簡愛
I stayed for eight years,and for the last two years I was a teacher. All that time I was happy,and my dear friend Miss Temple helped me greatly. But when Miss Temple married and moved away,I decided it was time to change my life too. I had been at Lowood for many years,and I wanted to find new activities. I decided to find a job as a governess. Soon I received an answer from a woman named Mrs.Fairfax. She wanted a governess for a little girl about eight years old. The school gave me permission to go,so I accepted the job. Soon,I thought,I would have a new life. What would it be like?
governess：家庭女教師。作者本人曾做過家庭女教師，因而可以真實的筆觸描寫簡愛做家庭女教師的生活。當時許多有錢人家為子女請家庭教師，與此同時對很多家境不好的女子，從事家教則是一份體面的職業(yè)，她們往往同主人共同生活，地位雖高于奴仆，卻不能與主人平起平坐，其報酬也極低。