--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane…" description: "\"“I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane was being serenaded by Mr. Rochester. (I see the source of all my problems: a Bronte was completely the wrong..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/zen-cho-29587_bronte_i-was-reading-charlotte-bronte-and-jane_2701496.jpg" --- # I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane was being… ![“I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane was being serenaded by Mr. Rochester. (I see the source of all my problems: a Bronte was completely the wrong thing to be reading, unless it were an Anne. I should have been reading George Eliot.)” quote by Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/zen-cho-29587_bronte_i-was-reading-charlotte-bronte-and-jane_2701496.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/zen-cho-29587_bronte_i-was-reading-charlotte-bronte-and-jane_2701496.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/zen-cho-29587_bronte_i-was-reading-charlotte-bronte-and-jane_2701496.jpg) > ““I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane was being serenaded by Mr. Rochester. (I see the source of all my problems: a Bronte was completely the wrong thing to be reading, unless it were an Anne. I should have been reading George Eliot.)”” [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading the wrong author can mislead emotions; choosing the right voice shapes perspective. **In simple terms:** Choosing the right books matters. Key Takeaway Select literature that aligns with your needs. Themes reading self-discovery literature Mood contemplative curious Type literary reflective When to use this quote - book clubs - creative writing - self‑education Key Concepts cognitive bias personal development Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which author to trust? - What impact does a favorite author have on you? A Different Perspective All authors have value; no single source is perfect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bronte/) [Mr rochester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mr-rochester/) ## Related quotes > [We read Charlotte Bronte not for exquisite observation of character - her characters are vigorous and elementary; not for comedy - hers is grim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-read-charlotte-bronte-not-for-exquisite-observation-of-character-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [ I would say it was \[ifluence\] all the Greeks and the Russian classics like \[Lev\] Tolstoy, \[Andrey\] Goncharov,\[Fedor\] Dostoyevsky, \[Alexander\] Pushkin, and the international… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/i-would-say-it-was-ifluence-all-the-greeks-and-the-russian-classics/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [“Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. (Southey's reply to Charlotte Bronte)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/literature-cannot-be-the-business-of-a-woman-s-life-and-it-ought-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We read Charlotte Bronte not for exquisite observation of character, not for comedy, not for a philosophic view of life, but for her poetry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-read-charlotte-bronte-not-for-exquisite-observation-of-character/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Nom de Plume uses the device of the pseudonym to unite the likes of Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Fernando Pessoa, and Patricia Highsmith into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/nom-de-plume-uses-the-device-of-the-pseudonym-to-unite-the-likes-of/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Charlotte Bronte borrowed liberally and sloppily from Joseph Sheridan le Fanu when penning Jane Eyre. The originality of this classic novel is tarnished as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-barger/charlotte-bronte-borrowed-liberally-and-sloppily-from-joseph-sheridan/) [Andrew Barger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-barger/) > [“The first duty of an Author is --- I conceive --- a faithful allegiance to Truth and Nature; his second, such a conscientious study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-barker/the-first-duty-of-an-author-is-i-conceive-a-faithful-allegiance-to/) Juliet Barker > [“The writer has us by the hand, forces us along her road, makes us see what she sees, never leaves us for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-writer-has-us-by-the-hand-forces-us-along-her-road-makes-us-see/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [ “\[Charlotte Bronte\] had thought of every maneuver for circumventing those stony obstructions of wives who would not remove themselves.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/charlotte-bronte-had-thought-of-every-maneuver-for-circumventing/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Reading was such a formative part of my childhood (along with 'Loony Tunes'), that it is difficult to pin point the most influential book.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-marie-macdonald/reading-was-such-a-formative-part-of-my-childhood-along-with-loony/) [Ann-Marie MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-marie-macdonald/) > [I think I learned discipline on 'Jane Eyre.' Charlotte Bronte's dialogue, the intellectual duel between Rochester and Jane Eyre's character, is so compelling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-fukunaga/i-think-i-learned-discipline-on-jane-eyre-charlotte-bronte-s-dialogue/) [Cary Fukunaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-fukunaga/) > [I loved Charlotte Bronte when I was little, and I wanted to be Charlotte Bronte the way people want to be a princess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-loved-charlotte-bronte-when-i-was-little-and-i-wanted-to-be/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“consciousness. Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton (1848) and North and South (1855), Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley (1849), George Eliot’s Silas Marner (1861) and many other such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-hegarty/consciousness-elizabeth-gaskell-s-mary-barton-1848-and-north-and/) Neil Hegarty > [My role models were childless: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Brontes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/my-role-models-were-childless-virginia-woolf-jane-austen-george-eliot/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [But you know, where did the Brontes go to college? Where did George Eliot go to college? Where did Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/but-you-know-where-did-the-brontes-go-to-college-where-did-george/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) ## More by Zen Cho > [“When I am old I shall become an itinerant poet and wear a straw hat and never worry about love again.   Tuesday,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/when-i-am-old-i-shall-become-an-itinerant-poet-and-wear-a-straw-hat/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“I felt like a fox backed into a corner, with the yelping of the hounds coming closer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/i-felt-like-a-fox-backed-into-a-corner-with-the-yelping-of-the-hounds/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“Being good-looking and interesting and having the heavy-lidded gaze of a romantic tapir does not excuse writing a foolish book. Perhaps”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/being-good-looking-and-interesting-and-having-the-heavy-lidded-gaze/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“But one may like someone enough to kiss them without liking them enough to confide in them. The two are quite different emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/but-one-may-like-someone-enough-to-kiss-them-without-liking-them/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“It looked like all forest spirits—tall, pointy ears, big smile. It didn't look male or female. Forest spirits don't have this concept. They say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/it-looked-like-all-forest-spirits-tall-pointy-ears-big-smile-it-didn/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“You are having a baby,' he said. 