Act 1

Jane Eyre, an young orphan, is living at Gateshead but is ill-treated by her Aunt Mrs. Reed and cousin John Reed. Jane is sent to a boarding school. Over the years, Jane becomes a teacher at the boarding school but longs to see other sights. She becomes a tutor of Adele Varens, a young French girl who lives at Thornfield Hall as the ward of the owner, Rochester. When a fire breaks out, Jane puts it out and saves Edward's life, and the two become close. Edward, however, cannot accept his affection for Jane, and so invites wealthy guests as a distraction. It appears that Blanche Ingram and Edward may be getting married, and Jane is unhappy over this.

Mason, an old friend, arrives, and Edward is disturbed. He asks Jane whether she would leave if he had a terrible secret, and she vows her faithfulness.

Act 2

When Mason is attacked in the attic, he is helped by Jane and Edward and leaves.

Edward, pretending to be a gypsy, tells Blanche Ingram that he is not rich, and she hastily departs Thornfield. Edward at last tells Jane that he loves her and proposes marriage, and Jane happily accepts. However, on the day of the wedding, Mason tells the secret. Edward is already married to Bertha (who is Mason's sister) and his mad wife lives in the attic of Thornfield. Jane, unwilling to live with Edward without being married, leaves. Bertha meanwhile sets fire to Thornfield, and she dies in the fire.

Comparison between the book and musical

According to Variety, "Most of the novel's unforgettable Gothic incidents are here: the orphaned Jane's cruel treatment at the hands of her aunt and her spoiled, sadistic cousin; further humiliation at the Lowood school, where she is befriended by the angelic Helen Burns, who then departs --- lickety-split --- to join her immortal brethren; and, of course, Jane's great, doomed romance with her employer Edward Fairfax Rochester (James Barbour), dark of brow and gloomy of spirit, but sexy as hell.

The New York Times reviewer wrote that "The overall gallop through Bronte's significant plot has the teasing quality of a movie trailer. We barely see Bertha when she sneaks down from the attic to set Rochester's bed aflame.

In the book, Jane's aunt left her nothing when she died. It was Jane's uncle, whom we never meet, that made her rich.

In the book, Jane does not return to Gateshead Hall after leaving Edward but is found by St. John Rivers, who then helps her get a teaching position.

The character of Miss Temple, the caring teacher at the Lowood Institution, is not in the stage musical.