Growing Up With Jane

 A (Brief) Critical Exploration into an Adolescence Spent with Jane Eyre

My initial reading of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was like a first chance meeting with the individual destined to be your closest friend. I had no prior knowledge of the Brontë sisters or the novel; I was not instructed or even encouraged to read Jane Eyre. In fact, I checked out the book from my middle school library because it had a high number of Accelerated Reader points and I wanted to have the most AR points in my seventh grade English class. This initial reading led to an adolescence with Jane: the seventh grade book report, the declaration of Jane Eyre as my “favorite book,” several romantic misreadings throughout high school, film adaptations and finally, my most recent reread in an academic setting. Over the years, my understanding of the novel and its heroine has progressed through three stages, the first being my original unadulterated reading centered on Jane’s pursuit for equality in a male driven world. The second phase, influenced by film adaptations, centered on Jane’s relationship with Mr. Rochester and the third circles back to Jane as character and narrator.

I The Book Report: Jane 

The book report is set up as a series of pages, each centered on a different aspect of the book. It begins with a summary of the story and follows with my favorite scene, a description of the main character, the most important scene, and the main problem. Unsurprisingly, my younger analysis of Jane Eyre tends to simplify many of the problems that arise throughout the novel; and yet, there is a repeated emphasis on Jane’s restless desire for equality in her relationships.

As a seventh grader, I designated Jane’s first meeting with Rochester as the “Most Important Scene” in the novel. I write, “When Jane takes a walk, she comes across a stranger who is injured and she helps him back on his horse. Little does she know that the stranger is Mr. Rochester, the master of the house she is a governess at.” At the time, this scene seemed the most important because it depicts Jane’s first meeting with the man whose love and deceptions would become an integral part of her life story. This is a valid point, but there is another noteworthy element in this scene: Rochester is introduced to both the reader and Jane as someone in need of help. Rochester’s dependency de-emphasizes his role as independent master and thus, encourages Jane’s equality to Rochester. The need expressed in this scene also foreshadows Rochester’s final reliance on Jane after the loss of his sight.

My “Favorite Scene” further considers the tension between Jane’s capability for independence and Rochester as master and dependent. I identify the passage as: the scene where “Mr. Rochester, disguised as a fortune teller, pretends to tell Jane’s fortune.” When I was younger, this scene attracted me because of Jane’s ability to withstand Rochester’s deceptive manipulation and his need for Jane on the discovery that Mason has arrived at Thornfield. Rochester asserts himself as master by using his disguise to mislead and control Jane, but as Adrienne Rich writes in her criticism of Jane Eyre, “it is clear…that Rochester is well aware of the strength of Jane’s character and is uneasy as to the outcome of his courtship” (Rich 478). This attitude is reflected in Rochester’s description of Jane’s forehead: “that brow professes to say,—‘I can live alone, if self-respect and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure, born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld’” (Brontë 171). Rochester recognizes Jane’s resolute spirit and then unexpectedly reveals his identity to her, perhaps with the realization that he cannot force her to reveal anything more about herself. After this interaction, Jane tells Rochester that Mason has come to Thornfield and his reaction further reveals his dependence on Jane: “Jane, you offered me your shoulder once before; let me have it now” (Brontë 173). In a moment, Rochester moves from dominant male to dependent with Jane’s arm to steady him.

The contention between Jane’s endeavors for equality and Rochester’s dominance is a theme that runs through my “Favorite Scene” and “Most Important Scene,” and culminates in my establishment of the “Main Problem” of Jane Eyre. The book report reads, “The main problem in Jane Eyre is that Jane is searching for bigger and better things in a world where men are supposed to get the bigger and better things and women are just supposed to kind of sit there.” I come to this conclusion by drawing attention to Jane’s restlessness as she moves from Gateshead, to Lowood, and then to Thornfield. As she leaves Gateshead, Jane looks forward to escaping her abusive relatives and gaining an education. But Lowood School does not make Jane content:

"…the reason for tranquility was no more. My world had for some years been in Lowood: my experience had been of its rules and systems; now I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils" (Brontë 72).

Though Jane does not express a specific desire, she evidently wants more of life. The school’s “rules and systems” have grown wearisome and she decides “to go forth into [the world’s] expanse:” she advertises as a governess and arrives at Thornfield. At the time of my book report, I believed that “Jane is uncomfortable…until she gets to Thornfield Hall.” This notion is not entirely true because, while at Thornfield, Jane reveals her dissatisfaction with living in a male-dominated world:

"Women are supposed to be very calm generally; but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. 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" (Brontë 93).

Jane keenly feels the inferiority and restraint of women during her time; she experiences a longing for “liberty, a new servitude, [and] action”—for equality with men (Rich 477). The solution to this problem comes after Jane flees Thornfield (and Rochester’s temptation) and gains economic independence. Only then is she able to marry Rochester “without sacrificing a grain of her Jane Eyre-ity;” she comes as his equal and by her own free choice, thus finally achieving contentment.

