Saturday, September 29, 2012
Why I love the story of Jane Eyre
One of the
best things I did last weekend was to watch the most recent film adaptation of
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre from
2011 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229822/) with Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and
Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester. I was completely emotional by the end of
the film; I know how the story ends so there were no plot surprises, but the
quality and intensity of the acting by Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender were
just that overwhelming. Michael Fassbender was a wonderful surprise as Mr.
Rochester; I have seen him in Prometheus
and Fish Tank previously, and he is Mr. Rochester, David and Conor
respectively, all completely different people, a testament to his acting
abilities. He managed to impart a real humanity to Mr. Rochester, a humanity
that I have not felt as strongly in other Mr. Rochesters. You feel sorry for
him and for his predicament, even though you understand that he will suffer for
his willfully deceiving Jane about his being married to a mad woman whom he is
unable to divorce. By the time he tells her the truth, on her wedding day; you
are hoping that Jane will forgive him because you know he is truly sorry for
lying to her. But being the moral, proud and wise young woman that she is, she tells
him that she will not live with him without being married and she leaves him and
Thornfield Hall behind. As fate would have it, a tragedy occurs that ensures
that she will finally be able to marry Mr. Rochester, but it was not the tragedy
that made her return to Thornfield. It was her recognition of her own humanity
and need for love; she gained the insight (inner
sight) she needed to understand that she had found real love with Mr.
Rochester and that she could not live in a passionless marriage with St John
Rivers. She had to marry a man she loved. Her return to Mr. Rochester was actually
an acknowledgment that she would live with him regardless of his marital
situation as he had initially proposed once she found out he was already
married. As it turns out; during her separation from Mr. Rochester, his wife burned
down Thornfield Hall and committed suicide thereafter, but Jane is unaware of
this when she returns to Thornfield. Mr. Rochester has lost his eyesight due to
the fire and must depend upon those around him for help. When Jane returns to
him, you understand that he has gained the ability to be grateful, and is no
longer the proud and desperate man he once was. No matter how many times I’ve
read the book or seen the different Jane Eyre films and TV series through the
years, I am always moved by this story—it’s impossible not to love it.
The four important F's
My friend Cindy, who is a retired minister, sends me different spiritual and inspirational reflections as she comes across them and thinks I...