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Belle

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Belle is currently reading

Lud-in-the-Mist

by Hope Mirrlees

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Jun 06, 2026 08:18PM

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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

by Anne Brontë

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Mar 24, 2026 05:30AM

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Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in February 2017

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Belle said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy the book Jane Eyre as much as I should have. This has absolutely nothing to do with Charlotte Brontë or her ever-so-polite prose, and I am certain a great number of people hold this book in high esteem and deem I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy the book Jane Eyre as much as I should have. This has absolutely nothing to do with Charlotte Brontë or her ever-so-polite prose, and I am certain a great number of people hold this book in high esteem and deem it their favorites. Yet I find it somewhat boring and displeasing. It is not the style of the narrative that displeases me; in fact, I quite like Charlotte Brontë's prose. It is that I have little in common with the characters and find that I cannot sympathize with them. Their troubles does not touch me the way it should. I shall give my exact reasons for not liking the characters.
First, I shall comment upon the character of Mr. Rochester. He is ugly-looking, that is for sure, but what really vexes me is not how he looks, it is his conduct. His behavior may not be strikingly peculiar to our heroine, but it is to me. And what a strange thing he did! As our friend Will Herondale so adequately puts it, "he dressed up as a woman and terrified the poor girl out of her wits". I do not generally approve of men dressing up as gypsies and trying to determine if their governesses harbors feelings for them. And he grew so frightfully violent when his deceit was discovered and Jane refused to become his mistress. I find that I cannot understand him, and what I cannot understand, I cannot sympathize.
I detest the beautiful Miss Ingram as well. I thoroughly dislike her haughty behavior and the way she treats both Jane and Adelè, the dependents of Mr. Rochester's house, as if she owned the place! Although, given the circumstances, she was probably very certain that Mr. Rochester would marry her. Still, she is awfully mean, especially compared to Rosamund Oliver, who is gay and kind, if not a little shallow.
I absolutely adore Diana and Mary Rivers. I love the way they take it upon themselves to seek knowledge, as well as their gay and merry behaviors, and of course, their good treatment of our heroine does them no harm. However, I fear I cannot say the same for their brother, St. John. I do not like St. John at all. I find him to be a hard man, not harsh, but hard and cold like the marble our heroine so often compares him to. Sentiment affects him like any other man, but he pushes it away, leaving only cool intellect and cold reasoning, as well as his hard determination. Nothing could sway him from the cause he believes in. He is a pious man. He puts his duty before all else, even himself; he is ever so faithful in his service to his Maker. He is truly noble, and for that I admire him greatly. Yet he forgets that not all are as noble or pious as he; men are selfish in their very nature. And is he not selfish? Does he not hope to win fame and renown by his services? It could be said that he is ambitious, at the very least. I do not hold this against him, no; after all, he is only mortal. What I do hold against him is that in his eagerness to achieve greatness, he becomes blind to the feelings of the others around him. In this he is selfish. I have read about men like him in modern novels, men who believes in serving a higher cause, that what they are doing is cleansing the world of its evil. These men are often depicted as villains in the story, because either what they believe in is wrong (for example, Valentine & Sebastian Morgenstern), or the cause they believe in is right, yet the ways they choose to achieve this is wrong (Adelina Amouteru). The end does not always justifies the means. But St. John is different: both the cause he believes in and the way he plans to achieve it is noble in itself. His only flaw is that he neglected the feelings of the people around him; he brought these people (namely, our heroine Jane Eyre) pain and suffering even as he tried to ease the sufferings of others. And he is blind to see it. He will not have mercy. (I believe I am not explaining him very well, so I shall quote from the book) "I appeal to one, who, in the discharge of what he believed his duty, knew neither mercy nor remorse." Yet, despite his faults, he is faithful to God and his duty, and for that, I admire him, as does our heroine.
As for our heroine, I find myself having little in common with her. Her conduct is much too quiet and reserved for my likings, though she does have a quick mind and is not unwise. I am also very vexed with her submitting to every demand St. John makes of her. Yet, despite these faults, I find that I like her well enough, and duly admire some of her qualities, her strong-will, for instance.
Some of the other characters, like Mrs. Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst, I dislike, and some others like Bessie and Miss Temple I like very well. But I feel that these characters have been portrayed perfectly, just right for the circumstances and just right for the novel.
Despite the above flaws, the book is alright. I do wish the plot could have contained more action and adventure, though if that's what I wanted I probably should have turned to gothic novels instead of work by the Brontë sisters. However, I am quite young and quite inexperienced, so I may feel differently about this book when I read it again. ...more "

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— Mar 13, 2026 01:26AM

Apr 21, 2017 05:11AM · see review

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Belle’s Quotes

“Some say it is better to have eaten and lost than never to have eaten at all.”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

tags: food, heartless, jest, marissa-meyer

70 likes

“To be all right implies an impossible phase. We hope for mostly right on the best of our days.”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

tags: heartless, marissa-meyer, raven

408 likes

“Off with his head”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

171 likes

“You must think I’m a fool to even consider rejecting him.’
‘My lady, I am a professional fool. I can say with certainty that you do not have the makings of one.’
She smirked. ‘Then that’s a relief.’
‘Is it? Have you something against fools?’
‘Not at all. Only, if I were as natural at foolishness as I am at poetry, I might try to take your position from you, and you seem so very well suited to it.”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

66 likes

“You want to hear a riddle, you say? I know a very good one. It begins, why is a raven like a writing desk?’
She lifted her chin. ‘Have you gone mad, Hatta? I can’t seem to tell.’
‘They are both so full of poetry, you see. Darkness and whimsy, nightmares and song.”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

116 likes

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