II The 2006 BBC Adaptation: Rochester 

 My worn and dog-eared first copy of Jane Eyre opens precisely to Rochester’s first proposal of marriage—to his “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 his “I love you as my own flesh…I entreat [you] to accept me as a husband” (Brontë 215, 217). While in high school, the 2006 BBC Jane Eyre miniseries rekindled my interest in the story. But instead of rereading Jane Eyre in its entirely, I began rereading several passages over and over again: Rochester’s first proposal, Rochester’s explanation/apology for his first marriage, Rochester’s reunion with Jane. During these years, my original analysis of the novel was replaced with an exceedingly romantic interpretation. Rochester became the passionate and dashing Byronic hero; the main problem became the impediment that delayed his marriage to Jane. In the BBC adaptation, the majority of screen time is given to Jane and Rochester’s relationship and several important scenes are altered. These modifications draw the attention away from Jane’s pursuit for equality by creating a dashing but “simultaneously macho and vulnerable” Rochester (Miller).

By allotting more time to Jane’s season at Thornfield, the miniseries transforms Jane Eyre from the story of Jane’s life to the story of Jane’s romance. Only twenty minutes are given to Jane’s early years at Gateshead and Lowood. Similarly, Jane’s time with St. John Rivers and his sisters is reduced to about forty minutes. The remaining three hours (approximately) are devoted to developing the courtship of Rochester and Jane through scenes like the gypsy in the library.

Instead of having Rochester portray a gypsy woman himself, the adaptation’s Rochester hires a woman to tell his guests’ fortunes while he remains concealed in the library; as a consequence, the scene takes on a light-hearted and sentimental tone. In the novel, Rochester’s motivations are unclear and his conversation with Jane becomes manipulative. When the gyspy/Rochester questions Jane regarding what she thinks about the gentlemen of the house, their conversation follows:

‘You don’t know the gentlemen here? You have not exchanged a syllable with one of them? Will you say that of the master of the house?’ 
‘He is not at home.’ 
‘A profound remark! A most ingenious quibble! He went to Millcote this morning, and will be back here to-night, or to-morrow: does that circumstance exclude him from the list of your acquaintances—blot him, as it were, out of existence?’ 
‘No: but I can scarcely see what Mr. Rochester has to do with the theme you had introduced.’ (Brontë 170).

By asking whether Jane means to “blot [Rochester]…out of existence” because he is not nearby, Rochester, as the gypsy, plays on Jane’s loyalty in an attempt to elicit an emotional response. Jane’s terse and controlled replies show that she is wary of succumbing to these tricks. When Rochester is the gypsy, this conversation appears as a calculated strategy to get Jane to reveal her feelings. In contrast, when a woman is hired to play the role of fortuneteller, Rochester’s deception becomes less connected to him and less misleading. After Jane discovers Rochester listening behind a screen, he calls the exploit an “afternoon’s amusement” and a “diversion” (Jane Eyre). His laughter reveals that his undertaking was merely a playful and harmless act, not to be taken too seriously. Even when Jane chides him for trying to make her “talk nonsense,” he kindly replies, “But how else am I to find out what you think, Jane?” (Jane Eyre). His response turns the scene into a tender moment and causes Jane and the audience to forgive his “playful” scheme.

This scene is one example of how the BBC’s 2006 Jane Eyre simplifies Rochester’s more complex character traits and motivations in order to portray a love story. While the adaptation successfully remains faithful to the larger narrative, its alterations (and surprisingly handsome Rochester) tell a different story than the one I first read as a middle school student. I was taken in by the eloquent and romantic Rochester and in doing so, lost sight of Jane Eyre.

 III Coming Back to Jane 

Eight years after my first reading, I still consider Jane Eyre to be my favorite novel. My most recent rereading has enabled me to move past my “literary crush” on Rochester and once more focus on Jane, as heroine and authoress. Jane the character seeks a means of communicating and engaging as an equal; her story is one of facing and overcoming these problems. Jane the narrator explains and emphasizes her independence of mind, especially through her appeals to “Reader.”

Even though my growing up experiences and emotions are so connected with Jane’s story, reading Jane Eyre through this context gave me a critical eye for looking at my past interpretations of the novel. This autobiographical scrutiny is just another stage in my journey with story. And as Jane looks back at her life through writing, I eagerly look forward to examine my relationship with this novel as I continue to grow and proceed "forth into [the world’s] expanse.”

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Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. Print.

Jane Eyre. Dir. Susanna White. BBC, 2006. DVD.

Miller, Lucasta. “Prim and Improper.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 22 September 2006. Web. 11 December 2011.

Rich, Adrienne. “Jane Eyre: The Temptation of a Motherless Woman.” Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. 469-483. Print.