Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Jane Eyre

It is my current opinion that Emily Brontë was the best writer amongst her sisters, which is a shame given she has the smallest corpus.

That said, I liked Charlotte's Jane Eyre better than Anne's Agnes Grey. Jane is an endearing character, one who is far more flexible in her morality and ambiguous in her actions (though not too much so, I assume, to make her unsympathetic to contemporary readers, which is kind of a shame to me as a modern reader, but I digress). Mr. Rochester is a fucking piece of work, and I do hate him, but I totally understand why Jane wants to fuck him. I'm weirdly charmed by St. John Rivers as well, but he's also an asshole, and why are all these men trying to manipulate my girl Jane? On a somewhat related note, it's so funny that Jane's ugly appearance comes up CONSTANTLY. And that Jane's Aunt Mrs. Reed has beef with her. Like, she's ten.

I'm fascinated by Bertha Mason and the idea of a dude having a crazy wife he keeps in the attic, so I will be reading Wide Sargasso Sea. I also think Jane's life would've been better if she'd decided to be a lesbian spinster with the Rivers sisters.

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readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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michaelion's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

That was terrifying! She's so very obviously has daddy issues (parent issues in general), abandonment issues, everything issues! She meets her boss for two minutes and suddenly she's in love? He says to her he's old enough to be her dad and they still "fall in love"??? No one told me this was a horror story! A cautionary tale to all young women! She's not even 20!!! Every girl should have an adventure when they're 19 but don't be locked down to a man in his 40s!!!! R U N

One thing I did kind of a little bit like was the many, many, many literature and bible references. Only because it made me realize what I think of now as brainrot has always existed. If they had phones they'd be obsessed with vine / tiktok / twitter / tumblr references. If all I had was books and gossip and the daily newspaper or whatever I'd be randomly making bible references too. We're not so different past humans and I, except I'm not racist. So actually we are different.

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camiandkitread's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Charlotte Brontë’s atmospheric novel “Jane Eyre” explores themes of social criticism, personal growth, and romance through the story of its titular heroine. The novel begins with Jane's childhood, which were marked by cruelty and neglect as an orphan under the care of her cruel aunt and cousins. Despite the bleakness of her situation, Jane's resilience shines, setting the stage for her transformation. Her fortunes improve when she secures a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the enigmatic Mr. Edward Rochester. Their initial interactions are fraught with tension until affection slowly blooms between them. However, societal expectations create significant obstacles for their budding romance.

The relationship between Jane and Rochester is further complicated by the revelation of dark, long-hidden secrets that threaten the life they hope to build together. This twist adds suspense and drama, as Jane must confront her own values and make a difficult choice. Brontë skillfully balances elements of mystery and romance with broader themes of social inequality and moral integrity. Jane’s journey is not only about finding love, but also about navigating Victorian social structures and personal dilemmas.

Jane Eyre is a particularly fascinating character due to her morose and introspective personality, which provides her with remarkable depth and complexity. Her life is marked by significant hardships that result in constant self-reflection and character growth. The first-person narration allows readers to intimately experience Jane’s internal struggles, her search for self-worth, and her unwavering commitment to her moral principles. Despite enduring various forms of abuse—both physical and emotional—Jane remains steadfast in her pursuit of authenticity and justice. Her ability to rise above continual adversity makes her a character of enduring relevance, as readers continue to resonate with her personal trials and triumphs. Since its publication in 1847, “Jane Eyre” has remained an influential work, largely due to introspective, melancholic personality.

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kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

The writing is great of course but i honestly saw the story more as horror than romance. Like this is absolutely not a relationship i'd want to end up in

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megan_harper's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I originally had rated this four stars because it really is very well written and it’s prose is beautiful. But after thinking about it a lot, I brought my reading down quite a bit. I really enjoy the character of Jane however it’s annoying that there were so many God awful human beings who were in charge of caring for her throughout her life.

Jane‘s family who was charged with taking care of her after her parents died terrible. At school, all of the kids are so malnourished that half of them die from an outbreak of typhus, and Jane’s one friend end up dying of consumption. There is also a teacher who accuses Jane of being secretly Jewish masquerading as a Christian. Like, if that were true, do you blame her for not wanting to deal with your antisemitism, lady? Mr. Rochester is an absolute bitch he’s married, but his wife goes nuts so he locks her in the fucking attic And pretends that she doesn’t exist then allegedly he’s super in love with Jane, but he lies to the other woman that he’s courting and finds out she’s a gold digger so then and only then does he profess that he loves Jane.

Later on, seeing the determination that Jane possesses, I was so hopeful that she would not settle for some shitty dude however

she almost takes up her COUSIN (yeah, yeah Victorian England, whatever) on a marriage proposal, but then ends up going back to goddamn Mr. Rochester, who has had his hand amputated and lost an eye and a housefire that his wife that he pretended didn’t exist before she jumped off the roof to her death. Jane marries this man and spends the rest of her life, taking care of him and having his children. And then somehow he regains his vision back through the love of Jane’s heart.

Anyway, I liked Jane and like 2 other characters. Everyone else sucks and I demand justice for the first Mrs. Rochester.

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gandalf_a's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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theothergrl's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The prose is magical and extremely quotable, the story telling is brilliant with it's constant plot twists and developed characters. There are also some beautiful messages about sticking by your principles despite even the hardest of trials, I found Jane's character extremely strong for that, and she's not yet 20!
If it were for that I'd give it 5 stars, however the 2nd half is heavily racist, ableist, xenophobic, and classist. Themes of colonialism and religious missions, institutionalisation, grooming (Jane is sadly very much groomed by the men in her life), etc. There is no condemnation of any of this, no revolt against bigotry in the narrative. Therefore, I can't give it a pass for being "of its time", as there are many classics which either resist against or refuse to entertain such bigotry.

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