I Blame Mr Rochester

Jopa ikuinen Jane Austen -fani joutuu myöntämään, että Jane Eyre on yksi suosikkikirjoistani.

Kukapa ei rakastaisi kirjaa, jonka sankari on töykeä ja ylimielinen aasi, joka pitää hullua vaimoansa lukittuna ullakolla?  

Siinäpä vasta saalis. Nappaa se Jane!

Ja silti tämä täydellisen epätäydellinen rakkaustarina vetoaa kyyniseen romantikkoon.

One of my favourite books is Jane Eyre, which is funny, considering how many years it took me to read the book. I had always been a Jane Austen girl, reading Pride and Prejudice over and over again, as well as, watching the Colin Firth adaptation – obviously.

I, ridiculously, assumed that loving Jane Austen would prevent me from loving a Brontë novel. Also, the fact that I once saw a film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and absolutely despised every character in it, might have had something to do with my lack of enthusiasm. Needless to say, I have yet to read that one. I think reading the ramblings of Heathcliff would drive me over the edge.

Not that I consider Mr Rochester to be a catch either. I mean locking away your insane wife in the attic, and generally being a lying prickly ass, doesn’t really make a guy a great catch. However, he’s an entertaining ass…in his own twisted way. And I’m strangely entranced by the romance between Jane and Rochester.

Then again…and I reveal this to you in the strictest confidence…I do love me some historical romance novels, and the heroes in most of those books tend to be possessive pricks.

What can I say? Apparently, I like my fictional men to be cynical bastards.

Of course, the hero(ine) of the book is Jane Eyre…Hence the name. Duh.

And she is the main reason I love the book. She has her own moral compass that doesn’t waver and a quiet strength that endures a lot of abuse. She may not sparkle and shine, but she is a diamond in her own way. (And this is why I’m not a writer…)

“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! – I have as much soul as you, – and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!”

So any Jane Eyre fans here? Or have I just offended a bunch of Heathcliff fangirls?

Necklace from a tourist shop in Kos.

Oh, and as far as adaptations go, I love the one with Toby Stephens. Sorry, Fassbender.

 

~J~