Absolute Classic
|
To put it quite simply: this novel is wonderful. The passion at its core, whether that be Jane's struggle against her Aunt or her turbulent love affair with Mr Rochester, is always thrilling and bears repeated reading well. While you may not always agree with Jane's actions/thoughts/reasoning from a modern point of view the novel exercises a sufficient pull on your powers of empathy to render this a very minor niggle. The novel is full of wonderful imagery and symbolism to make this a wonderfully rich text. This version contains some helpful notes on the text, an appendix of reviews that greeted the work on it's original publication and some 'mini-essays' by Stevie Davies which includes an interesting section on the politics of the novel.
All in all, a must buy.
|
|
It's not original and I have no sympathy for Jane
|
Does anyone else just want to smack Jane in the gob and tell her to sort her life out and stop falling for entierly inappropriate men who have their insane ex-wives locked up in the attic?
It's a good book but I will always consider it to be a rip-off of "A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family" by Le Fanu - which went on to be expanded into the infinately superior "The Wyvern Mystery" a few years after "Jane Eyre" was published. All of that said - we can all relate to the first Mrs Rochester - we've all be cast aside by ex's in favour of someone else - though we've not all be locked up in the attic, we do know why she's so angry.
|
|
Only four stars because it's not as good as Villette
|
This is a great book, bristling with anarchy, anger and rebellion. It is so unusual for a Victorian novel that even now, reading it all this time on, it still has the power to shock. Jane spends the entire book upsetting decorum, railing against her fate and succumbing to her desires. It's absolutely fascinating to see so many Victorian taboos being broken.
Someone mentioned that the book is long. The Victorian convention was for the triple decker novel, which is basically three modern sized novels in one. This is why there are almost no short Victorian novels, so if you're looking for snappy reads, try a different era.
I for one, think that this book is just about perfect. It is tautly written, suspenseful despite the length, and pacy. It is full of cliff hangers and drama, and you always want to know what happens next. The ghostly, supernatural element is done brilliantly, both with the episode at the beginning with Jane in the Red Room, and the episodes with Bertha Mason once Jane arrives at Thornfield Hall.
The basic plot is that Jane, an orphan child, is dumped on unwilling and unloving relatives who make her life a misery. She in turn makes their lives a misery, and is peremptorily packed off to boarding school where amidst great trials and tragedy she becomes a governess. Her first job takes her to Thornfield Hall where she meets the wonderfully brooding anti-hero, Rochester. They fall in love, and things go horribly wrong from thereon in.
I must have read this book at least half a dozen times, and it never ceases to be a pleasure. There is always something new to find. For students, I recommend reading it alongside Gilbert and Gubar's seminal critical work, The Mad Woman in the Attic. It is a revelation. I also recommend reading it alongside Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, which was published in the 1950's and deals with the back story for Bertha Mason. It adds such depth to the work I guarantee you will need to read it again afterwards.
|
|
|
My Favorite Novel
|
Jane Eyre is a beautiful novel, wrote in the style of an autobiography which allows the reader to gain an intense interest in Jane's thoughts and feelings. The novel is about a orphaned young girl who endures cruelty and heartache at the hands of her aunt and cousins, and her desire for freedom and independance. I don't want to give too much away, but Jane takes a position as governess at thornfield hall, where she finds love with her employer Rochester. However all is not what it seems... leading Jane to question her morality.
A beautifully written novel, which I found unable to put down, and found myself thinking about even whilst not actually reading the book. Truly Magical
|
|
|
Wonderful. More realistic than Austen and (whispered) probably better
|
I loved this book, with its beautiful language that entangles you in a thicket of heart ache and socially inappropriate attraction. I strongly recommend this excellent edition which contains wonderful "extras" such as an introduction etc, though if you'd rather the book and nothing but the book I suggest you get the Penguin Red Classics edition ISBN: 9780141028163.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada