(Original Review, 1981-01-31)



Ever since my first reading of Jane Eyre I've always viewed it as an account of the indelible effects of emotional abuse, and as such, a very grim book indeed. The novel opens with a recall of the emotional deprivation the 8-year-old Jane receives daily at the hands of her aunt. The story then continues with Jane's time at Lowood School, an institution devoted not so much to teaching the children of paupers, as to teaching them their place in life.

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

What the hell did I just read?

This book is nearly 200-years old, but in case you're like me and know nothing about this book: SPOILERS! You've been warned. :D

This book started out with orphaned Jane living with relative-in-laws who barely put up with her, Jane getting into trouble and being sent to a boarding school and ... wait? This is Jane Eyre and not David Copperfield, right? *checks book* Right. And I can tell because it's much better written, has much more interesting and better developed characters and actually gets to a point eventually. 

It took me a while to get into this one, until I realized the audiobook playback was just too slow to keep my attention and I sped it up to 1.20x. Wanda McFadden does an excellent job narrating and she does Jane's voice especially well, a crucial detail. Plus, the fire was quite an attention-grabber too. And then it got a little meandering for a few more chapters and then Rochester has a room that he can lock people into and they can't get out! THAT'S NORMAL!

At that point, I started to really root for Jane to get the hell out of there, especially as things got even more messed up - and she does! She even stumbles upon a literally found family who treats her well and to whom she can contribute equally, and she gains financial independence to boot! She's scot free! Only she eventually goes back, marries Rochester and lives happily ever after. The End!

I wanted a gif of someone shaking a book upside down as if looking for more pages, but this one works just as well! Because this book ended and I kept waiting. There had to be another chapter, right? One that started with, "Reader, he locked me in the attic."

Though I guess a man locking up his cray-cray Creole wife is totally normal and acceptable behavior for the 1800s. And going after his ward's governess, who is less than half his age and whose name he can't even get right half the time, well that's a time-honored tradition. And who says bigamy can't be romantic? *cough*Outlander*cough* Oh, Janet. I mean Jane, what were you thinking?

I take it we have Ms. Brontë to blame for one of my least favorite tropes: the strong independent woman who falls for the thuggish brute. *sigh* And yet Jane is so astute and headstrong and knows her own mind and ambitions so well, I can't hold it against her. If I had only two options and one of them was Rochester and the other was Rivers, I'd choose Rochester too. 

WAIT! Hear me out! Because Rivers just wanted her as a project, someone to reform and shape into what he wanted her to be, completely disregarding what she wanted and desired, whereas Rochester wanted her for herself. And at least if she ever goes crazy, she'll have the comforting foreknowledge that Rochester will take care of her at home and not send her off to an asylum. Plus, he's infirm and half-blind, so if she really needed to fight him off, she probably could. Silver linings! I has them!

Shhh! Katniss, no. We're all sane here. :) (Also not what I was looking for when I searched for gifs of silver linings, but again, I'll take it.)

I guess feminism and female power only got you so far in the 1800s. In today's world, I like to think that Jane would've told Rivers to screw himself (well, she does here too), forgot all about Rochester, opened her own school and lived happily ever after.

The Professor
In one sense, this is exactly what you would expect from the author of Jane Eyre - a romance in which the characters have no particularly good looks and prize mutual respect, intelligence, education and moral rectitude (according to Charlotte's views on the latter). In every other respect it's rather surprising: it's short; the hero's a bit unpleasant (his faith in national stereotypes is rather obnoxious); there's nothing GofficK or sensationalist to the plot; "happily ever after" is actually described! Nevertheless it could have been shorter, still - way too much time is spent dissing the French and Flemish school-girls to very little purpose except to show our hero as Master in his own class room - and the romance, once a misdirection is passed, is entirely predictable. The real fun comes every time Hunsden intervenes. Sarcastic, sardonic, abusive, interfering, mysterious, possibly revolutionary Hunsden. Charlotte should have written a book about him! Imagine a political thriller by a Bronte! And since there is much here supporting the concept of meritocracy and challenging conventional stratified class roles and social immobility, why not? There are hints here of what Hardy would take up later in the century.

Oh, well - plainly it wasn't to be. I have Shirley and Villette (which apparently reworks much of what is in The Professor) still to go and like Jane Eyre, they are somewhat daunting bricks. I'm actually now more interested in the juvinalia and somewhat curious about the poetry.

Emma
An interesting mystery comes to light just in time for Charlotte to give up writing novels...

The Professor has finished Professing his life story but I'm gonna read the Appendix containing "Emma" before reviewing.

Hunsden meets our heroine and brings out the absolute best in her (and the book)!