The greatest shame of all is that Jane Eyre was required reading during my years in high school. As a high school student I simply did not have the life experience, or appreciation of Bronte’s writing to truly understand the mastery of the work.
Take but one example. Elements of folk religion and practices are sprinkled throughout Jane Eyre. In Jane’s first encounter with Mr. Rochester, he asks her if she is waiting for the Green men, the legendary inhabitants of the forest and wilds. He constantly imputes to her pagan powers and intuitions, and Jane seldom refutes them. On the other hand, St. John Rivers invests Jane with a strict and puritanical Christian religious calling, which she rejects on the terms he offers.
Just this one element, the uneasy cohabitation of pagan England of the moors and their spirits, and the harsh Christian discipline of St. John, between Nature and Nature’s God, can surpass even the most experienced reader’s ability to weight and understand what Bronte is writing.
Truly, we must bring a great deal of attention to read this remarkable novel.
Take but one example. Elements of folk religion and practices are sprinkled throughout Jane Eyre. In Jane’s first encounter with Mr. Rochester, he asks her if she is waiting for the Green men, the legendary inhabitants of the forest and wilds. He constantly imputes to her pagan powers and intuitions, and Jane seldom refutes them. On the other hand, St. John Rivers invests Jane with a strict and puritanical Christian religious calling, which she rejects on the terms he offers.
Just this one element, the uneasy cohabitation of pagan England of the moors and their spirits, and the harsh Christian discipline of St. John, between Nature and Nature’s God, can surpass even the most experienced reader’s ability to weight and understand what Bronte is writing.
Truly, we must bring a great deal of attention to read this remarkable novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment