Jane Eyre 2011: Background Resources

[MadgeUK]

How very Victorian - as my previous post said 'all reading matter be devoid of the faintest impropriety of language or thought':).

[Kristen]

haha! that reminds me of a christian book i read once, in which the author uses the word "foul" repeatedly as a substitute. the author retells a scene between he and his father when he was young, "why do you always have to foul things up?!" i remember reading it and thinking what a strange word to use...and then i realized he was substituting it for the other f word. :P

[Lily]

Kristen wrote: "...i remember reading it and thinking what a strange word to use...and then i realized he was substituting it..."

LOL! I think that is sometimes called hypocrisy.

[MadgeUK]

To foul things up is a common expression over here Kristen. The OEED primary definition is offensive to the senses, loathsome, stinking.

[Lily]

MadgeUK wrote: "To foul things up is a common expression over here Kristen. The OEED primary definition is offensive to the senses, loathsome, stinking."

While "foul" could be appropriate in the particular context Kristen cited, I rather trust her judgment of the use of the word as a substitute in the context of the overall text she had been reading. That sort of rigid, superficial adherence to rules seems only too typical of some practices of fundamentalist Christianity, at least in my perhaps too cynical perception.

[MadgeUK]

Probably so if it was a Christian book. I was just pointing out that foul is not necessarily a substitution for the other too commonly wrongly used word, especially in the UK.

[Kristen]

I think it was when he took his father's criticism to heart and thought of himself as a "fouler" that I guessed it may have been a substitute. You do have a good point, Madge, although the author was an American. But perhaps his father was a Brit, who knows. :)
And Lily, I understand your cynicism completely. There were a couple years when I left my faith largely because of the superficial adherence to rules without really any compassion or deeper questioning by people in my church. I came back around eventually, but I still find humor and can't help poking fun at some of the silliness and man made rules.

[Lily]

Was doing a bit of searching this morning for insights from British universities on Jane Eyre. From this site:

http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk/vie...

I came across this question:

"Do you agree that Bunyan’s allegory is a structural model for Brontë’s novel?"

[Lily]

Someone of you may be interested in knowing a continuing education course on Fiction by Victorian Women is being offered, apparently online, from Oxford this fall: Wed 14 Sep to Fri 25 Nov 2011.

More details are here: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/Q200-34

Also, on the Brontes: Mon 3 Oct to Fri 16 Dec 2011

http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/Q200-29

[MadgeUK]

Thanks for those links Lily. CB refers to the Pilgrim's Progress in all of her novels and it has been commented upon that the ending of JE in particular is a rehash of PP's quest narrative. Perhaps we could discuss this when we get to the end of the novel?

(view spoiler)[ http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/b... (hide spoiler)]

The Oxford courses are quite costly whereas Yale offer them free:-

http://www.freelecturevideos.com/yale...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxZDA3...

[Susan]

Thank you, ladies, for the links. I think I will be watching The Classical Feminist Tradition. sounds interesting.

[Susan]

I just viewed the link The Classical Feminist tradition and highly recommend it to everyone, especially given our current discussion of Jane Eyre. It touches on so many of the points we have been discussing, especially the split that is occurring within Jane between her heart and her head, between reason and rationality. I'll be putting my two cents into the discussion a little later today.

[MadgeUK]

SPOILERS in Links.

The new film of Jane Eyre looks very dramatic but I think it plays fast and loose with the story, as many films do. Everyman definitely won't like it:):).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsh1-z...

http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Jane-Eyr...

http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/201...

It has been released in the US but won't be over here until September.

[MadgeUK]

In analysing Rochester's treatment of Bertha we are perhaps forgetting that CB based her 'madwoman in the attic' story on a real event which came to her attention when she visited the home of the Eyres at Norton Conyers:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/dec...