Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
By
My Rating: 4
Genre: Classics, Historical Fiction
Finished on: 18th Jun, 2020
Every time I pick up a classic, I always vow to read it with determination, aiming not to take pauses in between and suddenly go into hiatus.
So when I started Jane Eyre, I almost, almost kept up to that promise, until Idk what happened and I ended up taking a break :'D
But I'm glad I read it, and finished it. I had taken about 6+ months to read Emma, and even this one pretty much took that much time considering I started reading this in Jan.
But the point is. I read it. And I liked it!
Yes, I admit the classic writing is way different than the present contemporary one. And the plot is not so much different than the other classics. There's a girl, and the story-line more or less revolves around love, women and marriage.
But this woman, this Jane Eyre, her character impressed me.
I don't call myself a feminist, but I do love it when women empower themselves. And Jane Eyre was one such woman. I loved her character throughout the book, although I do not quite understand how the love suddenly happens between the protagonists within 2-3 meetings in classic books, and extraordinary hard-core love, for that matter, but some instances in the book where Jane stood up for herself, even with the people whom she loved, I knew she's my favourite one.
Her life with her aunt Mrs Reed. Her life in the school she moved to. Wherever she went, she made a lasting impression with people around her.
I was surprised when the story took a thrilling turn when she was in Thornfield Hall. The strange incidents happening around the house at night, they actually made me wonder what's going on, and later we come to know that's because of ex-wife of Mr Rochester, who is apparently a lunatic. Even that was a surprise, Edward Rochester deciding to marry Jane while hiding this big secret. No matter if Bertha (ex wife) is lunatic or not, whether his marriage is still standing or not, Jane deserved to know this truth. And her decision to leave him after knowing the truth was a wise one.
So she leaves Thornfield Hall, Mrs Fairfax and little Adele. Without carrying anyy of her belongings. In reality the probability of one lasting in such state for a long time is nil. But this is classic fiction. Of course she survives. And the door she ends up knocking, in the haggard state she was in, ends up being the residence of her kin! 😛
The moment they took her in, I had a hunch they were her relatives, it just took a couple of chapters for that to get revealed. And when it did, voila, the penniless lady who knocked on the door in a super poor state is now a rich lady after inheriting the pounds left by her late uncle.
How classic :P
Jane, being modest as she is, divides the amount among her cousins, John, Diana and Mary. And when St. John pesters her to marry him (only for his selfish motives for taking her as a companion to India, how ridiculous! ) she then decided where she has to go, back to the love of her life she left behind!
And even this took an interesting turn. She goes to find the Thornfield Hall in ruins, fearing the worst that she has lost everyone who once resided there, but comes to know the tragic tale of how it was burnt down by the ex wife Bertha, who kills herself by falling from the roof too. And Edward, who tried to get her down, and saves the other servants too along the way, gets injured. He loses his one hand, and his eye sight of one eye and barely managing to see from the other. Hearing all this, one might either expect Jane to take pity and visit Edward, or expect her to simply feel sad and walk away.
She did the former. But not quite, she doesn't pity him. But visits him, and despite his state, professes her love again and decides to marry him. And not just marry, she decides to be his eyesight and his hand, and be with and around him every moment of his life.
And she isn't "sacrificing" her life. If she was a submissive woman giving into needs of others (like I had believed for a moment while reading), she would have accepted John's proposal, got married and would be in India long before she had any thought of Mr. Rochester. But here she didn't waste a second, and got married, and lived happily with Edward Rochester. Because he was her true love. (Well, yeah, classic true love)
So she's a woman who knows what decisions to make. She knows where her happiness lies.
And nobody gets to decide anything for her :')
That's Jane Eyre for you.
My favourite quote from the book:
[You'll know why :) ]
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags.
So when I started Jane Eyre, I almost, almost kept up to that promise, until Idk what happened and I ended up taking a break :'D
But I'm glad I read it, and finished it. I had taken about 6+ months to read Emma, and even this one pretty much took that much time considering I started reading this in Jan.
But the point is. I read it. And I liked it!
Yes, I admit the classic writing is way different than the present contemporary one. And the plot is not so much different than the other classics. There's a girl, and the story-line more or less revolves around love, women and marriage.
But this woman, this Jane Eyre, her character impressed me.
I don't call myself a feminist, but I do love it when women empower themselves. And Jane Eyre was one such woman. I loved her character throughout the book, although I do not quite understand how the love suddenly happens between the protagonists within 2-3 meetings in classic books, and extraordinary hard-core love, for that matter, but some instances in the book where Jane stood up for herself, even with the people whom she loved, I knew she's my favourite one.
Her life with her aunt Mrs Reed. Her life in the school she moved to. Wherever she went, she made a lasting impression with people around her.
I was surprised when the story took a thrilling turn when she was in Thornfield Hall. The strange incidents happening around the house at night, they actually made me wonder what's going on, and later we come to know that's because of ex-wife of Mr Rochester, who is apparently a lunatic. Even that was a surprise, Edward Rochester deciding to marry Jane while hiding this big secret. No matter if Bertha (ex wife) is lunatic or not, whether his marriage is still standing or not, Jane deserved to know this truth. And her decision to leave him after knowing the truth was a wise one.
So she leaves Thornfield Hall, Mrs Fairfax and little Adele. Without carrying anyy of her belongings. In reality the probability of one lasting in such state for a long time is nil. But this is classic fiction. Of course she survives. And the door she ends up knocking, in the haggard state she was in, ends up being the residence of her kin! 😛
The moment they took her in, I had a hunch they were her relatives, it just took a couple of chapters for that to get revealed. And when it did, voila, the penniless lady who knocked on the door in a super poor state is now a rich lady after inheriting the pounds left by her late uncle.
How classic :P
Jane, being modest as she is, divides the amount among her cousins, John, Diana and Mary. And when St. John pesters her to marry him (only for his selfish motives for taking her as a companion to India, how ridiculous! ) she then decided where she has to go, back to the love of her life she left behind!
And even this took an interesting turn. She goes to find the Thornfield Hall in ruins, fearing the worst that she has lost everyone who once resided there, but comes to know the tragic tale of how it was burnt down by the ex wife Bertha, who kills herself by falling from the roof too. And Edward, who tried to get her down, and saves the other servants too along the way, gets injured. He loses his one hand, and his eye sight of one eye and barely managing to see from the other. Hearing all this, one might either expect Jane to take pity and visit Edward, or expect her to simply feel sad and walk away.
She did the former. But not quite, she doesn't pity him. But visits him, and despite his state, professes her love again and decides to marry him. And not just marry, she decides to be his eyesight and his hand, and be with and around him every moment of his life.
And she isn't "sacrificing" her life. If she was a submissive woman giving into needs of others (like I had believed for a moment while reading), she would have accepted John's proposal, got married and would be in India long before she had any thought of Mr. Rochester. But here she didn't waste a second, and got married, and lived happily with Edward Rochester. Because he was her true love. (Well, yeah, classic true love)
So she's a woman who knows what decisions to make. She knows where her happiness lies.
And nobody gets to decide anything for her :')
That's Jane Eyre for you.
My favourite quote from the book:
[You'll know why :) ]
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags.
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