Reader: I no longer love him......

I ‘m re- reading Jane Eyre for my book club. I studied it at O’ level and loved it then in fact it became my favourite book. I used to be able to quote passages of it and of course I was in love with Mr Rochester.

I think I’ve read it once since and somehow , I don’t know why,  but other novels have pushed it out of the way. There was a sense that I grew out of it.

 I ‘ve never had the urge to teach it and haven’t got a clue what its themes are except the gothic features.

In a way I’m reading it as a grown up and a cynical one at that. I do love the way it gallops along . Film versions have tended to distort my memory of certain scenes, for example Helen Burns is not made to stand out in the rain as  a punishment.

I’m picking up on the feminist sections of the novel. There is a lengthy paragraph in which Jane or indeed Charlotte complains about the social seclusion of females this is  also evinced in Jane’s desperate need to travel and see the world.

However this is rather contradicted by her use of ‘ My master ‘  when referring to Rochester to denote her love for him but also  as an awareness of her social status with regard to him.

I actually like the character of Jane , her passion and her courage at standing  by her principals. But Mr Rochester, well half way though and I am not in love with him any more. In fact he is very difficult to make out. Going on the hints about his past I find his courtship of Jane confusing , the tormenting with Blanches Ingram and the quizzing to find if Jane loves him. It may well be that he is as shy and unsure of her feelings and treading a fine line .

I find the gothic elements a bit clunky. I know Jane is naïve but it is convenient that she is from a generation of biddable women and of course she is unworldly and very young. Today most girls’ curiosity would have had them up that passage and into the room and none of your nonsense.

In a sense it is a very gothic novel dealing with horrendous sins of the past that lead to extreme behaviour and serious psychological scars. The novel gets away with its screams in the night and the mysterious Grace Poole   because CB has set the novel both inside and outside the real world , Thornfield being so isolated.