A review by pascalthehoff
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

emotional reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

What it takes for a man in the 1800s to become marriage material… At least for a woman with principles, like Jane Eyre is one.

Like few other female characters in 19th century literature, Jane Eyre understands the  complex effects inherent to the patriarchal power imbalance between men and women. She has a natural sense for looking even through those men who, at a moment of loving rapture, genuinely mean only good for her. She uncovers the deeper implications of what a commitment to marriage would mean for a woman in her position at any given time in the story.

Read with the historical context in mind, Jane Eyre as a novel is not only fascinatingly prescient; it also reveals some unique proto-feminist shortcomings where Jane clearly didn‘t know her theory AT ALL, but made the right decisions for other reasons anyway.

Another very 19th century thing is how chatty the novel is. I like the atmosphere that the lush descriptions of scenery create, as well as the depth of character carved out through neverending reflective dialogue… I just don‘t always like the active process of trodding through all that.

These romantic lengths are at least well-written for what they are. But there were other authors who did it way better and those who understood not to get too carried away in the first place.