The Brontë Project 2021 discussion

Let's discuss the last third of Jane Eyre....

Well, this turned out to be an incredible read. The depiction of raw emotions and level of narrative heights that Charlotte reaches really touch and inspire you. There are some beautiful scenes - the rending of Jane's heart after the wedding but also the re-ascendency into her union with Mr Rochester after he realises that she is not a dream but has returned for him.

There was not much more this book could have delivered and Charlotte really enters into the innermost souls of her characters. Mr Rochester, once the proud caregiver of Jane, is brought low by the tragedy of events and now, Jane, who is firm of character comes to the fore. Jane and St John would never have been suitable companions as, in the main, they are so strong and resolute in their wills that to become married would have required submission from one of them. There is a fascinating contrast at the end of the book in that, despite all St John's striving for God, Mr Rochester is the one who ultimately achieves this not through works but in his gratitude for Jane.

A great book in all ways.

I have re-read Jane Eyre many times throughout my life, but it has been some years since my last print reading--I have listened to it on audiobook a couple of times within the last 10 years.

This time I read a print copy with notes, and I was struck by several things. First Bronte's use of phrenology to describe characters. I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but this was not something that I particularly paid attention to when reading in my younger years.

Second, I was quite startled at this ending section (despite knowing the plot by heart), when Jane flees Thornfield without a plan or destination--on this reading I found this action out of character. Then when she approaches Moor House, she spends time gazing in at the window, and clearly determines by dress and manner who is the "servant" (Hannah) and who are the "mistresses" (Diana and Mary). Several days after she has been recovering in Moor House, Jane has a conversation with Hannah that is supposed to "reconcile" their differences, but to me it was clearly Jane affirming her superior class rank over Hannah. Where is the "poor, obscure, plain and little" Jane?

I was still swept away by the entire book, but these class distinctions (and I won't even go into Bertha) were troubling, particularly when the book purports to show that a lowly governess can be an equal to anyone.

Now that I've finished Jane Eyre to kick off Victober, I've decided to watch 7 different filmed versions of Jane Eyre throughout Victober:

1943 with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles--feature film
1970 with Susannah York and George C Scott--feature film
1973 with Sorcha Cusack and Michael Jayston--BBC mini-series
1983 with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton--BBC mini-series
1997 with Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton--feature film
2006 with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens--BBC mini-series
2011 with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender--feature film

This should be interesting, and I plan to watch in chronological order. I have not included any versions that are too short to include most of the plot. I have not seen the 1970, 1973 or 2011 versions.

Any favorites here? Any you despise?

I re-read Jane Eyre. I've read it thrice during the last 40 years in German translation, this was the first time I read it in English. I enjoyed it very much. I'd forgotten how brilliant this novel is and how witty many of the conversations between Jane and Mr Rochester are.
The characters are wonderfully drawn. (The fanatic St John Rivers made me shiver although I knew that Jane would not fall for him.)
I'm still a little bit frustrated by the ending: Is love between two strong persons so dangerous that one of them has to become a helpless wretch before a union is possible?
However, I'm no longer sure whether I like Jane Eyre less than Villette, as I did before. When I re-read Villette for this project, I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. I was a bit irritated by the strong prejudices against Catholicism and continental Europeans in it.

An interesting close reading of several passages of Jane Eyre by Dr. Octavia Cox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8dtL...