Vessey's Reviews > Jane Eyre

SPOILERS

I dedicate this review to my dear friend Jeffrey. jeffrey, you are incredible friend and a writer and you should never, ever change.

Jane and Mr. Rochester

More than once I have come across criticism on Charlotte Bronte for fully failing to understand Jane Austen. Charlotte declares her incapable of passion. And while I cannot agree with this assessment, after my second reading of ‘Jane Eyre’ I do understand why someone like Chatlotte Bronte sees someone like Jane Austen this way. If Lizzie Bennet is a breath fresh air, charming and witty, Jane is force of nature. In the face of a storm Lizzie will be next to you, encouraging you and consoling you, while Jane will grab you by the hands, look you in the eyes and tell you “It’s over. You’re going down. Face it and do it right” Jane carries herself through light and darkness in equally graceful way. I may disagree with some of her views, yet, I am completely enthralled and mesmerized by her strength, by her determination to fight for herself, and the passion with which she defends her beliefs, regardless of whether I agree with them or not.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."

Jane proved to me that freedom and free will are not the same thing. Does the slave, the captive, the sick one, the lonely one, have a free will? We are all captives in some way, we are dependant and we all suffer. Some more than others. Free will doesn’t go away with freedom. No walls, no humiliations and atrocities can devour it. I shall quote my friend Hades “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ Even in the face of most horrendous circumstances we have the choice, the free will, to decide whether we shall let our identity, our core, the sense of meaning, burn out along with our happiness, or we shall keep remembering that there is always tomorrow. Jane remembers, Jane hopes, Jane believes. Jane cares. I will never understand those who consider Catherine the personification of passion and free human spirit, and Jane just a meek, boring, insipid girl. Catherine is passionate about nothing and no one else but Heathcliff. And even this single source of passion doesn’t prove strong enough. She lets go of him and voluntarily confines herself into miserable marriage and devotes her existence to a life of bland luxury, lies and petty rivalries that make neither her, nor anyone close to her happy. This isn’t the face of passion and freedom. Jane is passionate about Mr. Rochester, about women's position, moral, religion, education. About people and the world in general. She has a really big scope. One that Catherine lacks. She knows herself well enough to know that being entraped in a relationship that goes against her instincts would ruin her. It is people endowed with passion and bravery that dare to throw away the shroud of the common, to peel the veneer and see what’s inside. She breaks the rules. She cares nothing for customs, social norms and others’ opinion. Her conscience is her only guide. Jane is adventurer. She longs for “the wind to howl more wildly, the gloom to deepen to darkness, and the confusion to rise to clamour”.

"I believed in the existence of other and more vivid kinds of goodness, and what I believed in I wished to behold. Who blames me? Many, no doubt; and I shall be called discontented. I could not help it: the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes."

And this longing makes her to break free from prejudice, to remember that “women feel just as men feel; It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.” It makes her brave enough to have a relationship with an older, prominent, enigmatic, sarcastic, dominant, demanding man, even though many who have been victims of suppression and abuse would see such position as just another of its faces. Yet, she gives into it. She dares explore the forbidden territory, to jump in the deep without a safety net, and knowing that if it fails, there will be a hell to pay. At the time having a relationship with the boss wasn’t as easy as it is today.

"My eyes were drawn involuntarily to his face; I could not keep them under control. I looked, and had an acute pleasure in looking, - a precious yet poignant pleasure; pure gold, with a steely point of agony: a pleasure like what the thirst-perishing man might feel who knows the well to which he has crept is poisoned, yet stoops and drinks divine draughts nevertheless."

Temptation. It is a powerful force and for a woman like Jane, endowed with rare sensitivity and sensuality, it is an even greater one. Jane is modest and calm, but on the inside she is full of "life, fire, feeling”. And she is confident enough to not feel the need to demonstrate and parade her sexuality. As Marguerite Duras says in “The Lover”, “You didn’t have to attract desire. Either it was in the woman who aroused it or it didn’t exist”. Just like she doesn’t feel the need to prove how strong she is. Her mild, calm nature is not a sign of resignation, but a sign of deep inner peace. Fervour and boldness are not the only weapons one might possess. Jane isn’t about effects, but results. She speaks little and calmly, but smartly. Two quiet words, said in the right way and at the right time, have a bigger effect than the most intense and colorful declaration. Everyone can attract attention by being bold and flirtatious, everyone can defend themselves by using strong language and even force. But how many of us can achieve those things without even trying? Jane’s strength and beauty are deeply intrinsic. They are part of her, and not something she needs to evoke. They provoke fear in the cruel, sanctimonious, narrow-minded Mrs. Reid and Mr. Brocklehurst, mollify the innate coarseness of Betsy, gain the favour of Mirss Temple, Diana and Mary Rivers, and the affection and respect of Edward Rochester and John Rivers. I shall quote Mr. Rochester himself.

