Grace’s Reviews #1: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Hello! I may be an actor/musician first but I find value in all art so I’ve decided to post my reviews of various pieces that excite me. Please enjoy my musings.
(Many spoilers for an almost 200 year old book).
I listened to this as an audiobook. I went into this book knowing except that it was considered a feminist masterpiece and that it was written by the Wurthering Heights author’s sister. This is my unencumbered, blind (ha) review of this book. In ways, this book felt like three separate books in one: the beginning a Bildungsroman, the middle a mysterious romance (alla her sister’s), its ending a rags to riches tale. The beginning few hundred pages were a bit tedious, yet holistically with the rest of the novel it works and is worthwhile. As the book went along I found myself desperate to know what happened next. Brontë’s relentless descriptions of the world, Jane’s inner world, and particularly the facial expressions of other characters as well as the slow, deliberate pacing of the book made it very vividly immersive for me. I was fond of Jane because of the painstaking detail and time dedicated to giving her life - following her from belligerent, thoughtful child to a compassionate, self sacrificing yet true-to-herself woman feels worthwhile. That is the highest praise I can give this novel. The other part that struck me as brilliant was the handling of Mr. Rivers. He is a monster in my eyes and uses his position as a man of God to coerce Jane (his cousin who only refers to him as brother) into marrying him lest she face hell. Jane standing her ground and following her own faith and rejecting him for her own happiness despite his manipulation was incredible to me. Though I would never forgive a man who spoke to me as such, her altruism and attempted reconciliations showed her growth from a petulant child to a more compassionate, grounded adult. Though personally, I would prefer her to have remained wild and bitchy. This books idea of an empowered woman is still one with a life of domestic service, just one where the chooses her master on the basis of love. In the context of this novel and in Jane’s rejection and disapproval of Mr. River’s unceasing insistence on suffering, that is feminist. Her rejection of the life he dictates for her as holy purpose and insistence on her own happiness is radical in the world she lives in. She does ultimately choose her own fate based on what is important to her.
I did not know that this was a romance novel, and was shocked to find that out half way through. I was so surprised that I had to look up what genre this book was considered. This was slightly disappointing because after all the feminist praise I’d heard around the book I was hoping it would just be a Bildungsroman for a woman - however I am an absolute sucker for period romances and thus I forgave it quickly. Mr. Rochester is a worthy leading man, and he and Jane’s romance is touching in the way that scratches the romantic itch within me that longs for “simpler times.” His character is a brilliant contrast to Mr. Rivers. Rochester is ugly, hard, and has a checkered past, yet he suits and venerates the scrupled, intelligent Jane more than the handsome, conventionally morally flawless Rivers.
If you couldn’t tell, listening to 18 hours straight of a book from 1848 has done much to affect the pattern of my speaking and improve my vocabulary. As someone relatively well read I was aghast at the number of words I had to look up definitions of - but this also contributed the immersion and investment for me.
This book was actually harder for my modern sensibilities stomach than her sister’s. I am well aware it is folly to look at old text with the lens of modern morality, and it did not prevent me from enjoying the book and see its merits. But since some points stuck in my brain as disturbing I will mention them anyways they stuck out to me.
Mr. Rochester is 20 years older than Jane, and once the affection has been admitted he constantly refers to the 18 year old Jane as an innocent child and that’s what he loves about her. Makes me shudder to think about, and I find it pathetic to think of a man of nearly 40 pining and sniveling over the loss of his child bride. I had to imagine either her older or him younger to stop grimacing.
The novel also suffers ‘girlboss’ syndrome, in that one of the things that makes Jane worthy as a full human is her insistence of taking care of herself independently. 2012 me would whole heartedly agree but as someone who is independent self sufficient woman I find that tiring.
Overall, incredible book. Well worth your time.
