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Madeline's Reviews > Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
by Charlotte Brontë
If you like fantastically depressing subject matter that would make Dickens cry (think orphans, typhoid-infested boarding schools, and crazy people locked in attics) and an annoying protagonist who can't decided if she's independent or submissive, you'd probably like this book. I'll admit, I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, but as soon as Jane figures out what's causing strange noises late at night and setting fire to Mr. Rochester's bed, the plot kind of goes down the toilet. The mystery is solved about halfway through the story, so that's a lot of extra plot without much happening. Plus, one of the supporting characters talks almost exclusively in French, and Charlotte Bronte doesn't like translating it, which could be frustrating for someone who can't read French.
Read for: 12th grade AP English
UPDATE:
Does anyone else read "Hark! A Vagrant"? It's a webcomic, and kind of amazing. Anyway, I was looking through the archive and found something that basically sums up how I feel about the Brontes. Enjoy.
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
Read for: 12th grade AP English
UPDATE:
Does anyone else read "Hark! A Vagrant"? It's a webcomic, and kind of amazing. Anyway, I was looking through the archive and found something that basically sums up how I feel about the Brontes. Enjoy.
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
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Don't get me wrong, I loved Jane when she was little. Her sense of justice, her complete refusal to take any crap from anyone...and her discussion with Helen about "when people strike us we must strike back, to keep them from ever doing that again" (paraphrasing) gets me every time. But then as soon as she grows up, Jane loses her awesome in record time. Suddenly she's all, "yes Mr. Rochester sir, whatever you say sir, I'm going to assert myself and not marry you but I'll still be really submissive sir, and oh please let me take care of you for the rest of your life sir may I clean your boots again?" etc.
I remember loving (even while hating) the first part, before she arrives at Thornwood Manor. And then... it got weird. And then weirder. And then even weirder and more depressing and then it ended.But her hair-tearing fight with her cousin and her imprisonment in the Red Room will always stay with me.
That cartoon is so great! You don't see a lot of literary humor these days.I really should try Anne sometime. I have a feeling she would be my favorite, --though I never seem to like anything from that period...
I'm officially obsessed. The woman who does the cartoons has a history degree and obviously reads a ton, so she has a lot of drawings like those. Here are more of my favorites, because I like sharing:
Holmes and Watson!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
Pompadour!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
Napoleon and Josephine!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
Nietzsche!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...
Like I said - OBSESSED.
You already posted the Brontë comic, which is one of my faves-I MUST get the shirt!—but I'm also in love with Poe & Verne and Victoria & Albert. And pretty much all of the others.
That's more or less the main reasons for my own two-star ratings. Though I almost gave it another star just for all of the intellectual gymnastics I've come across attempting to justify Jane's decision to return to Rochester at the end--I just don't get how you can condemn a Bella Swann on one hand and then hold up Jane as a progressive feminist heroine on the other. I didn't need anything to distract me today, but I have a feeling I'm going to be clicking through Hark a Vagrant for the rest of the afternoon... :)
I knew I added you as a friend with good reason :)EVERYTHING you said.
I reread this book recently to prove myself wrong... I remember hating it the first time round and feeling like the odd one out whenever this classic was brought up.
(Sort of like Sex and the City, I may be the only female I know who calls bullshit and bursts into laughter whenever it's on... )
Anyho, I reread and yes.. Still hate it. She was a very strong character as a kid, I was looking forward to more.. She had opinions. Then she just let everyone else lead her... Everything just sort of happened to her, the St John period makes me cringe, poor guy! She just floated through life and sighed a lot.
Rochester hates women.
Everything he said and did was despicable, he flaunted his past affairs, and only really became a human being after he lost his arm and eye sight (but of course he gets this back, of course).
To think he invented a relationship to test her, to think he blamed her for leaving him when he basically hid his wife in an attic! Why on earth did we not get more information on his wife? Poor woman! It's not her fault she has a mental illness, why did Rochester act like her mental illness happened to him!!!
The only nice thing Jane did in this whole book involved sticking up for her childhood friend, and later splitting the inheritance (which she only got out of spite for her cousins parents, so technically, she could have given it all to them and run off to the very rich Rochester. Just saying!)
I was also pretty disturbed by all the swooning at the end, it seemed to me she loved him more for being blind, crippled and dependent on her attention. If she came back to find him fine, married to that other woman, or even just keeping mistresses as he told her he would 'have to do' if she wasn't around, would she have pouted, married St James and run off to India?
Madeline wrote: "...if you hated Jane Eyre why did you give it 5 stars?"OH I did? Ooops.. I must have changed pages or something whilst rating! Thanks for looking out. :)
I finished the book this very day and posted my review. One of my first thoughts was that this story was, at least in the early portions, much like Oliver Twist..mgc
Really? You read this in 12th grade? I read Jane Eyre in 9th grade and it wasn't even required. I've loved the book ever since. The entire beginning, when Jane is young, is similar to Charlotte's life as a young girl.
In response to Sean's comment towards the beginning to middle: it's Thornfield Hall, not Thornwood Manor. (shows how much you paid attention to the book).
Madeleine, you must check out Jane Slayre sometime, if only to read the Readers' Guide questions at the end. They reminded me of some of your Shakespeare parodies.
"I was also pretty disturbed by all the swooning at the end, it seemed to me she loved him more for being blind, crippled and dependent on her attention. If she came back to find him fine, married to that other"
In reply to Tilly, I felt that this part proved to the readers how strong her love for Rochester was since she loved him still even though he was broken. It's not that she loved him more because he was crippled, it's to prove to us that love is there through thick and thin.