"To women who please me only by their faces, I am the very devil when I find out they have neither souls nor hearts - when they open to me a perspective of flatness, triviality, and imbecility, coarseness, and ill-temper: but to the clear eye and eloquent tongue, to the soul made of fire, and the character that bends but does not break - at once supple and stable, tractable and consistent - I am ever tender and true."

He understands and describes her character perfectly.

With all said, Jane isn’t perfect. She has her inner struggles. She questions her principles, she suffers the temptations and dilemmas we all do. It takes her a lot to learn to handle her strong emotions. Both negative and positive. When she is faced with the same dilemma that haunts the protagonist of “Notes From the Underground”,

“Which is better – cheap happiness or lofty suffering?”

she is very tempted to choose what she perceives to be an immoral act, disregard of her most important values. Her inner struggle at those moments will stay with me. It touched me very deeply.

"I have talked, face to face, with what I reverence, with what I delight in, - with an original, a vigorous, an expanded mind. I have known you and it strikes me with terror and anguish to feel I absolutely must be torn from you for ever. I see the necessity of departure; and it is like looking on the necessity of death."

In the end she adheres to her chosen path. But despite her choice of ”lofty suffering”, Jane is not judgmental and self-righteous. She proves exactly how gentle her heart is and how deep her mind when she is faced with Mr. Rochester point of view regarding relationships and the sanctity of marriage. She doesn’t share his view, yet, she isn’t scandalized, indignant or angry. She actually sees the sense in what he tells her, despite not agreeing to it. I think it is rare to be able to understand and accept an opposite point of view without sharing it. Time and experience have taught me that two opposite views can be equally valid and truthful. This is a woman able to see nuances. All said about Jane’s depth can be said about Edward Rochester too. I will never forget these words:

"Never was anything at once so frail and so indomitable. I could bend her with my finger and thumb: and what good would it do if I bent, if I uptore, if I crushed her? Consider that eye, defying me, with more than courage - with a stern triumph. It is you, spirit - with will and energy, and virtue and purity - that I want: not alone your brittle frame."

It only shows how well they know and understand each other. (Unlike Heathcliff and Cathy) The harmony they find in their disharmony proves the veracity of his earlier words:

"It is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, - you’d forget me."

The first sentence anyway. As the plot progresses, we see that, like in every great love story, nobody forgets no one. The way they bear their separation only supports his claim about the deep affinity between them. (sighing)

Jane and John Rivers

The other austere, dominant male presence in Jane’s life. He must be one of the most fascinating characters I have come across. He may not be the man you would want as a best friend or to marry to, but I find him incredibly exciting and thought provoking. I shall quote myself. Here’s what I say in my review of “Inferno”

”I would always choose the sinner who sins, but also forgives, over the saint who never sins, but never forgives either”

The juxtaposition between John Rivers and Edward Rochester really instills life into those words. Charlotte Bronte seems to have believed the same thing, judging by the way she has constructed those two characters. And Jane somehow balances their features in herself. She possesses some of the convictions and prejudices of John Rivers. She is deeply religious and despite generally being able to see nuances, in some aspects, just like his, her view is too black and white. She too is used to very simple, moderate life, she too feels the need to help others. Only, unlike him, she realizes that in some aspects the best way to take care of others is to, first and foremost, take care of yourself. And this is where once again we witness her ability and willingness to see nuances. Unlike John Rivers, she realizes that when an idea, no matter how noble, turns into an obsession, might turn the devotee into someone as – and even more – dangerous than many egotists, opportunists and criminals out there. Rochester too is an austere, harsh man, but unlike John Rivers, he understands the other side too. He’s also full of love and tenderness and generosity. Not John Rivers, though.

