Šarlota Bronte je rođena u Tortonu, u Jorkširu, Engleska, kao treće od šestoro dece, od oca Patrika Brontea (bivši "Patrik Brunti"), irskog porekla i njegove žene, Marije Branvel. U aprilu 1820. godine porodica Bronte se seli u Havort gde će Patrik raditi i služiti misu kao katolički sveštenik. Marija Branvel Bronte umire od raka 15. septembra 1821. godine, ostavivši petoro kćeri i sina na odgajanje svojoj sestri Elizabet Branvel. Avgusta 1824. godine, Šarlota je sa još tri svoje sestre poslata na školovanje u "Daughters' School" (Za koju kažu da je uticala na predstavljanje Lovud škole u njenom delu Džejn Ejr). Loše uslove je Šarlota uspela da izdrži i preživi, ali je to uticalo na njeno zdravlje na fizičkom i psihičkom polju, preživljavajući smrt njenih dveju starijih sestara, Marije (rođene 1814. godine) i Elizabet (rođene 1815. godine), koje su umrle od tuberkuloze, 1825. godine, ubrzo nakon što su bile uklonjene iz škole.
Kući, preživela deca - Branvel, Emili, i Ana – su bile inspirisane očevom bibliotekom opremljenom piscima kao što su Volter Skot, Lord Bajron, 1001 noć… Zajedno su počeli izmišljati priče i nepoznata kraljevstva. Šarlota i Branvel su napisali priču o svojoj izmišljenoj zemlji - Angriji - dok su Emili i Ana pisali članak o svojoj izmišljenoj zemlji pod nazivom - Gondal. Neke sage tih priča i danas postoje i bude radoznalost istoričara i biografa zato što otkrivaju način razmišljanja porodice Bronte u svojim najranijim godinama.
Šarlota je nastavila svoje školovanje u školi "Roe Head School" od 1831. do 1832. godine, gde sreće istomišljenike i buduće prijatelje, Ellen Nussey i Meri Tejlor. Šarlota se vraća u školu, ali ovog puta kao učiteljica od 1835. do 1838. godine. Godine 1839. ona uzima prvu od mnogih pozicija kao guvernanta raznih familija u Jorkširu, i to je radila sve do 1841. godine. Godine 1842. ona i Emili putuju do Brisela. Zbog putničkih troškova, Šarlota podučava engleski jezik, a Emili muziku. Ubrzo iskrsava problem i njih dve se vraćaju kući zbog smrti njihove tetke Elizabet Branvel, koja im se pridružila u familiji posle smrti njihove majke, preminuvši u oktobru, 1842. godine. Šarlota se vratila sama u Brisel, januara 1843. godine, da bi prihvatila mesto učiteljice. Njen drugi boravak tamo nije bio baš posebno srećan. Bila je usamljena i nedostajala joj je kuća. Konačno se vraća kući januara 1844. godine i kasnije nalazi inspiraciju u događajima u Briselu za svoj roman "Profesor" i "Villette".
Maja 1846. godine, Šarlota, Emili i Ana izdaju kolekciju poezije pod pseudonimom. Uprkos činjenici da knjiga nije privukla neku posebnu pažnju (prodate su samo dve kopije) sestre su nastavile da pišu svoja sledeća dela. Šarlota je nastavila pod svojim imenom "Currer Bell" kada je izdala svoja dva prva romana.
Njeni romani su: Džejn Ejr (1847), Širli (1849), Villette (1853) i Profesor, koji je napisala pre Džejn Ejr, ali su rad odbili više izdavača tako da je objavljen posmrtno (1857).
Njena dela su poprilično kritikovana. Dosta se spekulisalo u ono vreme da li je Currer Bell stvarno bio muško ili žensko.
Šarlotin brat, Branvel, jedini sin u porodici, umire od hroničnog bronhitisa izazvanog pićem, u septembru 1848. godine, mada je Šarlota bila ubeđena da je za njegovu smrt kriva tuberkuloza. Emili i Ana obe umiru od tuberkuloze decembra 1848. i maja 1849. godine.
Šarlota i njen otac su tada ostali sami. Zbog uspeha njenog romana Džejn Ejr, izdavači je ubeđuju da poseti London, gde će otkriti svoj pravi identitet i gde će se početi kretati u malo višim društvenim slojevima, sprijateljivši se sa tadašnjim velikim engleskim piscima Harijet Martino (Harriet Martineau), Elizabet Gaskel (Elizabeth Gaskell), Vilijamom Mejkpisom Tekerijem (William Makepeace Thackeray) i Džordž Henri Livs (George Henry Lewes). Svejedno nikada nije napuštala ostarelog oca i Havort na više od nekoliko nedelja.
