Review III - Jane Eyre

Review III
Jane Eyre (2011)

I took a class about abusive women last term, and our only oral presentation was to present a piece of literature (a film, a song, a poem, or a novel) to the class and show scenes of abuse between women. My friend chose to do the novel Jane Eyre because he could not think of anything else to do it on. I thought the premise seemed interesting, so I read the novel. I really enjoyed it. We had spent the semester reading both Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice, two Jane Austen novels. If you are not familiar with Jane Austen, all you need to know is she lived between 1775 and 1817, in an era where women did not have the liberty to work or vote or be independent, so her novels focused on women having to get married, and obviously them being pressured to marry rich. However, I find her novels lack a lot of substance. Mansfield Park had the most bland characters imaginable, except for one character who was "evil". Pride and Prejudice did a lot better, but (spoiler) I found the fact that Darcy completely changes his character for Elizabeth a bit too unbelievable for my taste. He was an ass, and I know people - you can't just change yourself in one stroke. Sure, he could have improved, but love does not work like that. Still, at least Elizabeth could speak for herself in the novel, unlike Fanny in Mansfield Park. I can't blame Jane Austen for the story because this was how it was, but Charlotte Brontë went further in her novel - she was able to write about a more independent woman, and I enjoyed the character of Mr. Rochester. He was rich, but he was not the person everyone was after. He was not the most handsome, nor the most intelligent. He was cocky, arrogant - a typical Byronic hero. I finished the novel recently, and I decided to check out the 2011 adaptation of the novel directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Mr. Edward Rochester.

The plot of the film and novel revolves around Jane Eyre. She is an orphan who initially stays with her aunt after her blood-related uncle dies. She is despised there as she is always considered beneath everyone in the house, whether it be by her cousins (John, Eliza, and Georgiana) or even by her aunt. She is quite plain looking, and not necessarily the most intelligent. Eventually she drives her aunt to send her to a boarding school. She is abused there, but she makes a single friend, who dies of tuberculosis. Jane Eyre continues to stay at the school, eventually becoming a teacher, but she decides to take on a job as a governess (or private teacher) to a little girl at Thornfield Manor as she is tired of being at the boarding school. There she meets Mr. Edward Rochester. As the two fall in love, however, weird circumstances arise that drive Jane Eyre to question her love.

I would say that I gave a more detailed synopsis than the whole film provides. We never learn her cousins names, except for John, but we see him once, and the two female cousins in the background once, and we never see a great amount of abuse between Jane Eyre and her aunt. We skip over a lot of the abuse at the school in the novel, and it is never explained why she leaves the school. It is indicated she decides to teach the little girl, Adèle. We get a glimpse of her possibly being a teacher, but I find if you never read the novel, you never would have guessed necessarily. I find the whole story is a bit rushed. I understand they couldn't keep everything, but I found in the end the characters all kind of lacked substance. This is not because of the acting - I thought Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender did a wonderful job - but the writing itself. We see Mr. Rochester being an ass, but I find we never go into a lot. I find Jane, even her, lacked this need to be a free woman that was a pretty important role in the novel. As for, spoilers kind of, St. John Rivers (played by William Hurt), but by the looks of the trailer, I think this one holds up well. It isn't overly cheesy and sticks to the novel well. Still, as I said, it really lacks in the characters, and the ending, oh the ending... It ends too abruptly for my liking. It does not end like the novel, and I think five minutes more would have done the film a bit more justice. As well, I think (SPOILER!) Bertha should have been seen more, and when she was seen, I did not picture her like that.

Overall, I'll give this film a seven on ten. The acting, costume and set design were wonderful, but the story itself is lacking. Stick to the novel for real writing.