Jane Eyre: Prologue Summary & Analysis

Writing as her pseudonym "Currer Bell," the author thanks her public and her publishers, but attacks literary critics who expect authors to stick to stylistic and moral conventions. Instead, she explains that appearances and beliefs must be examined and the plain truth must be revealed.

She dedicates her novel to someone who she thinks does this brilliantly—William Thackeray, the Victorian satirist and author of Vanity Fair. She praises Thackeray for being a "social regenerator" who writes books to correct the warped social system.