"What struggle there was in him between Nature and Grace in this interval, I cannot tell: only singular gleams scintillated in his eyes, and strange shadows passed over his face. He is a good and a great man; but he forgets, pitilessly, the feelings and claims of little people, in pursuing his own large views. It is better for the insignificant to keep out of his way, lest, in his progress, he should trample them down"

John Rivers, albeit good and great man – as Jane herself refers to him – is tainted by the fatal weakness of seeing people as just a big herd and himself as the shepherd who needs to lead and support it. He fails to see them as individual human beings, which is good neither for them, nor for himself. He is ready to sacrifice himself and everyone else he deems necessary to achieve his grand dream. He has a big heart, but a narrow scope. He struggles with every genuine feeling that comes to him.

"You are original, and not timid. There is something brave in your spirit, as well as penetrating in your eye; but allow me to assure you that you partially misinterpret my emotions. I declare, the convulsion of the soul. That is just as fixed as a rock, firm set in the depths of a restless sea. Know me to be what I am - a cold hard man."

He is fanatic to the very core of his being and so lacking of confidence and self-esteem that he believes himself worthless without religion. To Jane religion is a dear friend helping her to keep her hope alive and make hard choices. It is essential part of her personality, but she sees it as something separated from her. She had her marvelous qualities even before turning to it. However, John Rivers sees his religious self as the only self that is of any worth. He affirms nothing else.

"You have taken my confidence by storm, and now it is much at your service. I am simply, in my original state - stripped of that blood-bleached robe with which Christianity covers human deformity - a cold, hard, ambitious man. My ambition is unlimited: my desire to rise higher - insatiable. I watch you with interest, but not because I deeply compassionate what you have gone through, or what you still suffer."

His words show that he too is possessed by a deep passion. But it is a cold flame that inflames it. His goal is noble, but not his ways. He rejects his individuality and that of others, the idea of happiness and self-indulgence. He forgets that every love is first and foremost love for the self. It is from this love that our love for others emanates. If we give up on ourselves, we give up on everyone else. If all you do is just give and give and sacrifice and sacrifice yourself, one day you will find that you have run out of substance and you have nothing left to give. And you will be gone, unable to help anyone with anything. And it will happen quickly. As it really does happen with him. But, as Jane herself proves, if you use your goodness and generosity sparingly enough and not forget yourself, you will be able to preserve yourself and therefore help others for a longer period and in a more quality way. Sometimes the best way to be strong is to let yourself be weak. I choose weak, but long-burning candle over bright and short-burning one. Jane is not as free-thinking as Rochester in some regards, but she does share his warmth, his willingness to forgive, the flexibility of his mind, his dream of happy and content life. She admits her own – and his – importance. It is always hard to decide how much to give to others and how much to keep to ourselves. It’s the hardest balance to keep. The one between the self and the world.

With all said, I do believe that John Rivers, cold as he was, in his own way did love her. But he was too absorbed by his overblown idea of humanity and sacrifice and his refusal to see people as anything else than helpless victims and himself and Jane as the necessary sacrifice laid on the sacred alter and soon to be consumed. For awhile Jane is tempted. For awhile he is as big a temptation as Rochester. In the end though her spirit prevails, she breaks free, she remembers who she truly is and whom she needs to be with. The ending brought me so much happiness. I still stand by my claim that Mr. Rochester is the sweetest marshmallow of a man I have come across. And Jane agrees with me. Or, maybe I should say, I agree with her. This is one of my most favourite novels and, in some ways, the favourite. It was the book that made me realize that simplicity and depth don’t mutually exclude each other. It is a simple story, but it tells us so much. And Jane herself, she doesn’t possess the grayness we all appreciate so much in characters and consider to be making them deeper and more interesting. In this regard Jane is not complex – she is perfectly good, kind and amiable girl – but she is a deep character that speaks to me from the distance of 178 years. And I hear her voice. She exhorts me to be compassionate, to be strong in the face of adversity, to be equally kind to myself and others, to love myself and others willingly and openly, without shame, without regret, without reserve. She remains a quiet power in my consciousness that I will never separate with. Thank you, Jane.

Read count: 2

P.S. My only regret is that I didn’t provide Mr. Rochester with enough attention. I feel that I should have explored his character more thoroughly, so this review will probably go through a substantial redaction at some point. Otherwise it was a really nice experience.