I was just searching for some facts about JE at wikipedia, when i found the following line:

"1938: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was partially inspired by Jane Eyre."

I mean - hey! Who could seriously compare Jane to that nameless person from "Rebecca"? And I guess Maxim is to be some kind of a Rochester. Ha, ha.
Alright, I got it.
Someone meant to make a real, real bad joke.

(Since Iīm not a native speaker and quite angry at the moment, my English may be quite bad. I appology for that, of course.)

Never read Rebecca so I can't judge, but if it's bad there's still no reason why it couldn't be inspired by Jane Eyre.

No... its absolutely not bad.
For some odd reason i LOVE that novel (though the so-called heroine is a boring person without even a name), I just donīt see what the two books have in common.
Well, theyīre both about a rich man who married a woman that makes him unhappy and gets the chance to marry his "true love" (in Rebecca, he kills his first wife, in Jane Eyre, she dies).
But really, thats all I see.

Ah, I see (I've really gotta read more of the classics). Well, I don't know if Rebecca includes this plot device, but I have heard it said that Jane Eyre was the beginning of the "madwoman in the attic" plot device which has subsequently been seen in many novels and short stories.

Iīve heard about that, too...
And donīt get me wrong, I donīt want to say anything about books inspired by Jane Eyre (or I wouldnīt spend my time writing at the Fforum of all places), but Rebecca is definitely no madwoman.
Well, Mrs. Danvers is (sort of), but shes the housekeeper, not Maxims wife.

If Jasper is to be believed, though, the Mrs. Danvers type character shows up pretty frequently in books written since Rebecca. (I won't spoil anything, but if you've read The Well of Lost Plots…)

I have, donīt worry. :)

Though I donīt remember any Danvers-character from another book, anyone who does? *thinking*