Charlotte Bronte

 

Well, it took me a few weeks, but I've now finished Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte's mid-century classic. No doubt, this is a big book: not only in terms of its length, but in terms of its emotional depth. That said, it's not a novel that stretches with time -- nor, for that matter, with place: this is a book that captures a period of about twenty years. And of those, at least half are not described in detail. And more: the novel takes as it location a specific set of shires in northern England. 

None of which is to critique Jane Eyre -- because, by almost all measures, the novel is a triumph. But I was surprised, upon reflection, how limited the novel is in terms of its historical and geographical range. That said, what the book lacks in terms of time and space, it more than makes up by way of character and journey. Jane Eyre comes of age at brutal time in English history: one of  disease, emotional repression, and industrial awakening. There are moments early in the novel when Jane confronts unspeakable sorrow and violence. That violence, mercifully, retreats: but it's never forgotten; it lurks just below the surface of Jane's story. 

Jane Eyre is a novel that focuses almost entirely on a single character: Jane Eyre. It's a memoir of sorts, with a handful of other figures introduced in order to advance Jane's evolution. The most significant among them are men: two men, actually -- Jane's suitors. True, there are other women in this novel -- and for that matter, there are other men, too. And those tertiary characters do exert their influence: but this seems a book, in the end, guided by the influence of men, by their power to dictate: whether through financial means or religious conviction. Again, upon reflection, this is a novel that seems, at least in part, to be focused on women, and yet cast as a sequence of events largely constructed by men. 

I don't want to overstate the case: I know that Jane exercises her own agency and that she's by a profound courage. But -- in my reading, at least -- it is men who dictate the terms, and who drive the novel toward its various crescendos. 

Jane Eyre is a lyrical, thorough, difficult novel: one about a young woman in her time, and about the limitations imposed on women by that era. Charlotte Bronte is a tremendous writer, and there is never any doubt about how her characters feel, how they experience triumph and regret. One of my favorite lines from Jane Eyre comes toward the end as Jane reflects on her suitors and their love; it's at this moment that she recognizes that there is a difference between an error of judgement and a violation of principle. 

In many ways, that subtle distinction -- that reflection of personal awakening -- defines the entire novel.