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A review by rebeccazh
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
I loved reading this so much. I can't believe it took me so long to read it.
It is rebelliously feminist; way ahead of its time. My favorite thing was the realism with which the novel is written. Jane's emotions/feelings/thoughts are so realistic and detailed. It was so enjoyable to read. I grew to really like, admire, and esteem Jane. She sticks to her morals no matter how hard it is -- the setbacks and misfortunes that she encounters don't knock her down, but refine and strengthen her beliefs. I was overseas when I read the last part where Jane had to go around and beg, and I couldn't help shuddering in sympathy. I found Rochester to be an arrogant asshole but he is a character who is so very intriguing to read about. LOL he's a Byronic hero -- the Byronic hero is the original 'bad boy with a heart-of-gold' trope amirite. Bertha, though. I just did a postcolonial mod this semester and I can almost hear the postcolonialists pouncing on her character -- I'm looking forward to reading [b:Wide Sargasso Sea|25622780|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453021061s/25622780.jpg|142647].
I was talking to my friend about this book, and I was surprised to find that she disagreed with Jane's decision to leave Rochester. My friend thinks that Jane is hypocritically and unrealistically clinging to some perceived moral high ground, because in the end, she goes back to Rochester. Her reasoning is this: no one knows Bertha exists, Rochester is rich and able to support the both of them, and both Rochester and Jane love each other, so there is no reason for Jane to leave him, and that it is kinda stupid of her to, really. What if they both change and can no longer reconcile? He'd be the one that got away, since he was so perfect for her. She's foolish to uphold some perceived moral high ground when she should seize the opportunity/reality.
As we were discussing, I started thinking of Jane Austen's novels. [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is written about 30 years after [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926]. I'm amazed. I couldn't think of two novels more different. Aside from the writing and the focus of the authors and everything, I was thinking that in Austen's world, wealth/money/property is a big a reason for marriage -- I mean, Lizzie seeing the Pemberley estates was part of her process of transformation/falling in love with Darcy. Austen also supports social structure, to some extent; she critiques it, but ultimately, she thinks we should keep to it, because it is flawed, but there is still value to it. It made me really appreciate how ahead of its time [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is. Jane doesn't care about Rochester's money, and the novel criticizes the social structure in a way that suggests there's little worth in it.
Soooo I really loved reading this book. It was so good.
It is rebelliously feminist; way ahead of its time. My favorite thing was the realism with which the novel is written. Jane's emotions/feelings/thoughts are so realistic and detailed. It was so enjoyable to read. I grew to really like, admire, and esteem Jane. She sticks to her morals no matter how hard it is -- the setbacks and misfortunes that she encounters don't knock her down, but refine and strengthen her beliefs. I was overseas when I read the last part where Jane had to go around and beg, and I couldn't help shuddering in sympathy. I found Rochester to be an arrogant asshole but he is a character who is so very intriguing to read about. LOL he's a Byronic hero -- the Byronic hero is the original 'bad boy with a heart-of-gold' trope amirite. Bertha, though. I just did a postcolonial mod this semester and I can almost hear the postcolonialists pouncing on her character -- I'm looking forward to reading [b:Wide Sargasso Sea|25622780|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453021061s/25622780.jpg|142647].
I was talking to my friend about this book, and I was surprised to find that she disagreed with Jane's decision to leave Rochester. My friend thinks that Jane is hypocritically and unrealistically clinging to some perceived moral high ground, because in the end, she goes back to Rochester. Her reasoning is this: no one knows Bertha exists, Rochester is rich and able to support the both of them, and both Rochester and Jane love each other, so there is no reason for Jane to leave him, and that it is kinda stupid of her to, really. What if they both change and can no longer reconcile? He'd be the one that got away, since he was so perfect for her. She's foolish to uphold some perceived moral high ground when she should seize the opportunity/reality.
As we were discussing, I started thinking of Jane Austen's novels. [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is written about 30 years after [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926]. I'm amazed. I couldn't think of two novels more different. Aside from the writing and the focus of the authors and everything, I was thinking that in Austen's world, wealth/money/property is a big a reason for marriage -- I mean, Lizzie seeing the Pemberley estates was part of her process of transformation/falling in love with Darcy. Austen also supports social structure, to some extent; she critiques it, but ultimately, she thinks we should keep to it, because it is flawed, but there is still value to it. It made me really appreciate how ahead of its time [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is. Jane doesn't care about Rochester's money, and the novel criticizes the social structure in a way that suggests there's little worth in it.
Soooo I really loved reading this book. It was so good.