Mutasim Billah 's Reviews > Jane Eyre

There are two things about Jane Eyre that have stayed with me over the years.

1. The author's use of a pseudonym to get her work published.
2. The vivid social commentary by the intelligent and independent protagonist.

I read the book years ago when I was 12-13 years old and I didn't understand the significance of the pseudonym until much later. Currer Bell was a male pseudonym.

As it turned out Charlotte Brontë's first novel The Professor was never published during her lifetime, and the themes of the second novel made it very clear that it will be even less likely to be published unless a change was made. So, the novel was released as a male perspective of a female mind.

“Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”

Rightly said, Miss Eyre. Striving against prejudice is a central theme of this book. The social commentary involves controversial scenarios of the time: the treatment of women, orphans, the poor, the illegitimate children in society. The book criticizes the Church as an institution and its lack of impact towards creating social harmony. For example, the descriptions of Lowood.

But above social stigma rises the question of the choice of a woman. The right to not be judged for her actions when choosing to love or not love. To be able to confront a world face to face without being questioned of her intentions. This, truly, is where the book most struck a chord inside of me as a reader. The fact that Jane refuses to compromise and makes her own choices at will makes the me respect her more as a reader.

I also enjoyed the horror elements: the gothic structure of Thornfield and its ghosts and its lacklustre parties and shadowy recesses.

Overall, I can safely say that I loved the experience of reading this classic. I've definitely found one of my favorite female protagonists of all time.