Jane Eyre is my mothers favorite novel. I had tried to read it when I was fourteen but I got stuck in between the fire of the bedclothes and the great Rochester house party. I knew the story well enough though. My mother owned the two vhs set of the Timothy Dalton version from the 1980s. As a child, I was fascinated when the crazy Mrs Rochester's refused Mr Rochester's help, and with a maniacal laugh, threw herself from the burning building and onto the ground below. I didn't understand most of the movie, but I understood she was crazy and that even though he tried to marry another while bound to her, he still risked his life to save her when all hope of a true marriage seemed to elude him.
When I heard Masterpiece Theatre was going to show a new version of Jane Eyre, I thought Oh, good, I hope it's close enough to the book for mom. I didn't watch it, and when I asked her about it, she, fuming slightly, said it still wasn't good enough. I took her at her word and didn't watch it.
One day, as I perused the internet, I found that someone had uploaded the entire 'newer' version of Jane Eyre. I thought Well, why not? and the next few hours flew by. The beginning was something I could almost recite from memory. All the way up till Mr Rochester appeared. And something snapped. Toby Stephens recreation of Rochesters character was...mesmerizing. The end of the first episode I was intrigued. The end of the second made me yearn for more. The third episode I was almost dying to see Rochester again. Forget this St John guy, bring back Rochester! Before the end of the fourth I was itching to get to my mothers room and find the copy of Jane Eyre that I had so thoughtlessly put down years before.
I had read all of Jane Austen when I was seventeen. Of the classics I had read Tolkien, Wilde, Forster, Eliot, James, and of the modern I had read L'Engle, Harry Potter, Twilight, Susan Cooper, and nothing, nothing reached out to me and touched me in the way Jane Eyre did. I was astounded. My younger sister rebuked me for not paying attention to her when she said that I should read it because of its sheer awesomeness.
I think I wasn't able to appreciate Rochester's un-Darcy like appeal. Our household was brought up with Pride and Prejudice from the time I was seven. We watched the A&E version at least once a year, even when it was six vhs tapes. I remember my mother popping in one of the tapes while ironing to make the time go by. As I grew older I loved Darcy for his quiet honor. Watching and then reading JE I realized something that was missing from Darcy: dialogue. What Darcy says, he says well but it's never conversation. He's always after something, but for all the right reasons, so he's easily forgiven. Rochester, though, is all about the conversation. Jane almost can't get a word in edge wise. Does it matter? No. Finally, a man who speaks!
I realized after I was in love that Rochester was a woman's ideal version of a man. Perhaps Rochester will never exist in true life, but perhaps that is why JE is such a classic. Jane Eyre is a paragon of a woman, and her life story is a fascinating one. But the story lies, I believe, with Rochester. A rich man with a sinful past, a broken heart, and a dark sensitivity that saw something in a little, plain woman with nothing but her soul to recommend her and makes Rochester a better man than he could have become on his own. He makes the story come alive.
Ahhh...dear reader, the beauty of a novel. To read what one wishes would come true!
In conclusion, if you haven't seen this version of Jane Eyre, I heartily suggest it. It does take some liberties with the story, and there is a five-second moment of adulterous behavior on Mrs Rochester the first's part which keeps me from owning the dvd, but the life Toby Stephens gives Mr Rochester is unlike anything I have ever seen. And believe me, I've looked for it in every single JE I can get my hands own.
5 stars
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