She will love him no matter what.
In reply to Tilly, I felt that this part proved to the readers how strong her love for Rochester was since she loved him still even though he was broken. It's not that she loved him more because he was crippled, it's to prove to us that love is there through thick and thin.
She will love him no matter what.
She will love him no matter what.Even when he locks his secret wife in the attic and acts like a total dick to everyone.
Madeline wrote: "She will love him no matter what.
Even when he locks his secret wife in the attic and acts like a total dick to everyone."
She wanted to light him on fire! Imagine you were forced to marry someone who wanted to light you on fire.
Also, it's not like he enjoyed having his wife locked up in the attic, what else could he have done? He was forced into marrying someone who was insane!
She was very dangerous guys, come on.
Even when he locks his secret wife in the attic and acts like a total dick to everyone."
She wanted to light him on fire! Imagine you were forced to marry someone who wanted to light you on fire.
Also, it's not like he enjoyed having his wife locked up in the attic, what else could he have done? He was forced into marrying someone who was insane!
She was very dangerous guys, come on.
In Rochester's defense, mental health care at the time was pretty horrible, so locking his wife in the attic and denying her basic human rights was (somehow) more humane than shipping her away to an asylum. But if I were her, I'd still set his bed on fire.
While I did really enjoy the book, I have to agree with you about Rochester. And her cousin - what was his name? John? He gave me an uncomfortable case of the heebie-jeebies.
He was keeping her in the attic so she would not hurt or kill anyone. Hence, the locked up part.
It's not like he was purposely getting a sick satisfaction from keeping a human being locked up in his attic. Asylums during those times were just as worse than being locked up in an attic.
His wife's family made a deal with Rochester's evil brother and father into marrying a woman who was insane. The people who should be responsible for this mess are them and not Rochester.
It's not like he was purposely getting a sick satisfaction from keeping a human being locked up in his attic. Asylums during those times were just as worse than being locked up in an attic.
His wife's family made a deal with Rochester's evil brother and father into marrying a woman who was insane. The people who should be responsible for this mess are them and not Rochester.
Rochester's questionable treatment of his wife aside, you can't deny that he has a very low opinion of women in general. In addition to his wife, there's also the French woman he had an affair with, and if I remember correctly he described their relationship as, "she liked me as long as I paid for stuff, and then the dumb whore left me with this stupid bastard daughter." Maybe being dumped by Jane and then going blind made him a nicer person eventually, but let's be honest: Jane could have picked a guy with significantly less baggage and grudges against women.
I never said he is a perfect human being:) He has his flaws, just like anyone else. I do agree that he did have a grudge towards women, but I would not go as far to call him a sexist pig.
He was a naive young man during the time he was with that French woman. However, from what I recall, she did use him for his money and left him with a child who he was not even sure was his:( I acually doubt that Adele was his biological daughter since there were no DNA tests during those times. It would have been easy for a woman who did not want a child to fool a naive person to believe the child was his own.
He was played like a violin that is about to be destroyed. He is also a great example of how good person can turn bad due to hardships.
He should not be forgiven for having a grudge towards women, but there is a back story. It's not even just women he has a grudge towards, but also human beings in general. It's kind of sad but that's why I love this novel.
But I really believe he loved Jane and they were each other's cure.
He was a naive young man during the time he was with that French woman. However, from what I recall, she did use him for his money and left him with a child who he was not even sure was his:( I acually doubt that Adele was his biological daughter since there were no DNA tests during those times. It would have been easy for a woman who did not want a child to fool a naive person to believe the child was his own.
He was played like a violin that is about to be destroyed. He is also a great example of how good person can turn bad due to hardships.
He should not be forgiven for having a grudge towards women, but there is a back story. It's not even just women he has a grudge towards, but also human beings in general. It's kind of sad but that's why I love this novel.
But I really believe he loved Jane and they were each other's cure.
Jesse wrote: "That's more or less the main reasons for my own two-star ratings. Though I almost gave it another star just for all of the intellectual gymnastics I've come across attempting to justify Jane's dec..."Well, first of all she did not try to kill herself for a man.
Second of all, she returned to him because she loved him enough to forgive him for being tricked into marrying a crazy woman and pretty much having his father and brother screw him over.
And lastly, she is seen as a feminist hero for always having been in control of her thoughts and actions. She made her decisions and stuck to her beliefs.
Gattaca wrote: "Madeline wrote: "She will love him no matter what.Even when he locks his secret wife in the attic and acts like a total dick to everyone."
She wanted to light him on fire! Imagine you were forc..."
I agree with you. I want to thank Charlotte Bronte for giving us a main character with some depth instead of a one dimensional perfect man who has never made a mistake in his life. I liked the darkness and the basis for the two main characters. I would also like to add that submission does not mean weakness and dependence. Somone can be submissive and independent, but in Jane's case the submission came from her position and time period.
Pretty much agreed here. I enjoyed the way it was written for the most part, and the "depressing subject matter" wasn't all that depressing for me but my god. Her romance with Mr. Rochester was really ridiculous, her shows of independence were more annoying than they were successful, and all the the blatant religiousness started to grate badly for me.
And yet I somehow can't justify rating it lower than I did. I think that moment where she rips off the punishment from her friends forehead and stamps on it is probably making me swoon a bit. Childhood friendship loyalty gets to me, every time. Sheesh.