Juna 1854. godine, Šarlota se udaje za Artura Bela Nikolsa, očevog pomoćnika. Ona umire devet meseci kasnije tokom svoje prve trudnoće. Na sertifikatu umrlice, piše kao uzrok smrti tuberkuloza, ali danas se pojavljuju i dokazi da je možda umrla i od tifusa. Šarlota je sahranjena ispred crkve "St. Michael" u Havortu u Engleskoj.
Jane Eyre (1943)
Director: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Joan Fontaine [Jane Eyre], Orson Welles [Edward Rochester], Peggy Ann Garner [Jane Eyre as a Child], Edith Barrett [Mrs. Fairfax], Barbara Everest [Lady Ingram], Margaret O'Brien [Adele Varens], John Sutton [Dr. Rivers], Sara Allgood [Bessie], Henry Daniell [Henry Brocklehurst], Agnes Moorehead [Mrs. Reed], Aubrey Mather [Colonel Dent]
Plot: Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.
DŽEJN EJR
Jane Eyre (1996)
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg [Jane Eyre], William Hurt [Edward Rochester], Anna Paquin [Young Jane Eyre], Joan Plowright [Mrs. Fairfax], Miranda Forbes [Lady Ingram], Nic Knight [John Reed], Nicola Howard [Eliza Reed], Sasha Graff [Georgiana Reed], Fiona Shaw [Mrs. Reed], John Wood [Mr. Brocklehurst], Geraldine Chaplin [Miss Scatcherd], Amanda Root [Miss Temple], Leanne Rowe [Helen Burns]
Plot: Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs. Fairfax.
DŽEJN EJR
Jane Eyre (1997)
Director: Robert Young
Cast: Samantha Morton [Jane Eyre], Ciarán Hinds [Edward Rochester], Laura Harling [Young Jane], Gemma Jones [Mrs. Fairfax], Richenda Carey [Lady Ingram], Deborah Findlay [Mrs. Reed], Joanna Scanlan [Bessie], Ben Sowden [John Reed], Barbara Keogh [Miss Abbot], David Gant [Mr. Brocklehurst], Emily Joyce [Miss Temple] Plot: Charlotte Bronte's classic novel is filmed yet again. The story of the Yorkshire orphan who becomes a governess to a young French girl and finds love with the brooding lord of the manor is given a standard romantic flare, but sparks do not seem to happen between the two leads in this version.
DŽEJN EJR
Jane Eyre (2006)
Cast: Ruth Wilson [Jane Eyre], Toby Stephens [Edward Fairfax Rochester], Lorraine Ashbourne [Mrs. Fairfax], Georgie Henley [Young Jane Eyre], Francesca Annis [Lady Ingram], Pam Ferris [Grace Poole], Ned Irish [George], Tara Fitzgerald [Mrs. Reed], Elsa Mollien [Sophie], Rebekah Staton [Bessie]
Plot: The T.V. adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre is about a young woman who becomes governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester, a brooding and enigmatic man. She falls in love with him. But what secrets lie in his past and threaten to enter his future?
Episode 1: Jane Eyre, an orphaned girl, is sent to Lowood School by her uncaring aunt Mrs Reed, who no longer wants the child in her house where Jane was ill-treated by cousins and aunt. At Lowood School Jane stays until the age of 19 and becomes a governess. She receives a position at Thornfield Hall as a governess for Adele, a French girl in the care of Edward Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall. From the housekeeper Jane learns that the master of the house is rarely at home. One day, she finally meets Rochester on one of his returns to Thornfield. For the first time, Jane feels as if she belongs somewhere and soon begins to love Thornfield. But this is challenged when Jane one day wakes to strange noises in the house. When she follows the sounds she discovers a fire in Rochester's room.
Episode 2: Thornfield receives a visitor. This visitor seems to unsettle Rochester in a way Jane cannot understand. When Mason, the mysterious visitor, is badly injured one night, Jane's fears and questions about the North Tower come up once again.
Episode 3: After Mrs Reed's death Jane Eyre returns to Thornfield. Mr Rochester finally proposes to Jane Eyre. Will she accept him?
Episode 4: The heartbroken Jane Eyre has left Thornfield. Exhausted, penniless and hopeless she lies down on the moors and is rescued by St John Rivers who, with his sisters, brings her back to life again.
DŽEJN EJR
Jane Eyre (2011)
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Cast: Mia Wasikowska [Jane Eyre], Michael Fassbender [Rochester], Judi Dench [Mrs. Fairfax], Amelia Clarkson [Young Jane], Sophie Ward [Lady Ingram], Jamie Bell [St John Rivers], Su Elliot [Hannah], Holliday Grainger [Diana Rivers], Tamzin Merchant [Mary Rivers], Craig Roberts [John Reed], Sally Hawkins [Mrs. Reed], Lizzie Hopley [Miss Abbot], Jayne Wisener [Bessie]
Plot: After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meets the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?
