Jane Eyre's Everlasting Appeal
This month marks the 164th anniversary of the publication of Charlotte Brontë's immortal Jane Eyre.
Women love Jane—well, a certain kind of women love this heroine. Women
who love Jane Eyre tend to appreciate her backbone. Jane does what needs
to be done, she overcomes outrageous odds and she never gives up—or
gives in to what she knows is not right. Her fans also tend to like
middle-child Anne Eliott in Persuasion or the poor overlooked and overworked Fanny Price of Mansfield Park.Jane is a real plain Jane; not an ugly duckling waiting to bloom. The truly plain know they have other qualities more worthy, but also know well that most people will never notice them. Her whole early life—slipped over in most film versions—shows Jane's real strength, her utter faith in herself, her complete self-reliance.
A lot of men I know hate Jane Eyre; not dislike, not ignore, but actively hate this book. I think the primary reason is Rochester. In my River Song voice, "Spoilers!"...
Read the rest, including those spoilers, over at BBHQ as usual. Feel free to 'like' or 'share' it too. This is how people find my stuff, you know. I rely on you all to be the Relay. You can tell how much I love Jane: the serial's main character is her daughter! Did you realise that? :-) One of the reasons I really enjoyed the recent very gothic film version is that it was totally Jane's story, not focused on the romance as the center. Of course, my fave Rochester will probably always be Toby Stephens.
I can't believe it's Thursday already. This week has been a blur for many reasons. Tomorrow is the Fiction Slam, which I will attend and maybe, just maybe, read at, too. Saturday I'm bound for Dublin. Madness!
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