We had a wonderful discussion about Jane Eyre, which was pretty much universally loved. Some highlights:
- Hate that she ends the book with St. John’s prayer, everyone was hoping she would NOT end up with him
- Rochester would have lost respect for Jane if she had initially stayed with him
- Divided sympathy for Rochester – did he get his just desserts, or was it unfair that he should be punished forever for one discretion? Was he paying for the sins of his father?
- Was Jane also paying for the sins of her parents?
- The whole tone of the book changed after she left Rochester – it was like someone else was writing it, went from gothic to Jane Austen!
- Jane was very virtuous but not necessarily religious
- Jane feels like an equal to Rochester, but bends over backwards to try and please St. John, almost like a father-daughter relationship
- Somewhat autobiographical
- Our opinion of men plummets if we see them mistreat women
- “Reader, I married him.” Indicates that it was Jane’s choice, and she always had power over him, though she might not have known it.
- Many critics thought it was written by a man
- Double standards of what is scandalous for men and women
- Do people ever really change?
Wuthering Heights was also discussed as a book with similar themes that many of us have read and love.
OurShelves 