Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

3 reviews

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes

I have never known the power of brooding before now.

It truly was so sad to read the tale of a girl/woman so desperate for love and kindness that she becomes a ride or die as soon as someone shows her any affection.  When she begged her aunt on her deathbed-- and to be turned away!  The audacity.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was the first book I have read from one of the Brontë sisters. I did not know anything about what this book was about prior to picking it up, and I definitely think that not knowing anything really aided in my enjoyment. 
"Jane Eyre" follows a young girl, Jane Eyre, throughout the majority of her life. When Jane was very young, her parents passed away, and her loving uncle took her in, despite her aunt's desire to leave Jane to find her own way. Not too long after, her uncle passes away as well, and Jane is left in a home where she is unwanted, and her aunt is plotting to be rid of her. Jane is sent away to a miserable school for girls where she spends the rest of her childhood as a student and become a teacher for two years. She then moves on to be a governess and continues to bravely face the adversity a young woman orphan faces in these challenging times. 
If you are looking for a classic that will make you laugh, cry, be consumed by anger, and that makes you believe in love, this is the book for you! I was not expecting to be so sucked into Jane's story, but I was. Jane is the epitome of a strong woman; she is smart, confident, and willing to do whatever she needs to in order to keep her life moving forward. Every time Jane seemed to get some solid footing and make moves that would better her seemingly dreadful life, something outside of her control would arise and foil her latest venture. Jane is such a relatable character, even today. 
This quickly became one of my favorite classics, and I look forward to reading more of the Brontë sisters. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I obtained a vintage copy of this book in primary school. I started reading it and then conceded ground, fatigued by its laborious plot. However, I returned to it five years later with more experience in life behind me and finished it.

Jane Eyre exhibits a disconcerting reality of the Victorian era from a feminine perspective. Hemmed in by society, orphaned and thrust to the ravages of fate but still retaining her Christian virtue and fighting for her beliefs Jane traverses a world opposed to everything she stands for.

But Jane is an epitome of religious virtue and refuses to despair ultimately traversing against all odds.

Overall, Bronte's narrative is labyrinthine. But it is also radical in how it conveys a sense of progression to the reader by the second half of the novel which reads like a Victorian thriller. With the hint of the supernatural to it, Jane Eyre is as tantalizing today as it was when it first fell upon Bronte's unsuspecting England.

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