Jane Eyre - thoughts from people who've read it?

[garyanbear]

I just re-read Jane Eyre for the first time in many years. The only previous time I read it was years ago, in high school. I honestly didn't remember much of the novel before re-reading it; all I remembered was that other students in my class hated it with a surprising passion.

As for myself, I found it to be a largely captivating book, despite occasional lulls which caused me impatience as a reader. I greatly admire Jane Eyre's character - especially with her perseverance in the face of considerable adversity.

What are people's thoughts on Mr Rochester and his romance with Jane? I can't decide entirely how I feel about him. His secretive manners and his whole behaviour in trying to obtain Jane's affections and arrange the marriage seem a strange contrast to his narrative of Jane being the one to reform him and guide him back to a proper path and the like.
Perhaps it's just that I'm unfamiliar with this particular genre, but I did at times find the Jane-Rochester romance puzzling. Certainly no lack of interesting twists and turns though!

So. Opinions anyone?

[speakingtohe]

Well I read this when I was young and it seemed the way of the world. Man wanted younger woman, woman wanted man plus security. Both wanted what appeared to be at first glance hard to get. Maybe there were depths I was missing.

Helen

[Bookpossum]

Especially as she was an orphan and the person who should have loved and protected her in their place (her aunt) did quite the opposite. So she needed an older, protective person in her life.

[cearbhallain]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Especially as she was an orphan and the person who should have loved and protected her in their place (her aunt) did quite the opposite. So she needed an older, protective person in her life.

That's a good point and one that's been glossed over in this discussion. Jane is a scrappy who has to make her own chances. In this way her story is different from other popular romances of the time. While it's true that Austen's heroines are circling the economic drain, they are still living in privilege. Their worry is for their future after the deaths of their parents. Jane is orphaned as a child and must build from literally nothing, without the benefit of any such safe nurturing childhood environment. I will never forget how gutted *I* felt when Jane left her bundle, all of her worldly goods, on that coach. She'd had precious little but now she had absolutely nothing. Jane Eyre isn't just a romance, like Hardy the Bronte sisters were writing about the effects that social and economic inequality had on the lives of women and children.

[sun surfer]

I love Jane Eyre. It's one of my favourites, as well as Wuthering Heights. I actually slightly prefer Wuthering Heights now, though I used to prefer Jane Eyre. Either way, that Bronte clan knew how to write high gothic drama.

I didn't find Jane Eyre boring at all. When a book captivates me, it can just go on and on and I will eagerly follow. I loved the style, the atmosphere and the characters, so for me there were no "slow" periods.

I haven't read it in awhile but I did see the new film last year. It was a good adaptation but not the best.

[garyanbear]

Originally Posted by cearbhallain

I will never forget how gutted *I* felt when Jane left her bundle, all of her worldly goods, on that coach. She'd had precious little but now she had absolutely nothing. Jane Eyre isn't just a romance, like Hardy the Bronte sisters were writing about the effects that social and economic inequality had on the lives of women and children.

Yeah, I was similarly stricken by that loss. Actually, the whole period when she fled Thornfield and was left completely dispossessed struck me really hard. Those were definitely moments in which I simply could not put the book down.

I think it's the precise difference you mentioned between the Bronte and the Austen heroines that made the book have such an impact on me. I've read both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, but I really feel as though I connected with Jane more strongly on many occasions.

I also enjoyed the type of intelligence Jane portrays: how, due to the circumstances of her life, she's not always as wise about the world or as highly educated as she could be, but she's also not ashamed to admit where her education is lacking and to welcome the opportunities to improve upon it. Really her overall drive not to let circumstance keep her from being the best person she thinks she can be is just astounding.

I also like the point about the security and the safety that Rochester offers. I had not thought of the relationship in those terms before, and it does add an interesting new layer to my reflections on the novel. So thank you for pointing that out.

[BookCat]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS!

I read this novel a long time ago so my memory of it is a little hazy. I especially enjoyed the earlier parts of the novel, at the school. I could feel the tragedy and privations of that time.
However I read this book straight after reading "Women Who Love Too Much" so was disappointed by the end. Rochester is totally dependant on Jane, she becomes his carer, which I felt was somehow wrong in the sense that it doesn't have the ingredients of a healthy relationship and happy future.

I've had a peek at "Wide Sargasso Sea" which is meant to be a prequel to Jane Eyre. Must read it some time. It seems to show Rochester in a different light.

[Bookpossum]

(We share the same first name!) "Wide Sargasso Sea" is very good indeed and well worth reading.

You do have to worry a bit about Rochester's preparedness to lie about the situation in order to marry Jane. At the same time, you can have sympathy for his situation, and that of anyone in such a situation back then when divorce was not an option. The real concern was that he would also be lying to Jane, which is hardly a good basis for a relationship.

On a lighter note, "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde is hilarious and brilliant in a very quirky way. Jane Eyre is abducted which means that the book will collapse unless she can be restored to it.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by cearbhallain

Jane Eyre isn't just a romance, like Hardy the Bronte sisters were writing about the effects that social and economic inequality had on the lives of women and children.

Some of the differences between Austen and the Brontes also stem from the fact that the Brontes were a generation later, and experienced the effect of war and of the social changes that occurred around that time, and also from the differences in class. Even though they were all daughters of clergymen, the Austens were a cut above the Brontes, and Jane also had the benefit of being in the far more fashionable south, so the social circles in which they moved would have been quite different. Although the characters in Austen's novels are often poor, they are by and large gentlefolk, whereas the Brontes' characters are generally not.

[garyanbear]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

On a lighter note, "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde is hilarious and brilliant in a very quirky way. Jane Eyre is abducted which means that the book will collapse unless she can be restored to it.

Thanks for recommending that. I actually saw one of Fforde's books featured in a store awhile back and had been curious but didn't buy it. I've been trying to remember the author's name for a couple of months now...your recommendation of the Eyre Affair has finally solved the mystery of who that author was...the only traits I could remember were the literary element and that there was a main character called Thursday.

I think the Eyre Affair has moved onto my list of 'to-read' books, along with Wide Sargasso Sea. Excellent suggestions both!

And in relation to the main topic of discussion: I had similar qualms with the dependence of Rochester on Jane, and his earlier manipulative behaviour. It just seemed to me that his initial joy at finding Jane would subside with time and would allow bitterness to emerge in their marriage. But perhaps I'm overly pessimistic, and Jane really is that amazingly patient and Rochester really is that amazingly in love. :P

[BookCat]

If you go looking for it, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is by Jean Rhys.