Jane Eyre (portrayed as the orphan girl by
Anna Paquin and as an independent woman by
Charlotte Gainsbourg) is a plain, impoverished lady hired by
Mr. Rochester (
William Hurt) through Mrs. Fairfax (
Joan Plowright) to work as a governess for Adèle (Josephine Serre). Despite her mild unprepossessing nun-like manner, Jane has strong hidden passions and shows her strong character by expressing her opinions and showing resolve in times of trouble. Rochester is a
Byronic anti-hero, tortured and tormented by family troubles, past injustices and secrets. Rochester and Jane develop a mutual affinity. They fall in love and the marriage date is set. What Jane does not realize is that she must share the estate and, ultimately, Mr. Rochester with his wife, Bertha (
Maria Schneider), who is mentally ill and is confined in an upstairs attic with a nurse, Grace Poole (
Billie Whitelaw). The marriage is stopped by Bertha's brother Richard Mason (
Edward de Souza) and lawyer Briggs (
Peter Woodthorpe). Jane flees; her world in ruins. She recovers in the
parsonage, her aunt's original home, and discovers she is now wealthy through inheriting her long-lost uncle's fortune in
Madeira. She receives a proposal of marriage from Parson St. John Rivers, but her heart and soul are with Rochester. Jane goes back to find Rochester's house,
Thornfield Hall, burnt down and Rochester crippled and blinded by a fire set by Bertha, who perished. However, Jane's love for Rochester is undiminished; she nurses him back to health, he recovers his eyesight, and they marry. ==Cast==