'I certainly hope it turns out to be a baby,' I agreed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/you-are-having-a-baby-he-said-i-certainly-hope-it-turns-out-to-be-a/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“She has a passionate hunger for youth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/she-has-a-passionate-hunger-for-youth/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“Resignation to unhappiness didn't come naturally—she had to learn it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/resignation-to-unhappiness-didn-t-come-naturally-she-had-to-learn-it/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“Siew Tsin had not given much thought to what happened in the afterlife until the afterlife happened to her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/siew-tsin-had-not-given-much-thought-to-what-happened-in-the/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“She had still had the loved child's belief that it would not be allowed for anything too bad to happen to her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/she-had-still-had-the-loved-child-s-belief-that-it-would-not-be/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“For a celebrity he has an awful excess of sensibility, and is very anxious about one's opinion of him. Perhaps it comes of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/for-a-celebrity-he-has-an-awful-excess-of-sensibility-and-is-very/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“Her opinion is that she did not struggle her way to the august age of forty-three only to have the dignity accorded to her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/her-opinion-is-that-she-did-not-struggle-her-way-to-the-august-age-of/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“It is dreadful when people are good-looking and pay attention to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/it-is-dreadful-when-people-are-good-looking-and-pay-attention-to-you/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“You can't ever tell people you think you are pretty. Even if you are pretty you have to flutter and be modest. Fortunately here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/you-can-t-ever-tell-people-you-think-you-are-pretty-even-if-you-are/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) > [“The British are a peculiar race. My grandfather was transported to Malaya because they needed tin, and yet I’ve never once met a Briton…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zen-cho/the-british-are-a-peculiar-race-my-grandfather-was-transported-to/) [Zen Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) [Explore all 16 Zen Cho quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zen-cho/) ## More Bronte quotes > ['Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte has been my all-time favorite book since I was in middle school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-serle/wuthering-heights-by-emily-bronte-has-been-my-all-time-favorite-book/) [Rebecca Serle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-serle/) > [Of course, Jack Kilborn is better than both of us combined and mixed with a side helping of the Bronte sisters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-konrath/of-course-jack-kilborn-is-better-than-both-of-us-combined-and-mixed/) [J.A. Konrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-konrath/) > [But you know, where did the Brontes go to college? Where did George Eliot go to college? Where did Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/but-you-know-where-did-the-brontes-go-to-college-where-did-george/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“For a century and a half, people have wondered what factors - genetic and environmental - were especially significant in the evolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-thorm-hlen/for-a-century-and-a-half-people-have-wondered-what-factors-genetic/) [Marianne Thormählen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-thorm-hlen/) > [I'm glad nobody has asked me to adapt 'Wuthering Heights' because I think I would make a mess of it. Everybody makes a mess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/i-m-glad-nobody-has-asked-me-to-adapt-wuthering-heights-because-i/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [I loved Charlotte Bronte when I was little, and I wanted to be Charlotte Bronte the way people want to be a princess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-loved-charlotte-bronte-when-i-was-little-and-i-wanted-to-be/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I think I learned discipline on 'Jane Eyre.' Charlotte Bronte's dialogue, the intellectual duel between Rochester and Jane Eyre's character, is so compelling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-fukunaga/i-think-i-learned-discipline-on-jane-eyre-charlotte-bronte-s-dialogue/) [Cary Fukunaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-fukunaga/) > [I actually didn't like Jane Austen. I was more into the Brontes. They were so wild and passionate. I thought there was something a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-o-connor/i-actually-didn-t-like-jane-austen-i-was-more-into-the-brontes-they/) [Frances O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-o-connor/) > [My role models were childless: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Brontes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/my-role-models-were-childless-virginia-woolf-jane-austen-george-eliot/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“What do you think is my favourite book? Just now, I mean; I change every three days. "Wuthering Heights." Emily Bronte was quite young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/what-do-you-think-is-my-favourite-book-just-now-i-mean-i-change-every/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [“She pops her head into a bare-looking kitchen and has a little wander round it. Here, she reads, Emily would sometimes make bread with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jackson/she-pops-her-head-into-a-bare-looking-kitchen-and-has-a-little-wander/) Mick Jackson > [“I turn to our father, searching for an ally. "So Dad, is it legal for Bronte to date out of her species?" Dad looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/i-turn-to-our-father-searching-for-an-ally-so-dad-is-it-legal-for/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“I know more about Emily Bronte than anyone I know. I know enough about her family to have been a part. I’ve walked with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chila-woychik/i-know-more-about-emily-bronte-than-anyone-i-know-i-know-enough-about/) [Chila Woychik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chila-woychik/) > [“Some people are very unfulfilled. In consequence they write passionately good romance because they believe that they could still find happiness. Emily Bronte was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bingham/some-people-are-very-unfulfilled-in-consequence-they-write/) [Charlotte Bingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bingham/) > [“She was painfully shy, but physically she was brave to a surprising degree. She loved few persons, but those few with a passion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-hope/she-was-painfully-shy-but-physically-she-was-brave-to-a-surprising/) Eva Hope [Browse all 46 Bronte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bronte/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was reading Charlotte Bronte, and Jane was being serenaded by Mr. Rochester. (I see the source of all my problems: a Bronte was completely the wrong thing to be reading, unless it were an Anne. 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