Jane, oh Jane

I think it's save to say that I'm really into classics now. Over the course of this year, I've made sure to check out some books that I had been hearing people (ok mostly characters in tv shows/movies but well) reference for ages. That resulted in me finally getting all the swooning over Mr Darcy from Pride & Prejudice and reading my very first utopia (I'll definitely post about all my thoughts on Brave New World soon since I had A LOT).  Enjoying the classics and picking them up that regularly is something that I'm very happy about. But, don't be fooled: this has not always be the case for me. There was a time before and it basically all changed with me finishing Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.



Well, ok. This is probably an exaggeration. I've always chosen classic pieces of literature because I'm into the challenge. Though, it never felt as easy and as good as right now. And that came about with me enjoying the masterpiece that is Jane Eyre that effing much.

The novel follows the life of young Jane who lives with her despicable aunt and her awful children. Life's not treating Jane well and right from the start you feel for her. Even and especially as a child she comes across as headstrong, brave to say her mind and always shows passion for what she stands for. That doesn't change throughout the book and is probably why I like Jane as a character so much.

The reader follows Jane's journey to a boarding school where she faces harsh conditions again only to see it graduately growing better until she becomes a teacher at said school herself. It is an interesting part of her life for its own but to be honest, compared to the rest of the book, the first 50 pages felt slow to me. These are probably meant more for a built up then actual story. On the other hand, you could proably fill a whole novel just with Jane's childhood misfortunes and make it a tragedy par excellence. What I'm saying is this: it's not the main focus of the novel.





Her young adulthood is the part where it gets more exciting. And some more interesting characters come into the mix. Jane takes chances and leaves her school to pursue a career as a gouverness. She finds a job at Mister Rochester's estate, Thornfield Hall, where Jane teaches the young Adele, a protegé of said Mister Rochester. I love that Jane challenges herself to take this job although she had a stable (but boring) position and had no need to change her life. But she does because that's her spirit. Ahhh, Jane.

I think what I wanted to talk about was the other characters. So, there is Jane's new boss who she does not really like at the beginning. But oh well, he ends up being kind of her thing after all. Me personally really enjoyed their love story. It never took over but was an enrichment to the story. We see Jane as a lover, as a grown woman making decisions for the rest of her life, trying to keep her honour and dignitiy. She has some difficult choices to make and she never falls out of character, even when the times are tough and as a reader you might wish for her to not be as morally responsible as she forces herself to be. What Jane realizes throughout the book is that happiness in the long run may not be identical to happiness today. So in order to live a content life, she must sacrifice some of her sources of happiness to stay true to herself and be happy in the end.

Whether she ends up alone or not, I am not going to give away. Only that along the way, there will be twists and turns but always people on the way that may shape your life. Oh my, this got wild soo soon. Interestingly though, Jane Eyre felt so much more realistic and not as dramatic as Wuthering Heights, her sister's well beloved only novel. As many have written before me, Jane Eyre is much more light hearted, although compared to Jane Austen or her kind it is still pretty packed with dark tales and a lot of emotional trauma for the characters. Jane is my bae and I will always have a special place in my heart for her. And that's what makes a book a masterpiece for me.