Jane Eyre (Signet Classics) by Charlotte Bront? Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Jane Eyre (Signet Classics)
Book Review: Charlotte Bronte is too loquacious
Summary: 1 Stars
Jane Eyre is a perfect example of someone with too many things to say. What could be said in two pages is instead said in five to ten. The book's length could be cut in half at least. All the extra language creates a boring atmosphere that puts me to sleep. If someone has a point they want to get across, they should just spit it out. Book Review: I had expected a bit more...
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a 14-year-old girl and a novice towards 19th century British lit. I've never read an Austen and I cannot compair this book to Wuthering Heights (as I have never read that one either). I can only offer my less than expert opinion.
This book was very enjoyable, at times. Until Mr. Rochester shows up, however, the book is very slow. The heroine grows on you quickly, so it makes the reading more fun. Jane is likeable, and I certainly cared more and more about her as the book progressed. I liked how blunt she could be at times and how stubborn. She displayed a great deal of strengh and determination, in a tough world, without the gifts of beauty and fortune. Jane has to make it on her own steam, and I think that a lot of modern girls could learn from her example.
The story line with Mr. Rochester's crazy wife is a bit random, but very interesting none-the-less, and it added a layer of mystery to the plot.
The ending of this book irked me the most, however, because (without giving it away) everything sort of falls into place. This bugged me because, up until then, Jane had to overcome issues and, in the end, her happiness was more or less handed to her.
My one other complaint is that dear Jane Eyre likes to ramble about God and life and whatever else she sees fit to ramble about. It is dull dull dull, as the young girl muses on and on in her own head and we have to sit through it.
I still very much liked the book though, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting little romance with an awesome heroine.
Book Review: A wonderful love story
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow. This is such a great book. I wish I hadn't waited so long to read it. Once I picked it up, it was almost impossible to put down. Unlike other almost stuffy and boring books like Pride and Predjudice, this was an exciting thriller. I loved the part when Mr. Rochester asked Jane to marry him. On the whole, this is a brilliant novel. While some parts were unrealistic, in my opionion, they only made the story better. I would definatly reccomend this to everyone, especially girls!!!Book Review: Not All It's Cracked Up to Be
Summary: 3 Stars
Don't get me wrong, I love nineteenth century British literature as much as anyone. This book, however, is mediocre at best. The symbolism is blatant and contrived to the point of being distracting. In fact, the whole story is extremely contrived, even for a romance. Neither are Charlotte's characters endearing enough to make the novel worthwhile. Jane, Rochester, and Adele are all a bit annoying rather than charming or good or even evil. And I have no idea why this novel would be considered Gothic, the only thing that qualifies that idea is all the ridiculous magic that's going on. Actually, the second half of the novel reads more like an Austen husband hunt with a little bit of weirdness thrown in.
The Lowood section is redeeming, however. The description smacks of Dickens, chiding the English for their treatment of the helpless. The characters of the Brocklehursts are beautifully rendered hypocrites.
Emily's Wuthering Heights is by far the better read if you're after a Bronte. All of her characters have depth so that even the villains become loved. Wuthering Heights is also fairly contrived and full of obvious symbolism, but unlike Jane Eyre, the mechanics of the story add to it rather than distracting from it. Above all, the pathos and darkness are delightful, especially coming from a nineteenth century British woman. Charlotte herself wrote in the preface to WH that she didn't understand why Emily had to write something so dark. My opinion is that Charlotte could have used a little bit of that darkness herself. Read WH if you want something really complex to savor; JE just makes a good beach read.
Book Review: An unforgettable character
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the things that I liked most about "Wuthering Heights", by Charlotte Bronte's sister Emily, was the "scenery", the way in which the author conveyed a weather, an opressive environment, a climate of tension and impending doom. In Jane Eyre this too happens, but in a different way. For one thing, the characters move around more and it is not always foggy and rainy. You can actually see the novel like a film, and feel the damp air and the ominous silence.
"Jane Eyre" tells the story of a woman, since her childhood. The orphaned daughter of a poor Anglican priest, she goes to live with his uncle and aunt, but the man soon dies and she is left to live under the iron fist of the aunt, a horrible woman with horrible kids who torment Jane constantly. Of course, we get only her version, since the book is narrated in the first person. After an incident when Jane is left to terrorize in the "red room", where her uncle died and where she fears his ghost will appear, she gets out of control and sent to an orphanatory. A brief digresson is worth here: ever since she is a child, Jane shows enormous self-assurance and pride. Her strong character refuses to be mistreated, and she reacts even violently to injustice. Her personality will grow through the novel, giving her the endurance to sustain repeated blows of fate. So she goes to the orphanatory, where after a period of incredible suffering and mistreatment, she finds a home and a friend in one of the school teachers (a young woman). She becomes a teacher herself, and when she's 18 she feels the time to fly away has come, so she advertises in a newspaper as a tutor for children. She receives a positive answer and moves to a manor house far in the countryside, the typical Bronte scene in the moors. The job consists in teaching a young French girl, with whom she develops a strong, if not too intimate, bond. But, and it's a big but, there is a mystery. The girl is not (at least not legally) the manor's lord's daughter. He's not even there when Jane is hired. He's supposed to be a stern, unpredictable man near his forties called Mr. Rochester. Finally the man appears, and he and Jane slowly develop a strange relationship. He's initially cold and sarcastic, but somehow he becomes impressed by the girl's strong character, ability for irony, and her unwillingness to be defeated. As time goes by, the other mystery of the house starts to intrigue Jane: in the third floor there's a locked room, from where sometimes come, muffled, a hysterical laughter and incoherent and incomprehensible words. Jane is led to believe it's one of the servants, an efficient but "strange" person. Subsequent episodes not worth revealing in a review slowly happen, and believe me they are terrifying, Gothic and violent. Little by little Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester, but it takes time for it to dawn upon her, and at some point, when she realizes, she realizes too taht she has no chance. He's rich, she's a poor thing without a name, heritage or fortune. She thinks he's going to marry a beautiful and arrogant woman from the neighborhood. One day, the horrible aunt gets terminally sick, and Jane is sent for. She shows remarkable ability for forgiveness and stands by her aunt's side until the witch finally dies. When she comes back to Mr. Rochester's house, she will find her Fate, which I won't spoil for you.
This rare novel is a jewel. First, because of the perfect construction of the character, indeed a person. Even though unbelievable coincidences happen sometimes in the novel, Jane is created so well that she is totally fleshed out before us. She is rather plain and short, a tiny, seemingly insignificant woman. But in truth she happens to be charming, funny, a little shy but courageous to the point of recklesness. She has a penetrating and acid sense of humor. Jane's life is an example of braveness, of the truly free individual creating his or her own destiny. Sometimes you just want to take her in your arms and comfort her, only to receive a bitter comment. At the time the novel was published, it raised eyebrows for the uncondescending presentation of an independent woman, always figthing for her rights and conscious of her being a free spirit, slave to no one. Jane is easily on of the best created character is all literature. For people like us, usually living in big noisy cities, experiencing life in the moors is a refreshing, even if sometimes terrifying, thing.
Finally, "Jane Eyre", like "Wuthering Heights", is totally original literature. It comes from the fantasies and dreams of a woman who, like her sisters, lived practically isolated from the outer world, from the inelligentsia and from any literary or political circles. The Brontes were girls from the wild, and lived tragic and Gothic lives which get greatly reflectd in their books. Excellent.