"There are two things I don't like about you - your face. So why don't you shut both of them&qu...
"There are two things I don't like about you - your face. So why don't you shut both of them" Felicia (Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
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It’s an understatement to say that Charlotte Bronte was bossy and immediate in her ways. I see Jane Eyre very much like a biography of her life at times, and absolutely fascinating to think that maybe, Charlotte wrote it from real experiences. I know that the school that Jane attends (Lowood) is based on the school her sisters attended – which ended their lives, but is any of it fiction? When it was first released in 1847 many people thought it was a biography under the name of the editor it was published (Curer Bell, Charlotte’s “disguise” as a writer). Jane and Charlotte, from what I’ve read are very alike in their ways, and beliefs. Charlotte, like Jane was never that religious, but had the fact that “God is the World” shoved down her throat by her Father (who was a vicar). Her reluctance to love her “God” and worship him like a fool is very interesting to read, and I can’t help seeing the likenesses.
♠♦ Jane Eyre ♠♦
Jane Eyre follows the life of a young woman who was never really wanted by anyone. Her Mother and Father died at a young age, and was then sent to live with her Uncle. After Jane had settled as an orphan, her Uncle died. Her life was once again in pieces, and she wasn’t even eight, yet. Jane then ahs to live under Aunt Reed’s rules, which aren’t fair. Jane is more like a slave to her blood relatives than family, and is treated with no respect, and is made sure that she knows her place in the household. This is where the story starts off, and we find out the whole story in bits and drabs through reading the first chapter.
Jane has a somewhat tragic life; and at only ten there is much more to come. You don’t really need to know much more about Jane Eyre to actually enjoy it, because, like most classics, especially from the Bronte’s, the plot is long-winded and full of twists and turns. Unlike most
of the classics around that time – excluding Dickens’ – Jane Eyre didn’t lead a middle-class lifestyle, but was made to lead a working class lifestyle. This wouldn’t have been bad for her, but she had to watch as her blood relatives lived the almost upper-class lifestyle, and she had to wear the dull clothes that were passed down from Georgina (one of her cousins, Aunt Reed’s daughter).
Jane Eyre’s life is full of adventure but not in a good way. You can sometimes relate to Jane in many ways, in her childhood. You believed you were so badly done to, and Jane is an example to us all. She shows us that self-pity doesn’t solve anything, especially if we haven’t had that much done to us. Jane Eyre is full of lessons that I think are vital for anyone to read and absorb. She teaches you so much through the book, and never looses your attention at any stage. It certainly is a page-turner.
♠♦My Views ♠♦
Being a big fan of the Bronte sisters I knew that I’d really enjoy Jane Eyre. Not only are their writing techniques really similar, but also they’re producing of characters are very alike too. Although Emily is that bit darker, and more gothic, and Jane is a bit more optimistic towards life, their characters all have bad times. Emily has more than one main character throughout her book, whereas Charlotte has chose Jane to be the main character, and remain that throughout the book. Although Emily writes in first person, the story is put from a few people’s point of view, whereas Charlotte is much tidier, and sticks to Jane telling the story throughout. I think this reflects their personalities a lot. They were extremely different – Emily not one to stick to the rules but run off to a world of her own. Whereas, Charlotte on the other hand was much more grounded and stuck to the rules. You could say the same about Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in the respect of literature.
Jane’s relationship with Rochester is one that has always been remembered. I hate it when Jane Eyre gets described as a “passionate tale”, because I just don’t see it like that at all. Jane doesn’t meet Rochester until way into the novel, and doesn’t start a relationship with him for a long while. And even when that does start the relationship is complicated and the two are too frustrated to enjoy the love they share. I find Jane Eyre more of an enjoyable fairy tale story. Because, really, Jane Eyre is very much the princess finding her prince, with a few difficulties along the way.
It’s obvious that Rochester is attracted to Jane when he meets her. Although he’s 20 years her senior, and she are merely eighteen, there’s an instant attraction on both sides. She’s worried to commit to a man. Because no one, properly, apart from her Uncle has ever loved Jane. And the first person she became close to – Helen Burns, a friend she made in Lowood School – died young. I can’t help thinking that Jane is so worried about starting a relationship because of her losses in her life. Her Mother, Father, Uncle and Helen. The only people who ever loved her were taken away from her. Does she think the same will happen to Rochester? I’ve always thought Jane wasn’t not interested, but more scared, than anything else.
Charlotte Bronte, whilst in Brussels studying French in the early 1840’s fell in love with her Professor. Although The Professor – one of Charlotte’s other novels – is mostly based on that experience, Jane Eyre also touches on the subject. Charlotte and Jane – again have a similarity – in the way they fall in love but are scared to commit. There are obstacles blocking their way to find love. What wasn’t in the book, though, that actually did happen to Charlotte was the rejection of her love. The fact that her love wasn’t returned, and that she was left with a broken heart, whereas Jane found her love, and he returned it, passing the obstacles with difficulty, but still managing to succeed.
I can’t say that I prefer Jane Eyre to Wuthering Heights, and that isn’t because of the writing – because I find them very alike in that department – but because of the love experiences. To me, Wuthering Heights was more realistic about love, and it’s difficulties. Not only love of a sexual nature, but of an emotional nature. Whereas Wuthering Heights was a love story, I found Jane Eyre more like a story with love elements in parts. Jane and Rochester’s relationship seemed a bit far-fetched at times, compared to the relationships in Wuthering Heights (although many disagree, and think it’s vice-versa!) and that Jane was more a fragment of Charlotte’s imagination of how she wanted to be. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, because that’s what fiction and literature is all about. I just felt that Wuthering Heights was that bit more personal than Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre is a good influence to anyone who’s gone through bad times, to show that you can get through him or her, easily, just like her. Jane Eyre is a book you can never bore of, and you really can read it several times, and enjoy, and appreciate it more and more each time. Even though I’ve made out a bit in this review it’s bad, by giving some serious criticisms, it’s not at all. Anything compared to the great work of Charlotte’s sister – Emily – is certainly going to loose in my eyes, no matter what. Jane Eyre would certainly crop up on my top ten favourite books of all time, and it certainly deserves to be on the Big Read final.
Jane Eyre is one of the books everyone needs to experience in their lives. It’s wonderfully written, had a great, a happy ending and a real lesson in it. Charlotte received better press for Jane Eyre, than either of her sisters. Emily received awful press, and Wuthering Heights was classes as the “worst book ever written”. Again, I think this is because Emily sort of broke the rules, and Charlotte stuck to them. So, give it a go, and appreciate it for what it is. I loved it. It’s still no Wuthering Heights, though!
[Bronte Fact: Emily Bronte had completed her second novel before her death, and after her death her publisher wrote to Charlotte, and asked her to forward on the copy of the book (the only copy). Charlotte, upset that her dead sister would receive more bad press for her second novel than her first, threw it on the fire, to save her from hurting further. Just think, there could’ve been a second Emily Bronte novel. Was it jealousy or love of a sister? I’ll go with love of a sister!]
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: A great classic, good plot, wonderful characters, happy ending Disadvantages: A little melodramatic in places, could be considered old-fashioned
Dec 4th, 2003
exceptional by (16%):
very helpful by (80%):
helpful by (4%):
