature.shtml |work=BBC |date=10 October 2006|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Salutation pub in Hulme thrown a lifeline as historic building is bought by MMU |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1457765_salutation-pub-in-hulme-thrown-a-lifeline-as-historic-building-is-bought-by-mmu?order=liked |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=2 September 2011 |access-date=6 September 2011}}</ref>]]
The early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh [[boarding school]], are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at [[Cowan Bridge]], near [[Tunstall, Lancashire]]. Mr Brocklehurst is based on Rev. [[William Carus Wilson]] (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school. Additionally, John Reed's decline into [[alcoholism]] and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother [[Branwell]], who became an [[opium]] and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte became a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in ''[[The Life of Charlotte Brontë]]'' (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist [[Elizabeth Gaskell]].<ref name="Davies">[[Stevie Davies]], Introduction and Notes to ''Jane Eyre''. Penguin Classics ed., 2006.</ref>

The Gothic manor of Thornfield Hall was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near [[Hathersage]] in the [[Peak District]] in Derbyshire. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend [[Ellen Nussey]] in the summer of 1845, and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.<ref name="Davies" /> It has been suggested that the [[Wycoller Hall]] in Lancashire, close to Haworth, provided the setting for Ferndean Manor to which Mr Rochester retreats after the fire at Thornfield: there are similarities between the owner of Ferndean—Mr Rochester's father—and Henry Cunliffe, who inherited Wycoller in the 1770s and lived there until his death in 1818; one of Cunliffe's relatives was named Elizabeth Eyre (née Cunliffe).<ref name=Sheet3>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsofwycoller.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Wycoller-The-Bronte-Connection.pdf |title=Wycoller Sheet 3: Ferndean Manor and the Brontë Connection |access-date=24 March 2012 |publisher=Lancashire Countryside Service Environmental Directorale |year=2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614055811/http://www.friendsofwycoller.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Wycoller-The-Bronte-Connection.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2013 }}</ref> The sequence in which Mr Rochester's wife sets fire to the bed curtains was prepared in an August 1830 homemade publication of Brontë's ''[[The Young Men's Magazine, Number 2]]''.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16191329|title=Paris museum wins Brontë bidding war|date=15 December 2011|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=16 December 2011}}</ref> Charlotte Brontë began composing ''Jane Eyre'' in Manchester, and she likely envisioned [[Manchester Cathedral]] churchyard as the burial place for Jane's parents and Manchester as the birthplace of Jane herself.<ref>Alexander, Christine, and Sara L. Pearson. ''Celebrating Charlotte Brontë: Transforming Life into Literature in'' Jane Eyre. Brontë Society, 2016, p. 173.</ref>