Belated: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
This one has been an ongoing project since the summer. I started with the best intentions, but obviously there were a lot of distractions. Finally, though, I have come to the end of Bronte's classic romance, which I finished early last week.
I had seen the most recent PBS version of the story, and I have to say that it does the book absolutely no justice. Jane's life and love is detailed so meticulously and with such emotion that no film could hope to compare.
Jane's sad youth provides a grim beginning to the tale, but without it you could not hope to understand who she becomes as a young woman. She begins as an orphan, unwanted by her aunt who only keeps Jane because of a promise made to her husband on his deathbed. The aunt does everything in her power, however, to make Jane feel unwanted. She even sends her off to a harsh boarding school where the girls are demeaned and barely fed because she claims that quiet, reserved Jane is an evil child.
Eventually the timid orphan grows into a young woman, leaves the school, and finds herself working as governess to the young ward of one Mr. Rochester.
And her employer, Jane finds a friend and confidant, and the two begin their love story seemingly unaware of what they are doing.
I could go on about the romance and Mr. Rochester's fervor in his attempts to woo his dutiful governess. But the screaming truth is that he lied to her, to such a point that she wandered the moors until she went insane. He keeps the truth of his life hidden, likely because it embarrasses him, but it is all at the expense of happiness - both his and Jane's. It strikes me as a rather selfish choice, but then Bronte paints the men of this story to be rather selfish in general.
Take Jane's cousin (and her other suitor) St. John Rivers. He proposes to Jane, not because he loves her or wants to make her happy, but because he believes she will serve his ministry best. He is shocked when she refuses and attempts to convince her that she is a being made for labor, and not for love. He denies a young woman in love with him (one Miss Rosamond Oliver) because he doesn't think she would be the right wife for a clergyman, even ignoring his own amorous feelings toward her.
Like St. John, Jane spends much of her life wondering if she deserves to be happy and even thinking that the things she wants are beyond her reach. She lives a quiet and sometimes sad existence. And once Jane actually goes after what she wants, happiness ensues.
That's what I think Bronte is telling the reader. Don't be afraid of having what you want.
I think I've found a new one to add to my favorites.
I had seen the most recent PBS version of the story, and I have to say that it does the book absolutely no justice. Jane's life and love is detailed so meticulously and with such emotion that no film could hope to compare.
Jane's sad youth provides a grim beginning to the tale, but without it you could not hope to understand who she becomes as a young woman. She begins as an orphan, unwanted by her aunt who only keeps Jane because of a promise made to her husband on his deathbed. The aunt does everything in her power, however, to make Jane feel unwanted. She even sends her off to a harsh boarding school where the girls are demeaned and barely fed because she claims that quiet, reserved Jane is an evil child.
Eventually the timid orphan grows into a young woman, leaves the school, and finds herself working as governess to the young ward of one Mr. Rochester.
And her employer, Jane finds a friend and confidant, and the two begin their love story seemingly unaware of what they are doing.
I could go on about the romance and Mr. Rochester's fervor in his attempts to woo his dutiful governess. But the screaming truth is that he lied to her, to such a point that she wandered the moors until she went insane. He keeps the truth of his life hidden, likely because it embarrasses him, but it is all at the expense of happiness - both his and Jane's. It strikes me as a rather selfish choice, but then Bronte paints the men of this story to be rather selfish in general.
Take Jane's cousin (and her other suitor) St. John Rivers. He proposes to Jane, not because he loves her or wants to make her happy, but because he believes she will serve his ministry best. He is shocked when she refuses and attempts to convince her that she is a being made for labor, and not for love. He denies a young woman in love with him (one Miss Rosamond Oliver) because he doesn't think she would be the right wife for a clergyman, even ignoring his own amorous feelings toward her.
Like St. John, Jane spends much of her life wondering if she deserves to be happy and even thinking that the things she wants are beyond her reach. She lives a quiet and sometimes sad existence. And once Jane actually goes after what she wants, happiness ensues.
That's what I think Bronte is telling the reader. Don't be afraid of having what you want.
I think I've found a new one to add to my favorites.