Episode 322: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, Ch. 20-26

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and our series on Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre . This week Angelina and Thomas discuss chapters 20-26, especially looking at the character of Bertha and the symbolism of "the woman in the attic." They talk more about the medieval idea of the well-ordered person in contrast to the person ruled by the passions, as well as how Bertha is a mirror for Jane's inner turmoil. Angelina highlights more ways in which we see glimpses of the stories of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella in this section, as well as a hint at Sleeping Beauty. Other ideas Thomas and Angelina bring out are the story of Griselda, Jane's journey of the soul, images of the Garden of Eden, and so much more! You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past. Find everything at HouseofHumaneLetters.com , where you can also sign up for the HHL newsletter to stay in the loop about all the latest happenings! You can pre-order Jason Baxter's new book Falling Inward in its revised and expanded 2nd edition now! Also, if you missed it, here is the podcast episode in which he shares more personal thoughts on how this book came to be. And to view the full show notes for this episode, head over to .

You can listen to Episode 322: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, Ch. 20-26 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 322: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, Ch. 20-26 is an episode from The Literary Life Podcast by Angelina Stanford.

This episode is 01:56:13 long.

This episode was published on Mar 31, 2026.

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