But there is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?
My Review:
5+ stars & 9/10 hearts. I LOVED this book. Wow. I did not expect to love it so much! I read it several times as a kid and was profoundly impacted by the setting and storyline. Rereading it as an adult, I was impacted by the themes, messages, and characters.
Jane Eyre is often seen as a dark book. I, instead, found it very beautiful and hopeful. I loved Jane. She was so wise and strong and loving. Really, she became one of my favourite female characters ever. Her story is so sad and yet it is hopeful too. I would love to be a Jane—so willing to help, so eager to love, so strong in trial, so full of faith.
Mr. Rochester was another character I loved. I related to his weakness and his desire to do good but his lack of willingness to TRY to be good. After all, he had a good heart. He could have done any number of things to the woman he was chained with and yet he did do her the best he could—as he thought. I loved seeing his redemption. And as a man, he was just a very entertaining, fascinating, interesting man.
St. John I strongly disliked. What a hypocritical, supericilous Pharisee. He was a “good” man and yet he was not a good man. He was certain that he and he alone was right. He even tried to play God with Jane. If she had obeyed him, she would have killed herself (no use at all to the Lord) and have run right by her true calling. And he was cruel and harsh to her—while pretending to be as merciful and long-suffering as Christ Jesus.
The plot was fascinating. Jane went from depression and misery to being dependant on God and able to find joy in the worst situations. Of course there was the whole thing of Mr. Rochester having had many mistresses, Adèle maybe being his illegitimate child, and attempted bigamy. But I think it was well handled and was only used to make redemption and Light stand out. I really appreciated the narration and the writing style and characters and setting. Overall, it’s a simply beautiful book with a really beautiful message. Recommended age: 18+
A Favourite Quote: “I hold another creed … in which I delight, and to which I cling: for it extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest—a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “I saw the fascination of the locality. I felt the consecration of its loneliness: my eye feasted on the outline of swell and sweep—on the wild colouring communicated to ridge and dell by moss, by heath-bell, by flower-sprinkled turf, by brilliant bracken, and mellow granite crag. These details were just to me what they were to them—so many pure and sweet sources of pleasure. The strong blast and the soft breeze; the rough and the halcyon day; the hours of sunrise and sunset; the moonlight and the clouded night, developed for me, in these regions, the same attraction as for them—wound round my faculties the same spell that entranced theirs.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘What age were you when you went to Lowood?’
“‘About ten.’
“‘And you stayed there eight years: you are now, then, eighteen?’
“I assented.
“‘Arithmetic, you see, is useful; without its aid, I should hardly have been able to guess your age.’”
Sounds great!
ReplyDeleteagirlservingchrist.blogspot.com(my new blog
I found it so :)
DeleteI'm actually reading this book for school. It's very interesting and it's one of the first classics I've ever read.
ReplyDeleteWow, I hope you enjoy it :)
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