More and more about Jane Eyre

2002-09-30 - 11:27 a.m.

Ho hum.

Sort of a weird weekend. Lots of movies and sleep. Saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding (good), Monsoon Wedding (good), and two versions of Jane Eyre. The first had William Hurt. I just sort of don't like him. Plus Jane had some kind of weird accent. The second has Timothy Dalton. PLus it's a BBC thing, so it's much longer and more detailed, which is better. The Grace Poole is very good, as is the Mrs. Fairfax. I'm actually still in the middle of it.

Anyway -- so that's what I'm up to.

Odd, I think.

Anyway -- JE is an odd book, as I'm sure I've noted. Mr. Rochester is not very nice -- he's rude, and he's actually sort of Ahab-like -- you know, shaking his fist at God, trying to commit bigamy. So you've got all that, and then meek Jane falling in love with him, probably because he's so bad.

But then, of course, Jane is not so meek. She yells at her aunt Reed. She notes that women want a wider sphere. She's passionate. But she is good -- she values her pious and consumptive friend (I've forgotten her name). She won't defy God with Mr. Rochester and become his mistress. But she has a strong sense of herself -- that seems to be the main thing about her. She knows what's right and what isn't -- and although her values are conventional, they seem to be genuinely hers. For instance, she won't go off with St John, because he doesn't love her, and because she thinks cleaning house for Diane and Mary is more important than running off to be a missionary. She's not a hypocrite. Deceit seems to be a big thing -- it's what she's accused of at first. It's what Mr. Rochester is trying to pull off with her -- or is it? There's something about deceit with Adele -- Mr. Rochester doesn't lie about her (although perhaps he is deceitful in being so sure that Adele isn't his -- but maybe she really isn't.) --and Jane is not a hypocrite in not letting Adele's history affect her feelings for her. It's certainly around in the Rochester-Ingraham business, the Rochester/fortune teller business. And certainly in the whole pious St.John thing -- he is deceitful in not marrying that other woman he loves and in going off to be a missionary.

In fact, that proposal is more deceitful than Rochester's, because St John does not love Jane, and Rochester does. So that's why the St. John part os so long --

So you've got this romantic thing going on (falling in love with the wrong man, who's dark, with a dark past). I guess the deceit thing is of a piece with that -- seems like a romantic notion that our feelings are more truthful than hypocritical piety --

Hmmm.

I think that deceit thing is the key the whole book turns on!

I also like that Rochester never appears without his dog, Pilot, and his horse (who also has a name.)

If he were bad, he would not have such a nice dog.

Anyway.

Well, then I also took the kids to a waterslide over in Pleasanton. It was freezing, but they seemed to enjoy it anyway. It's pretty over there -- they have nice big trees. It looks like it hadn't been too built up until about 6 months or so ago. There are they typical huge developments being built, and signs for more.

And -- I think that's about it.

Blah blah blah.

Bye.

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