Jane Eyre

I haven't read any reviews yet, so please forgive me if you've already talked about this. :)

So, I just have to say that Jane Eyre...well, there's a reason it's a classic. I think everyone in the Young Women's program should read it while a Miamaid (can you imagine, Required Reading in YW's? lol) and before they start dating. I mean, it deals with the "Ugly Duckling/unpopular" situation, the "I love him but he seems to be in love with her!" situation, the "I'm just the smart girl" situation, and the ever popular, "How to choose between settling and maintaining my inner core values??!" Jane goes through HUGE hardships, has to make the HARD decisions, faces loneliness and disappointment time again, and yet maintains her humanity, her compassion and her sense of self and morality through it all.

To get right to the punch, I love that Jane is not a victim. She so easily could have been, but her hardships made her strong. Can you imagine Jane set in today's world? Bless her heart, she'd probably have been on Oprah, working her way through her role as a victim with abuse issues, abandonment issues, probably co-dependant on the wrong sorts of people (though, as a note, I know that not all people who appear on Oprah who have suffered atrocities become victims in their lives, I'm just saying Jane had a lot going against her). Who knows what she would have become. lolol. But in all seriousness, she still had her baggage and issues (don't we all!). That's what made her so real, I think, but she had gained strength and earned respect through her hardships, which made her a richer character for it.

Also, I LOVE that Jane, when faced with her utmost heart's desire (marrying her love, her kindred spirit, her soul mate, Mr. Rochester) and the most wretched of discoveries on her wedding day (of all times) becomes such an example of staying true to who you are. When she is then faced with an offer to be with Mr. Rochester, to just run away together, she stands her ground and says, NO, even though she knows she is giving him up. For anyone who's ever had to make "the hard decision," this surely resonates. Oh, it was so hard for her, and yet she did it! And the blessings that come from that decision make a world of difference for Jane!!! Goodness, can you imagine the different ending the story would have had if Jane had said, "Yes?" Sure, Mr. Rochester would probably not have been blinded/mangled, but Jane's spirit would have been.

And I love that the ending is "happy" but in a very non-traditional way. It's not like Jane and Mr. Rochester run off into the sunset, blissful to the end, because their opposition has been solved for them. There is tragedy that strikes before the concluding happiness, but this tragedy illustrates that, truly, it's a story that love in its entirety is beautiful, but finding beauty is not finding love. Jane truly is the love of Mr. Rochester's life, but there are consequences for choices we make. How interesting that the dashing Mr. Rochester himself suffers disfigurement, but is yet still desired by Jane because she loves him wholely (is that a word?). When we truly love, the physical weaknesses that we might find in ourselves and others disappear because we love the whole of the person, and so that passion that exists at the beginning of a relationship can survive because a different type of love (and passion) becomes the priority. That's what Jane and Mr. Rochester have. It is romantic and yet probably a more realistic love than exists in other literary works (even though the story is not as realistic as one might want. :) )

So, in the end, gotta say that I really really love Jane Eyre. I can't believe that it only took 37 years to read it. lolol.

Have a great day, everyone!!!

:) Laurenda

Just Jane

I've been saying for the past few years that Jane Eyre is one of my favorite reads. I think, after reading it for this club, that my emotional state at the time of the reading has a lot to do with how much I enjoy this book.

I usually pick up this book when I am feeling romantic or lonely. When I need to escape into this ideal relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. At those times, this book fills that emotional need, and I get great pleasure out of it. All that said, I was feeling neither romantic nor lonely when I read it this time. I was disappointed to discover that I did not lose myself in it like I normally do. I felt more detached as I read it. I looked at it with a cooler eye, noticing more things like Jane's way of talking rather than the burning desire between her and Edward.

I normally swoon over and long for the type of relationship Jane has with Mr. Rochester. It is energetic, it is fierce. Two strong-minded personalities bending so perfectly with each other. She being so morally minded, unafraid to speak and act her beliefs ("I care for myself ... I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane and not mad -- as I am now."). He so clever and temperamental. The tiny hints of his growing love for her ("At all events you will come back: you will not be induced under any pretext to take up a permanent residence with her?") are delicious.

