Book #27 – Jane Eyre – the end
“The flame flickers in the eye..” (p. 200)
This afternoon I finished Jane Eyre. I was planning on doing a big final post at the end of the book, but you know what? I think I’ve written enough posts to get my point across about this book. I loved it.
In my first post on Jane Eyre, I wondered what the flame on the cover of the copy I borrowed had to do with the story. I was on alert while I read for any reference to fire. And what did I find? That fire is a constant theme throughout the book. It is the thing that brings Jane to safety and destroys the barriers to love. It’s also the passion and strength that burns inside her, what keeps her going when she’s up against all sorts of obstacles.
I’ll be looking for this book every time I step into a used bookstore. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find.
My rating: 9.5/10
alita.reads. 
I, too, love Jane Eyre. I think she’s one of the easiest 19th-century heroines for modern readers to identify with. I hadn’t caught on to the fire motif, though…I’ll be on guard when I next read it!
I wouldn’t have noticed all the fire if I hadn’t been on the look out. I’m usually not one to analyze literary techniques, but it was neat to see how fire was used throughout the book. After I wrote my post, I did some quick internet research and found that fire and ice are usually used together in the book, ice being things that oppress Jane. I’m definitely going to be looking at both those things the next time I read Jane Eyre.
I’m so glad you liked it! I loved it too.
I love your fire analogy. I love this book too.
i’m really pleased you liked this – i loved it when i read it (a while back now).
what a coincidence that you just read this and i just read rebecca, as they’re actually very similar novels!
i really like the way you wrote about jane eyre as you were reading it! i often mean to do that but never get around to it.
Thanks! I like sharing my thoughts as I read a book, but I was starting to think I might be getting carried away with this one! But there’s just so much to talk about in Jane Eyre.
I love Jane Eyre. She has overpassed the religious grounds on which everyone, whose human narrow doctrines and self-righteousness, has held her accountable. She triumphs over all the hypocrisies and religious non-sense.
Really? I saw it differently. I wouldn’t say she triumphs over religious nonsense, but that she triumphed over the various people who wanted her to lower her standards and submit to their own wills. Sure, one of them tried to use religion to try to sway her. But when it came to Mr. Rochester, she held to her own religious and moral standards. To me this is what was so powerful about Jane, that she stayed consistent in what she believed and did not let other people change that.
You have such honest insights to the books you read…yet you handle each with greatest of care. I really enjoy reading your posts…You are the new “Julia” of blogging, for books….Well done! And so pleased you loved “Jane Eyre”!!
Thanks! That means so much to me :)
This is one of my all time faves. Last year I watched 3 of the movie adaptations and reviews them on my blog. I really do need to reread it though!
I want to watch at least one of the movie adaptations of this book. Which one would you recommend?
Er, I know this question wasn’t addressed to me, but I have strong feelings about this so here I go anyway: the 2006 BBC miniseries. The girl who plays Jane is excellent (I think!) – the only weak link being St. John, who is not nearly horrible enough. (Isn’t St. John horrible??)
Thanks Jenny! I’ve been debating between the 2006 and 1983 miniseries. Maybe I’ll watch both :)
And ugh, yeah is St. John ever horrible. What a manipulative little, well, you know…
One of my faves!
This is my favorite novel. In its pages you find a young girl becoming a woman, taking life and its circumstances, being molded and learning along the way. You get all the emotions and reality in a book that began, “There was no possibility in taking a walk that day.”
I think this is my favourite novel too. It’s head-to-head with P&P. SD