Reading the Classics: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

WARNING: if you don't know the story of Jane Eyre, there are plot spoilers.

Week Two of my MOOC* The Fiction of Relationship is the one I've been most looking forward to.

Like so many, I first read Charlotte Brontë's classic novel at school. I didn't instantly take to this tale of the orphan who must make her way alone, but that says more about the English lessons at my all-girls' grammar, and my attitude towards them, than anything else. Since then I've grown to love it, and rereading is a perpetual delight.

Is there anybody out there who doesn't know the story of Jane Eyre, even if they've not picked up the book? As well as numerous film and TV dramatisations over the years, the novel has been adapted for the theatre; earlier this year Bristol Old Vic staged a stunning two-part production.

Madeleine Worrall as Jane Eyre in Bristol Old Vic's production

There's also a new, intriguingly pared-back version, part of Butterfly Psyche and Livewire Theatre's Brontë Season, in the South-West of England right now. 

Butterfly Psyche and Livewire Theatre's Brontë Season

I'd love to be able to read with unknowing eyes the story of Jane's miserable young existence with cruel Aunt Reed and and the torture of the Red Room. Or of her time at Lowood School under the regulation of Mr Brocklehurst, with only the friendship of Helen Burns to sustain her. To be unaware of how her unfolding relationship with Mr Rochester might develop, or the cause of all those strange noises in the attic of Thornfield Hall.

Excepting a bout of amnesia this isn't going to happen, so the next best thing is to re-examine the novel through the prism of relationship, with a bit of expert guidance from Professor Arnold Weinstein of Brown University.

The Good Prof

In 1847, Jane disturbed her readers. It was an era which witnessed the rise of socialism, failed revolutions in Europe and the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Unlike the standard heroines of the day, Jane isn't demurely beautiful, but little and feisty and plain. She has fire within her soul; when first she meets Helen Burns at Lowood, Helen tells Jane she's too angry for this world.

The novel is sub-titled 'An Autobiography' and, in Jane's evolution, we uncover the building of a human being through her own eyes; her moral, emotional and spiritual development. This doesn't follow a linear path; there are many forks in the road and she has difficult choices to make along the way. 

Jane's first years are lacking in love; she's treated cruelly and repeatedly abused by those who have power over her, from Aunt Reed and her cousins at Gateshead Hall to Mr Brocklehurst at Lowood. Even when she develops a mutual attraction with Mr Rochester, it's an unequal relationship because of the difference in their backgrounds. The power is all Rochester's; Jane is his employee, the governess, and she calls him 'Sir'. He toys with her mercilessly, often teasing her about his potential marriage to the beautiful but callous Blanche Ingram.

Jane is described as being 'a ridge of lighted heath' and in childhood, rage often overcomes her. Mrs Reed and Mr Brocklehurst both cast her as the 'bad animal', but later, it becomes clear that the real 'bad animal' of the novel is Bertha Mason; the very stuff of a Victorian gentleman's nightmare. 

Brontë repeatedly uses the imagery of Jane looking in the mirror. Could Jane and Bertha be mirror images of each other? Bertha, of course, has her own preoccupation with fire. Professor Weinstein argues that, in her first person narration, Jane obscures some aspects of herself from the reader. Frequently, we don't recognise the Jane we think we know in the descriptions of others; like Aunt Reed who, on her deathbed, professes her lifelong fear of the child. 

Toby Stephens, possibly a little too good-looking as Mr Rochester in the BBC TV mini series?

Whether Brontë intended Jane and Bertha to be read as mirror images of each other is doubtful. But Professor Weinstein argues that art is created and then released into the world for others to interpret as they see fit. It's a fascinating concept.

Jane establishes her own principles to live by, based on independence, love and forgiveness. She rejects the prospect of a loveless marriage with St. John Rivers, but, for the ending to be a happy one, there needs to be greater equality in the match between Jane and Rochester. And so, Rochester is reduced by his injuries in the fire, while Jane rises up because of her new-found family and wealth. In the conclusion, 'Reader, I married him', we hope she has finally found a place to call home.

Now for something completely different. Week Three; Bartleby, the Scrivener and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville.

*Massive Open Online Course

Jane Eyre is published by Wordsworth Editions. Available in the UK from Hive or internationally from Wordery. 

Photos courtesy of Bristol Old Vic, Butterfly Psyche and the BBC.

Professor Arnold Weinstein's thoughts on Jane Eyre are included courtesy of Coursera.

Jane Eyre at Bristol Old Vic

I have to confess that Jane Eyre wasn't my favourite book at school. Not only was I coerced into reading it, but as a biddable child I also failed to appreciate Jane's wildness. It just goes to show that you don't have to like, or even to have read, Charlotte Bronte's classic to love this new production from Bristol Old Vic. In an epic scales-falling-from-the-eyes piece of theatre, director Sally Cookson ably demonstrates just how relevant Jane's story is to a contemporary audience.

Jane Eyre, the play, is staged in two parts over four-and-a-half hours, which does demand a certain commitment from the average theatre-goer. But what a rewarding commitment this is, because it creates so much more space for the exploration of Jane's childhood; from her very first cries as a mewling infant to her early orphaned life with cruel Aunt Reed and schooling at the austere Lowood Institution. Jane's awkwardness at the affectionate goodbye bestowed on her by the maid Bessie and her first friendship with class-mate Helen Burns are not only affecting, they also underpin her innate self-reliance and make sense of the heart-rending decisions she's forced to take in adulthood.

The set is deceptively simple, a bare wooden platform and ramp with steep metal ladders and the different levels are fully explored with great physicality. The highest of ladders is the preacher's pulpit and simple wooden frames, suspended from above or held in front of Jane's face, are the windows she gazes out of restlessly. In the centre a band plays live music and from the beginning, this is an integral part of the story, haunting the fluid transitions between scenes with an eerie purity as stripped back as the story-telling itself. 

With minimal props and seamless role-switching, the cast conveys long coach journeys by running on the spot, the passing of months by chanting in lessons and Jane's interior voice by surrounding her with questions. Her changes from child to woman to bride have her being dressed on stage in clothes that often have a life and meaning of their own.

Madeleine Worrall captures Jane's spirit perfectly, as childish willfulness develops into the strength she needs to survive the emotional turmoil of love. Felix Hayes is imposing as the brooding Mr Rochester, reawakened to life through his relationship with the new governess, shouldering his responsibilities yet ultimately willing to risk all to be with Jane. There's humour too as Rochester brings his sardonic wit to bear, along with his unruly dog Pilot, energetically played by Craig Edwards. Laura Elphinstone is excellent as Adele and St John Rivers and portrays a host of other characters with equal conviction. And woven throughout is the sublime singing of Melanie Marshall, who then becomes the secret at the heart of Thornfield Hall, the incendiary reason for Jane's flight.

Benji Bower's score deserves particular mention, because it is so atmospheric yet difficult to define. It mixes original composition with sourced music which enhanced the feeling of timelessness. Only once, with the albeit exquisite rendition of Gnarls Barkly's Crazy was the spell almost broken by over-familiarity with a song.

With a story as complex and densely plotted as Jane Eyre, even in two parts, it must be as difficult to decide what to leave out as what to include. This production is not only an acting triumph for the company, they also devised the whole play from the book in a matter of eight weeks. When I first read about this undertaking, I thought it an act of either lunacy or genius. In Sally Cookson's hands it is the latter; as courageous, bold and original as Jane herself.


Jane Eyre is at Bristol Old Vic until 29 March 2014
My tickets and all photography courtesy of Bristol Old Vic.