Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre is reminiscent of the author’s own experiences. Many of the characters, locations, and events of the bildungsroman mirror Brontë’s life and the lives of her sisters. Protagonist Jane Eyre spends her early years attending the Lowood Institution, a charitable school dedicated to the religious and oppressive upbringing of young girls. This institution, though fictional, is based off of the Cowan Bridge School. The school was founded in Lancashire County in the 1820s, and four of the Brontë sisters attended Cowan Bridge until Maria and Elizabeth Brontë contracted tuberculosis. After their deaths, all Brontë children were removed from Cowan Bridge School. (MK)