But though I read the book with pleasure, I did not feel as energized as I usually do. (This brings up an interesting discussion: What do I expect a novel to do for me ... emotionally? intellectually?)

This reading did give me the opportunity to explore something I've been curious about: the differences between Jane's behavior as a child and as an adult. Bronte often refers back to Jane's brutal childhood under the power of her cousins -- John's physical abuse and the girls' disdain -- and her aunt. As an adult, Jane seems so self-assured, so unafraid. (She gives Hannah the servant a good talking to: "But I do think hardly of you. .. and I'll tell you why...") I would think that her childhood abuses would have made her timid. But she commands respect as an adult, and it's wonderful to see her example. But, I am reading the book as a product of the pop-psychology generation.

If I think about it, I can see the argument that Jane's turning point came when she finally stood up to her aunt and cousins. ("I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live.") That lashing out broke through her early timidity and began to shape the woman that she eventually became. And she became a rock.

Jane Eyre - Self-righteousness is not religion

I think the favorite part of my version of Jane Eyre was the Preface. Charlotte Brontë inscribed the second edition of Jane Eyre to W.M. Thackeray (which was included in my book). In that inscription she writes, "Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion...appearance should not be mistaken for truth." I love that. And how Jane Eyre reflects this, both the book and the character. Right from the beginning Jane doesn't cave in to conventionality - I love it when tells Mr. Brocklehurst that she will avoid hell by taking care not to die. Classic!! Jane doesn't do anything conventionally, but has a very high moral standard. Amanda and I were talking about how much integrity Jane had to have in order to leave Thornfield - a place where she has finally felt she could make a home. Could I have done that? Leave someone I love with such an intense passion? Hmmm...

Another reference to appearances occurs when Bessie and Abbot are talking at the beginning of the book about Jane's illness. Bessie states, "Poor Miss Jane is to be pitied, too, Abbot." Abbot replies, "Yes, if she were a nice, pretty child, on might compassionate her forlornness..." How one appears determines how we should feel toward them? And yet, it does. I know I do it - when I see someone dressed in rags, I feel differently toward them than I do someone who is neatly dressed (expensively or not doesn't matter). Appearances should not be mistaken for the truth. How much more character Jane has than Georgiana, the "nice, pretty child."

I LOVE this book - it is one of my all time favorites. I love several of the movie adaptations as well - my two favorite being Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre, 2006) and Jane Eyre (A&E, 1997). Mr. Rochester is such a great character - morally questionable at time, and yet totally sympathetic. I really don't even have a problem with the mind games he plays with Jane because in a way, he's really helping her come to the realization that she loves him. "You never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love," (pg.210). Opposition in all things? Could we know joy without sadness?

One thing that struck me this time was the age of Mrs. Reed at the beginning of the book. In the movies, and in my previous readings of this book, she seems so old - like in her 50's (sorry, Karen). But this time around I realized she's only in her 30's. I've never pictured her this young before (and yes, 30's are YOUNG).

I especially appreciate how Charlotte Brontë and her sisters (as well as Jane Austen) broke out of the conventional roles for women. Brontë even makes reference to it in the book: "women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do...It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex," (pg. 161 of my book).

I love the following exchange between Rochester and Jane:
"Is the...man justified in daring the world's opinion, on order to attach to him for ever this gentle, gracious, genial stranger; thereby securing his own peace of mind and regeneration of life?"
"Sir, [said Jane] a wanderer's repose or sinner's reformation should never depend on a fellow creature. Men and women die; philosophers falter in wisdom, and Christians in goodness."
All this is true, but I love Rochester’s follow up:
"But the instrument - the instrument! God, who does the work, ordains the instrument."

I would like to pose a question to the group. Why, when referring to certain townships, etc., does the text insert a dash? Like ------shire? And yet, other places are referenced without problem.

There is so much more I could say about this book, but I ramble on. Thanks, Amanda, for giving me the opportunity to reread Jane Eyre. I love it.