Sandy. Have you read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I think that's correct? Do you know the book and what it's about?
I rebel! No, I didn't know what that book was about before, but I'll not be reading it! My belief in Rochester is too strong to allow for this version to mar his story. He was just as unloved and uncared for as Jane, while growing up and his future was taken away from him, through the greed of his father and older brother. His integrity and good heart become apparent in his attempts at doing all he can for Bertha and his marriage. Even when he cannot stem the madness, he always cares for her, when he could have abandoned her. I will stand for Rochester, no matter what!!! Did I tell you INFP's are passionately loyal to specific people and causes?
Ok what is now bothering me is that the book has a confirmed place as a classic but as a feminist milestone on the scale of Das Kapital for socialism it doesn't register. Do women meet to secretly to affirm that they are intelligent and lot else on a scale way beyond men? Like a secret revolutionary society. You have Jane. Now you have Helen and Miss Temple and they all seem perfect on a paragon level. I'm only half joking. This is amazing. It doesn't make it unreal but the perfection is something like a manifesto. Be these women! I can't really think of a male counterpoint. In fact it makes the concept of manhood seem complacent compared to this nirvana for young ladies. Yes I know it's cruel. There's an idea in early Christianity of pretty much ignoring the physical aspect of life because all that matters is spirit and that mirrors the school where no one is fed properly and it is justified by bible quotes!
Well, you men got Jesus.
Pretty hard act to follow.
Coming from a religious background, I've been immersed in, "be these women" from the get-go, such as Ruth, Esther, Mary... So when I read about Helen and Miss Temple, they fit in nicely with the impossible heights that were before me. I love Jane more so, because of my own shortcomings. When I quoted her words, "I am no angel..." I did so because I really love that quote!! I needed to know a person like her, who was still good and valued and yet embraced her mere mortality! *sigh of relief, gratitude and happiness!* Does this make a lick of sense? There is a lot of pressure for a naturally obedient and giving child, to live up to high ideals, especially when she's distracted by a dreamy and passionate heart.
Amazing as always. 63 pages in. Just amazing.
Because of your praise of what you've read so far of Brontë and your enthusiasm for what you've heard of John Barry so far, I'm super excited for you and your coming discoveries of these two artists!
I can remember Jane standing on a stool and some cruelty in the film but that isn't what is happening. So I'm even more suspicious of that film. If you are supporting the book by supporting the film I still get it but it doesn't seem right in any way. What am I getting wrong?
That scene is coming...
One of the things I love most about
Jane Eyre (2011) is the way it is adapted and carefully edited. The choices are hard but I believe they, for the most part, are for the best.
In advertising, the rule for a 30 second commercial is, posit one idea, not three, not two, just one. It's all that will be remembered. Whenever I get sad that certain things from the book aren't being covered, I remember this rule. The stool scene is the fastest, most visual way to get across the evil of Brockelhurst. Helen said it best, "He is not a man of God."