Jane Eyre
Edited to add: This post contains a major spoiler of the plot of Jane Eyre. If you haven’t read it yet, and don’t want it spoiled for you, skip this post!
I finished Jane Eyre this afternoon. I don’t know how I missed reading this for so long, but when I read The Thirteenth Tale, I knew I had to add this to my reading list. I started out reading it by e-mail from DailyLit, but I kept clicking on the “send next fragment immediately” link, so my friend Michelle graciously loaned me her copy.
Jane Eyre was popular fiction for it’s time. Charlotte Bronte was the Danielle Steele or John Grisham of her time. Now, before you jump down my throat, I know that Jane Eyre is a classic and is exquisitely written. But in it’s time, it was popular fiction. And the main idea of the story is choosing your faith over your happiness! I can’t get over that. You would never see a story today in the secular book market where the heroine turns her back on the man she loves with all her heart because he was already married. Especially with Mr. Rochester being married to such a horrible creature. I can hear the rationalizations: “Well, he’s not really married. How can he have a marriage with a woman like that? No one would know he had a wife if we just moved away and started over!”
But Jane does what is right. She chooses the hard road over the one full of love, passion, and comfort. And I am ashamed to admit that part of me was saying as I read, “But how can you leave him like that? He needs you!” Terrible, aren’t I?
On a related note, PBS is airing a two-part miniseries adaptation of Jane Eyre. The first part airs this Sunday, the 21st, and the second airs on January 28th. You can find more info here. It is being billed as the movie adaptation that is most faithful to the book. I’ll probably wait for it to be released on DVD and watch it on a girls’ night, since I know I won’t get Kevin to go for it.
I have already warned my family that I will be unavailable this evening as I’ll be watching Jane Eyre. They can join me if they promise to be very, very quiet!
I must say though that I have always had problems with Jane Eyre. She actually winds up not choosing the harder path. She goes back to Rochester, without knowing that his wife has conveniently killed herself. So I think the book is really very Byronically romantic in that Bronte’s real point was that Jane should throw off the shackles of conventional morality. But she couldn’t quite say that in Victorian society at the time, so it happens that everything turns out okay because the crazy wife died. What would have happened if Jane had gone back and seen that everything remained the same? Would she just have stopped in for a chat with Rochester and then left him again? Methinks not! Bronte sets everything up to make Rochester sympathetic. Tricked into marriage with a crazy woman; of such a temperment that he can not reconcile himself to his fate. Then there’s that pyschic connection between Jane and himself. And that pill John St. John. . . .who is all duty.
So I have a basic moral issue with the story. However, I do think it is a classic! And I love seeing the different interpretations of the story on the screen.
January 21st, 2007 at 10:08 amdumboxacademy - I guess I didn’t see it the same way. I really believed that she was just going to see how things had turned out with Rochester - and I saw the whole “psychic connection” as God’s way of drawing them back together and allowing them a bit of happiness after everything they’d been through. That’s the great thing about reading - the same book can be so different to different people.
January 21st, 2007 at 1:27 pmOh I love that book. It’s the best of the Bronte’s works I think.
January 21st, 2007 at 4:10 pmMichelle - I’m excited to add some more of the Bronte’s work to my list.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:08 amOoooh I watched part one last night on pbs! I always loved how CREEPY Jane Eyre was! I almost couldnt sleep last night! teehee
I read Jane Eyre a couple times when I was younger. I always admired it, even though I also thought it was a little over the top fiction. But over the top in fiction doesnt bother me at all! :-p
The pbs version has been wonderful. I had no idea, I just found it while flipping through channels, so I didnt know it was in two parts, and was very disappointed when it stopped last night. I believe I was yelling “NOOOO!!! Dont do this to me!” LOL I cannot wait to finish it next week!
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:34 pmI’ll wait for the dvd as well… I hate being left hanging. *Wink*
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:17 pmLawanda - I hate it when I watch something without knowing it’s a “to be continued!”
Lisa - me, too.
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pmSpoiler
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:27 pmRon - oops, sorry! I added a warning.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:37 pmPoor Ron.
I caught the first of it, but could not watch it all as I felt it was too dark, too “Rosemary’s Baby” or something. If they had laid it on a little thicker, it would have been campy.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:34 pmAndrea - the book is very gothic in its feel, and there are a couple creepy moments, but I wouldn’t call it campy at all. I’ll have to watch the movie and see if they capture the book’s feelings or not. It would be hard to do that kind of book without it turning into camp, I guess. Although I’ve never seen Rosemary’s Baby - always looked to icky.
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:07 amI did put my big smiley on the end
Actually, I found the P&P book more interesting after seeing the movie.
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:14 pmRon - glad I’m not in too much trouble!
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 pmDidn’t St. John just creep you out? I’ve read this several times in my life and listened to it on tape. I was fascinated that his name was pronounced sinjen. The misuse of (false) spiritual authority by his character gripped me. I was so glad she broke free from him.
I’ll be pondering dumbox’s take…
January 24th, 2007 at 12:49 pmCarol - I would’ve never thought of pronouncing his name that way! And yes, he was very creepy. My husband kept asking me what was wrong cause I kept making outraged noises as I read the scenes where he’s trying to convince Jane that it is God’s will for her to marry him. What a creep!
January 24th, 2007 at 3:57 pmHi,
January 27th, 2007 at 8:56 amI found this review from Semicolon. Nice job.
Last year I read Jane Eyre. I found the first half really difficult to get into. Since my mom so highly recommended the book, I kept reading. I loved the second half. Just wanted to point that out in case anyone is thinking of quitting the book without finishing it.
Emily - thanks for stopping by -and for encouraging readers who might have trouble getting hooked by Jane Eyre.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:44 pmCarrie–
Coming by way of Semicolon too, because it’s been so many years since reading it. But after The Thirteeth Tale, I wanted a reminder of the plot. Still hoping to get around to it soon, but in the meantime, this was great.
Thank you!
Jeanne
January 27th, 2007 at 3:43 pmNow you need to read “Girl With a Pen” by Elisabeth Kyle, which is a wonderfully written biography about Charlotte Bronte and her sisters.
January 27th, 2007 at 4:42 pmAt a Hen’s Pace - thanks for stopping by, glad I could help.
Erin - I’m adding it to my list. Thanks!
January 28th, 2007 at 10:52 amExcellent review.
I just finished Jane Eyre on New Year’s Eve. I had the same experience as Emily. It seemed to take me eons to get through the first half but after that I was hooked.
I am waiting for it to come out on DVD, too.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:06 pmLinda - thanks for stopping by!
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