Monday, 02 May 2011
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Jane Eyre: Of Passion and Freedom
I just came out of seeing the new Focus Features adaptation of Jane Eyre, and I intended to write a straight review highlighting the movie’s faithfulness to its source, which is exceptional, and its considerable beauty and arresting characterizations. As I was sitting in the theater, however, I couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of similarity between this film and another I recently saw—Eat, Pray, Love.On the surface, the two movies are worlds apart. Jane Eyre is set in the early nineteenth century and describes the life of the title character as she grows up an orphan and becomes a governess in a solitary Gothic mansion. The action mostly takes place in one house in the north of England. Eat, Pray, Love is set in the present time and follows a writer named Liz Gilbert as she searches for fulfillment across three continents.
Underneath the surface of the stories, similarities abound. Both women are established early on as passionate individuals who feel trapped and unable to express that passion, Liz by a difficult marriage and lackluster job, Jane by her poverty and station in life. Each, in her own way, goes in search of something to awaken her and give her a means to express the passion inside her. For both women, the journey leads to the arms of a man—to passion expressed as desire. Liz finds Felipe, and Jane finds Mr. Rochester.
Here’s where it gets interesting. After eating, meditating, and loving her way through three continents, the end of Liz’s story is her acquiescence to attraction. The woman who left her husband and leaped into the bed of a younger man in order to reignite her passion for life finishes her story by giving herself to another man, because that is where desire leads. Ultimately, Liz’s story is about a woman giving the passion inside her exactly what it wants.
Jane’s journey also leads her to a man’s arms and to what appears to be a happy ending—but the happiness is short-lived when she discovers that her fiancé is already married, to a woman who is insane and very much alive. Distraught, Mr. Rochester begs Jane to stay with him, since his wife is no wife to him, and he and Jane are in love with one another. Jane’s desire is clear, and her passion points one direction—the man begging her to live with him. At this point in the story, Jane has made the same journey as Liz and had her passion kindled by her love for a man.
This is where the stories profoundly diverge. Instead of giving in to her overwhelming passion, Jane chooses self-control and leaves Mr. Rochester before temptation overtakes her. With passion as strong as Liz’s, she says no to her desires and refuses to enter into an immoral relationship, even though doing so causes her extreme pain.
The final outcome for these two characters could not be more different. The end of Eat, Pray, Love is distinctly unfulfilling because it leaves Liz a prisoner—a prisoner of unrestrained passion and desire, bound to go wherever her wants lead, no matter how destructive or antithetical to commitment. Even more tragic, perhaps, is her lack of awareness of the prison of Self that encloses her.
Jane’s end is triumphant for the exact opposite reason—she is truly free. Her freedom has nothing to do with time, place, or circumstance. Liz Gilbert wandered three continents and remained a prisoner. Jane Eyre finds freedom in a world hardly bigger than a single house—freedom from Self. Her reunion with Mr. Rochester is beautiful in a romantic sense, but even more so for its significance to her character. She is able to experience true happiness because she has maintained freedom from the tyranny of her desires. Her happiness is a happiness free of compromise.
I wonder how audiences will react to Jane Eyre. After all, we live in a world where Liz Gilbert’s brand of self-imprisonment through self-indulgence is the order of the day. Jane is a different kind of heroine, one who realizes that to be truly free, a person cannot be enslaved to her own wants. Her quietly fiery resolve reminds us that passion without self-control is worthless, and her brilliantly satisfying ending illustrates that true happiness comes from true freedom.
What do you think of Jane Eyre? Do you think it was similar to Eat Pray Love?
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- From: Pickwick12@xanga
- Name: Amy
- Location: Fort Myers, Florida, United States
- About Me: I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true. -Dorothy Parker
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Comments (18)
Ooooh, I like this review. I love comparisons like this! I agree about some of the similarities and differences you state, but you lose me at the comparison of the endings. In the long run, they both end up with the guy--which is what both of them really want--so I don't feel that you can correctly compare that Liz gave into self while Jane didn't. They both desired a man. They both got the man in the end.
Jane just had to go through more crap to get there, and if you compare to the movie of Eat Pray Love, in the movie the screenwriter wrote in a scene where Liz left Felipe, because thematically, we feel the need to have that one last struggle or roadblock before the happy ending. (Think about it--in most movies and books [fiction], there is always a roadblock after the people find out that they like each other before they can be together forever.) In the novel Eat Pray Love, when Liz finds Felipe, she doesn't incur the same problem--she's had problems with men before and she feels confidently that this is the one she wants.
Between both stories the woman goes on a journey and finds a man, but Liz realistically does it without that last dramatic scene of "Oh, no, I must not give in to my passion" that is given to Jane because, well, Liz's story is true, and not fiction, while Jane's story is fiction and thus can be manipulated to the proper storyline that book readers want. I don't feel that Liz was bound by her prison of self-- I think that perhaps you are over-glorifying Jane's situation because it appeals to the Christian sense of self-control and struggle. Technically, by religious standards, yes, Liz IS bound by her sense of self because she isn't a Christian and hasn't been freed from herself yet, (though it is clear that God has reached out to her many times.) But Liz's story isn't mean to be a Christian one, it's meant to be spiritual and relatable. Seeing as there's no point holding a non-Christian to Christian standards and in the end of her book, Liz shows no signs of regret or unhappiness and her life is becoming what she wants it to be, I cannot agree that she is imprisoned by her sense of self; that idea is a little too stretched and unevidenced to me. But I do like the comparison as a whole--it's a very interested concept.
I haven't seen either movie, but I heard a lot of negative things about Eat Pray Love so I most likely won't be seeing it.
