I don't mind 'Jane Eyre', but I don't really like Jane Eyre, at least, not after she's hit puberty. The fire of her encounter with Mrs. Reed is impressive, but the adult version is merely over-religious and annoying. Her insistence on speaking her thoughts aloud also grates. To be honest, the whole first-person narrative does the story a disservice; I think the book would have been better written at a distance.
St. John Rivers isn't much better. I don't think a character has annoyed me as much since the weird bloke in 'Mad Max 3' refused to die after being smashed around by Mel Gibson. In fact, in terms of persistence, there's an eery similarity... Not being religious myself, his good points were lost on me, and I just found him to be a big bully (I bet he kicks puppies).
Even after all of that, I may have got by unscathed were it not for the cheesiest ending of all endings. Edward and Jane heard each other in the night. At exactly the right time. From at least a hundred miles away. Now I know some loud women, but this might be a little bit of hyperbole here. Love is blind (and so is Edward until his sight miraculously reappears...), but it's obviously got extremely good hearing.
I'm not saying I hate this book, but for a classic which is always mentioned in the must-read category, it's pretty much chick-lit. A colleague of mine said it was a girl's book, and I should have listened.
Alright, alright, I admit it, I've kicked a couple of puppies in my time too...
