Book #19: Jane Eyre
Inside Front Cover:
“Jane Eyre…is a book after our own hearts.” So wrote the influential literary critic of Charlotte Brontë’s day, George Henry Lewes.
Immediately recognized as a masterpiece when it was first published in 1847, Jane Eyre is an extraordinary coming-of-age story featuring one of the most independent and strong-willed female protagonists in all of literature.
Poor and plain, Jane Eyre begins life as a lonely orphan in the household of her hateful aunt. Despite the oppression she endures at home, and then later at a harsh boarding school, Jane manages to emerge with her spirit and integrity unbroken. She becomes a governess at Thrnfield Hall, where she finds herself falling in love with her employer, the dark, impassioned Mr. Rochester. But an explosive secret tears apart their relationship, forcing Jane to face poverty and isolation once again before finally finding happiness.
Jane Eyre-one of the great early masterworks penned by a woman-is not simply for women, but appeals to the humanity in all of us. As Charlotte herself wrote to William Smith Williams, “I am neither a man nor a woman but an author.”
One of the world’s most beloved novels, Jane Eyre is a startlingly modern blend of passion, mystery, romance, and suspense.
Old Review:
Best book yet. It was great. Jane Eyre is a love story to span all ages. I know at first I was confused. What did such an honored romance have to do with a tiny orphan who had a passion for sacrifice? I checked the cover title more than once; believe me. After those first ten chapters though, I was hooked. Yes, it took me months to finish, but during the four that I was at my studies in college, my fingers itched to pick up the book that sat on my small nightstand. I must admit that Jane's journey to find her cousins was a little out of place, but the last words of the novel drew that in and bound up the loose ends, the fragments. After I finally was able to sit down and read for a few days, I came to enjoy the novel so much that I couldn't stop reading it. There is so much to say about this novel by Charlotte Brontë, but I can't quite put it into words. It's heart-warming, calming and invigorating at the same time, tear bringing, smile rending, and everything else. It was simply a joy to read and I'm glad that I was finally able to do so.
My Review:
After reading Jane Eyre for the second time in two or three years, I find that I love the book even more. Jane seems at once so like myself and yet so distant. Throughout the novel, I found myself questioning whether or not I would take the same steps Jane would in order to save my soul.
Like Jane, I am very passionate, and sometimes overstep the boundaries of convention and custom (although some would argue that in 2012, nothing is taboo or unspoken of). For years I felt that if I did not have a boyfriend, I was not fit for society; I felt I must be dependent to be successful. Now I feel the opposite. I am enjoying my freedom from men and I seek now to be independent forever…or at least until something changes and a Mr. Rochester comes striding my way. Having said this, I did not find myself asking if I would leave my Mr. Rochester if I found out he had a wife, but rather about whether I would save money to buy a new laptop or pay a down payment on a car, or even if I should eat that piece of cake to be satisfied and content now, if not a few pounds heavier in future. I started thinking about how rash, impassioned actions now might be affecting my near and distant future. This is not a new concept to me, but I believe I have gained strength from the “most independent and strong-willed female protagonists in all of literature.” And if we want to talk about God-which is the main reason Jane refuses Mr. Rochester, and love-the main reason she refuses St. John’s offer, I guess I thought about waking up for church on Sundays instead of sleeping in, just to get the hour of extra sleep and not going out in search for a man because God will put one in my path when he sees I am fit to be a wife.
Now that you’ve suffered through a brief, but very intrusive look into my personal life and psyche, we’ll get down to the details in the book I had forgotten and the ones that I love best.
First, I had forgotten all about Ferndean Manor. Over the school year, I watched Jane Eyre several times with my classes and each version (both the 1996 Zeffirelli and the 2011 Fukunaga) leave out mention of Ferndean Manor, so when I re-read the novel, I was delighted by the “new” scene. My mind seems to have obliterated all memory of the actual ending, and replaced it with the ending from the 2011 movie (as I like that ending better than that of the 1996 version).
My favorite scene in the book happens to be the “fortune-teller” scene. I think it’s brilliant that Mr. Rochester dresses up as an old gypsy woman in order to discover Blanche Ingram’s true feelings for himself and his fortune. I also think it a playful and yet very deceitful device to encourage Jane to talk of him to find out her true feelings for him. I am glad that he reveals himself to Jane, however.
The “cord of communion” passage in Jane Eyre might possibly be my favorite passage in all of the literature.
Mr. Rochester: “I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you, especially when you are near me, as now; it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land, come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapped; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, you’d forget me.”
I also love the symbolism of the lightning-struck, split oak that symbolizes Mr. Rochester’s imminent separation from Jane. That piece of foreshadowing, combined with Jane’s children-filled dreams, heralds a truly heart-wrenching discovery that snaps the “cord of communion” between Jane and Mr. Rochester.
When I first read Jane Eyre, I seemed to like St. John’s character, but as I read the novel this time, I came to almost hate him. He seems to me too ambitious, too ready to hurt others to further himself. Granted, he is trying to do God’s will, but he seems to take a liking to interpreting God’s will for others and that really bothers me. He does not seem to understand passion for anything but ministry work and seems to look on with distain when love and happiness are mentioned. He has made many sacrifices and expects others to willingly do the same. He has suffered much and seems to want everybody else to suffer, and if they are not suffering, he will use anything to get them to suffer accordingly. Just as he says, he is a cold man.
I even found the first ten chapters of the book more appealing this year. Because I had already read the book, I understood how Jane’s childhood would affect her future. When I first read the book, I wanted only the romance because that was all anybody ever talked about. I greatly enjoyed reading Jane Eyre this time around and it just might have surpassed Pride and Prejudice for the coveted spot of favorite Victorian novel.
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Kelly <3