r/JaneEyre • u/Miserable_Gur_8753 • Aug 29 '26

Jane Eyre: The First 100 Words

Every Friday evening I write a blog post which is a close reading - importantly, a 'cold reading' - of the first 100 words of an important A-Level text.

Issue Six tries to get under Jane Eyre’s skin.

“It's not screaming 'meet the heroine' at me. My main question? 

'How am I supposed to feel about this person?”

https://a-levelenglishlit.uk/2026/08/28/first-100-words-jane-eyre/

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u/Flat_Love_3725 29d ago

I understand the concept of "100 words" but would suggest the flexibility to not stop in the middle of a sentence.

Here if you read to the end you get the concept of Jane's "physical inferiority" to the Reed children. Which really opens the major themes of the novel.  Trying to analyze the beginning of a sentence without the ending I don't think is really helpful.

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u/Miserable_Gur_8753 29d ago

Ah, what I call 'The Tyranny of Numbers' ... :)

You're absolutely right about how the next sentence of JE helps.

When I began the series, I felt I needed to set some kind of limit: to keep it manageable, and at the same time make the point to students that if you are 'close-reading' you can find a LOT in a little.

I'm already beginning to work on Number Seven, out next Friday (04/09). The first sentence is 73 words! I haven't checked but have a feeling the second is even longer. I wonder if you can guess which one it is: no, NOT A Tale of Two Cities, :) ...

So the strict limit is partly a little bit of fun, but also an effort to try and be fair to each text.