“Jane Eyre,” first published in 1847, may be described in a great many ways. It is Charlotte Brontë’s first and most famous novel. A landmark in the development of the realist novel, it also has elements of a supernatural Gothic thriller. The template for a great many romance novels, it is also the story of a young woman’s coming of age and her claim of the right to live her life on her own terms. Both the novel and its heroine are one of a kind. Even if you have already read the novel, it is well worth revisiting; its themes only deepen with repeated readings. We will begin with an introductory session on Brontë’s life and work, then devote each subsequent session to each of the three parts in which the novel was originally published.