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dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just don't know what to do with this book in 2023, knowing and feeling what I now do.
There are parts of it that are beautifully described, where the prose is poetic and lyrical and everything that's good about the Gothic. It's also nice to read a novel that uses so many Gothic tropes without being entirely formulaic. And I still do love Jane's character. It's often frustrating to see her agree with or follow others, but as she says herself, she isn't independent in the way 'girlboss' characters usually are. She is perfectly willing to follow others (and the rules) until they go against her principles, and then she absolutely will not be moved, and I love that about her. I also love how consistent and unique Brontë's characters are.
But the HUGE caveat is the racism and ableism. I could apply the common refrains of 'it was written a long time ago' and 'it's true to the period', but those arguments hold very little weight for me in this case. They're true statements, sure, but they aren't arguments for reading the book. The first two times I read Jane Eyre, I was much less aware of how ableism affects my own life. It would be nice to see myself in Jane, or one of the other sympathetic characters. But I just keep coming back to the fact that I'm far more like Bertha Mason than any of the others, and I hate how she's written away so quickly and easily at the end. Jane points out around halfway through that Rochester is cruel to Bertha, and that her illness is no fault of her own, but even at the end when he repents, he is only sorry for trying to marry two women. He never expresses remorse for how he treated his first wife. I used to really love reading the so-called classics, but the more I understand about my own mental illness, the more their treatment of mad people grates on me. There's no such thing as a perfect book, and I believe there are important things to learn even from stories that make us uncomfortable, but I don't see any reason to subject myself to the negative feelings this book gives me, so I'm not sure I'll ever read it again, despite my fondness for so many aspects of it.
There are parts of it that are beautifully described, where the prose is poetic and lyrical and everything that's good about the Gothic. It's also nice to read a novel that uses so many Gothic tropes without being entirely formulaic. And I still do love Jane's character. It's often frustrating to see her agree with or follow others, but as she says herself, she isn't independent in the way 'girlboss' characters usually are. She is perfectly willing to follow others (and the rules) until they go against her principles, and then she absolutely will not be moved, and I love that about her. I also love how consistent and unique Brontë's characters are.
But the HUGE caveat is the racism and ableism. I could apply the common refrains of 'it was written a long time ago' and 'it's true to the period', but those arguments hold very little weight for me in this case. They're true statements, sure, but they aren't arguments for reading the book. The first two times I read Jane Eyre, I was much less aware of how ableism affects my own life. It would be nice to see myself in Jane, or one of the other sympathetic characters. But I just keep coming back to the fact that I'm far more like Bertha Mason than any of the others, and I hate how she's written away so quickly and easily at the end. Jane points out around halfway through that Rochester is cruel to Bertha, and that her illness is no fault of her own, but even at the end when he repents, he is only sorry for trying to marry two women. He never expresses remorse for how he treated his first wife. I used to really love reading the so-called classics, but the more I understand about my own mental illness, the more their treatment of mad people grates on me. There's no such thing as a perfect book, and I believe there are important things to learn even from stories that make us uncomfortable, but I don't see any reason to subject myself to the negative feelings this book gives me, so I'm not sure I'll ever read it again, despite my fondness for so many aspects of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Classism
Minor: Death, Death of parent