I agree that the world lives mostly in the way the character for Eat Pray Love lives so it will be interesting to read peoples' takes on Jane Eyre :)
@Itinvolvedwhippedcream@xanga - Thank you for your thought-out comment. I really appreciate it. I can understand your criticisms of the idea from a non-Christian perspective, and I really appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts.
@CecilliaMarie@xanga - Congratulations on voting day, and thanks for the comment :)
Oooh thank you for writing this! I haven't seen or read Jane Eyre yet, but I saw the first part of "Eat, Pray, Love" and was so appalled that I stopped watching. I was angry that Hollywood could portray leaving all your responsibilities (and your husband) to go do whatever you please as a good thing. I like how you wrote that she is a prisoner of her desires, that's such an awesome outlook of it and I only hope that other people see it that way too rather than getting tempted to live a life like Liz. How can one ever be satisfied if they're always chasing the "greener" grass?They can't be. Now I want to read Jane Eyre.
@hapahomemaking@xanga - Jane Eyre is a wonderful book, a masterpiece of the English language, with a great story on top of it!
@Pickwick12@xanga - I almost bought it a while back at Barnes & Noble, but I didn't have enough cash on me lol...I know, I reeally need to start reading more classics! Do you have other classic book recommendations for me too? I feel so out of the loop lol, and I need to get back into reading...
@hapahomemaking@xanga - Jane Eyre is in the public domain (meaning no more author rights), so you can get it for free. I don't know if you like reading books on your computer or if you have an e-reader, but there are free versions available.
The author of Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) had two sisters, Anne and Emily, who were also brilliant writers. Anne wrote The Tenant of Wildefell Hall and Agnes Grey, and Emily wrote Wuthering Heights, which is one of the best novels in the world. Those are good books to read.
What kind of books do you enjoy? I'm very into reading, and I'd love to give you more recommendations.
I loved Jane Eyre, but I heard bad (mostly selfish) things about the other. My mom read me Jane Eyre and I have read it myself many times. I have seen all different movies on it too.
@Pickwick12@xanga - Oh, I didn't know I could get it for free online! But to be honest, I'd prefer to buy a physical copy because I like collecting all the books I've read hehe. Maybe I'll get it online for free and purchase it later. I haven't read The Tenant of Wildefull Hall or Wuthering Heights, I'd definitely be checking those out too. I like a wide variety of books, mostly historical (fiction or nonfiction) or ones about other cultures. But lately I feel like I should read the classics, I think the only classic book I've read is The Scarlet Letter. Usually I'd avoid classics because the writing is difficult to understand so it takes more effort to get through a classic novel, but I think it's very important to be knowledgeable of classic novels so I really want to get into reading them.
@hapahomemaking@xanga - Yeah, I hear you. Classics can sometimes be harder to get into, but the payoff is awesome.
Some classic authors who are a little easier to get into are CS Lewis and Jane Austen. Pearl S. Buck wrote amazing classic books about Asian culture like The Good Earth. Charles Dickens books tend to be longer, but they are very funny. GK Chesterton wrote some excellent shorter works. His book The Man Who Was Thursday is very thought-provoking but not very long, so it's a quick read. Any of the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are a fun way to read a classic without getting bogged down, since they're almost all short stories. Edith Wharton did a really good job of evoking time and place in her books, so she's a good one to read to get a sense of what life was like.
Here's a list of some classics you might want to check out, all read and enjoyed by me :)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Any book by Jane Austen (You could start with Pride and Prejudice)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (if you like it, you can check out the rest)
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (both of these are plays, but they're hilarious to read)
That's some to get you started. If you want to know more, you can put the titles in on Amazon, and you'll get a description of the book and reviews by other readers. Happy reading!
@Pickwick12@xanga - Awesome, thanks so much for the list, it's greatly appreciated! I forgot to mention I have read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and I started TheScrewtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, but never got around to finishing it. I need to read more C.S. Lewis. Thanks again for all these recommendations! :D
@hapahomemaking@xanga - I recommend starting with the Chronicles of Narnia if you want to read CS Lewis. They're absolutely beautiful at any age and not difficult to get into. You're very welcome :D
@Pickwick12@xanga - I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in elementary school, but I don't really remember much of it. I just found that my husband has the whole The Chronicles of Narnia set, cool! We also have Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, I should get started on reading all these :) Next I'm thinking Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice...and Little Women, The Secret Garden, etc. etc. there's so many I want/need to read!
@hapahomemaking@xanga - Woohoo! So exciting! Personally, I love reading the Chronicles of Narnia in chronological order, starting with The Magician's Nephew, but a lot of people like to read them in the published order, with TLWW first.
I've never read or seen Jane Eyre. Though I heard Eat, Pray, Love was quite bad. So, I can't say anything about the two.
@Pickwick12@xanga - This is completely off-topic, but I felt compelled to ask how you could possibly consider Wuthering Heights to be as good as Jane Eyre, or better? That book put me to sleep...and all the Catherines and H-names and mixing of family lines confused me. I did not get it at all.
As to my thoughts on the post itself, I already explained on your blog
I will say, though, that Eat Pray Love the book was entertaining simply because I think Liz is a funny writer, and it was fun to read while spending a semester in Italy. But yes, the morality and spirituality is terrible.
@sarahzthoughts@xanga - I wasn't actually talking about my personal opinion of Wuthering Heights--I meant the fact that in general literary criticism, it's sometimes cited as one of the best novels in existence.
I liked it a lot, but I'm weird that way ;) I know lots (tons) of other people don't, and there's nothing wrong with that!
Thanks for commenting here and on my blog!