Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Jane Eyre

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

60 reviews

theothergrl's review against another edition

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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yuripiano's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I liked this book more than I thought I would!
The writing style itself definitely showed its age - there were about 200 pages too many for my liking, and the liberal usage of dependent clauses was noticeably distracting. Also, something that annoyed me to no end was the way in which the character's dialogue was written which was entirely not how any normal person would have spoken, regardless of the time frame.

Now, writing aside, the book was surprisingly relatable. The middle portion in particular with Jane at Thornfield was believable in terms of a young girl falling head over heels for a decidedly childish older man that's entirely no good for her and full of red flags.
... or, I'm projecting based on my own relationships.
In a way, the fervor she felt for her master during said portion kept making me feel like this was some sort of 1800s version of Fifty Shades of Grey.
(Funnily enough, the Wikipedia article for that book has someone from The New York Times calling it "like a Brontë devoid of talent" which amuses me but is besides the point.)

I appreciated the independence that Jane showed throughout most of the book, which I guess is why

I was a little bit annoyed with the ending of it. Like... really? After all that, she went back to him? Like I get that she loved him and he loved her, but the way in which he expressed his love for her was so gross and patronizing - to be honest, I feel like I would have rather Helen didn't die at the beginning of the story and years later the whole St. John arc of things ended with her actually being saved by Helen and having a relationship with her instead, but that's wishful thinking.

I was pleasantly surprised by how approachable the book would be - after reading a number of classics that I didn't enjoy, this was for the most part readable. There were a number of things I didn't like, such as

the depiction of Mr. Rochester's wife, the way it meandered for quite a bit longer than felt necessary, basically every part of the unbelievable dialogues, the gratuitous French that honestly seemed more of a means of the author saying "Look, I know French!" than adding anything meaningful in any way shape or form, etc

. I felt as though the beginning of the book were setting up for a very different way than it turned out - in a sense, that made it easier to read because I could see parallels to my own life in the middle part, and I suppose the last portion of the book could be contrasted with the beginning, but it wrapped up in an unsatisfactory manner for me.
It gave me Violet Evergarden feelings, except in a much less compelling manner that made me roll my eyes.
I would have given it a 2.75, but I bumped it up to a 3 because as a submissive person, reading her say "my master" made us feel things that Charlotte Brontë surely didn't intend, but we're running with it anyway.

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ella7211's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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ritzee13's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved this book as a reread aswell, it was nice to know the story beforehand and catch glimpses of Mr. Rochesters shady behaviour and St John's robotic plans for the future.

Also, I didn't realise how many red flags poor Jane is surrounded by. I begrudged her choice to go back to Rochester, but he was so much better than her cousin.

The story provides keen insight into what could happen to a poor and helpless woman in a patriarchal society. It seems so easy for the men in her life to push her around and even order her to marry them, it makes me so uncomfortable.

Also, as an Indian woman, I find St. Johns mission to rid the hindu heathens of their beliefs so ridiculous and disturbing. I don't know how people can go around claiming they have the greatest thing and try to fear monger people into a religion, its baffling.

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mandapanda8's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was hoping this story would be about Jane growing as an individual woman who survive an abusive upbringing, is drawn to men who don't serve her and learns to move on. Unfortunately, the main love interest continues throughout the story to be a typical older man who draws her in and it's just...not it.

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