Flashback Friday: Jane Eyre (1997)

*Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk if you are a newbie to the novel or its various screen reboots.

There is a reason that Jane Eyre has been given the label of a “classic novel”. Charlotte Bronte‘s story of a young woman who defies all odds and creates her own happiness is a tale that we can all learn from.

The 1997 TV movie stars Samantha Morton as the title character and Ciaran Hinds as Edward Rochester, Jane’s mysterious employer, and love interest. As in the novel, Jane is an orphaned young woman who must make her own way in the world. Employed by Rochester as the governess to his ward, their attraction is electric. But he has a past that she knows nothing of. If it is revealed, the truth could endanger their future together.

Presently, Morton is electric in The Serpent Queen. Hinds was perfectly cast as Captain Wentworth in the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion. The problem is that these two actors in these roles do not get my blood pumping and my heart pounding as other pairings in the same roles have.

There is one scene that rubs me the wrong way. After it is revealed that Rochester is married, he tries to convince Jane to stay. Hinds is a little too physically rough on Jane as the character for me.

Do I recommend it? I am leaning toward yes.

P.S. Rupert Penry Jones plays St. John Rivers. Elizabeth Garvie plays his sister, Diana. Garvie played Elizabeth Bennet in the 1980 Pride and Prejudice. Gemma Jones (Mrs. Fairfax in this film) was Mrs. Dashwood in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility. The Austen force is strong with this one. It is ironic, given that Bronte highly disliked Austen’s wrong.

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Reluctant Immortals Book Review

As much as many of us love our classic novels, there are often problematic elements that were not considered to be problematic at the time of publishing. It is only in hindsight (and modern eyes) that we can see that these elements require a second look.

Reluctant Immortals, by Gwendolyn Kiste, was published in August. It is set in the late 1960s in California. The gist of the novel is that Bertha Mason of Jane Eyre and Lucy Westenra of Dracula are undead immortals trying to get away from their respective tormentors. Both Edward Rochester and Dracula would love nothing more than to get back at their former paramours.

I enjoyed this book. Kiste takes two characters who have been written off by most readers and have given them the voice that they were initially denied. Granted, the original texts were written in the 19th century, when women lived more restricted lives than they do today.

What sold it for me was that Bertha and Lucy are more the victims that they were made out to be. Kiste has given them agency, and the will to survive when their individual trauma could have easily destroyed them.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Reluctant Immortals is available wherever books are sold.

Top Ten Book Reviews Of 2017

2017 was a good year for the publishing industry, at least from my perspective. Below are top ten books for 2017.

1. The Genius Of Jane Austen: Jane Austen was a genius, this book explains why.
2. Growing Up Fisher: Joely Fisher’s unconventional autobiography is a look into her very unique Hollywood family.
3. What Happened: Hillary Clinton’s brutally honest reminiscence of the 2016 Presidential Election is one for the ages.
4. Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman: This must read book examines how female celebrities are questioning what is acceptable for a woman.
5. The Making Of Jane Austen: Jane Austen was not born a writer, she made herself into one.
6. Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Leia, Princess of Alderaan: The book tells the story of Princess Leia two years before the events of A New Hope.
7. Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening: Saudi Arabia is known the world over for its oppressive laws against its women. Manal Al-Sharif is fighting to change that.
8. Mr. Rochester: Written from the point of view of Edward Rochester, Charlotte Bronte’s most famous hero, the book is an eye-opening story on the man readers thought they knew.
9. You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody): Alec Baldwin co wrote this hilarious book from the mind of you know who. Ridiculously funny.
10. The Great Gasbag: An A-to-Z Study Guide to Surviving Trump World: Written by The View co-host Joy Behar, this novel is for anyone who needs a laugh, especially considering what has come out of D.C. this year.

Honorable Mentions

• A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf: The myth of women’s cattiness, especially women writers is all too common in our world. This book destroys that myth, especially when it comes to four of the great female novelists of the last two centuries.
• Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus: The perfect way to explain last year’s Presidential election is that it was a circus.

 

This will be my last blog post for 2017. Wherever you are, have a safe and happy new year. See you in 2018.

Why I Re-Read Wide Sargasso Sea

Today I re-read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.

A prequel to Jane Eyre, it was published in the 1930’s. Taking place years before Jane Eyre meets Edward Rochester, the focus of the book is Antoinette Cosway, who is known to readers of Jane Eyre as Bertha Rochester, Mr. Rochester’s mad first wife. Antoinette Cosway and Edward Rochester are equally sold in the name of marriage. She is an heiress and he is a younger son in need of a wealthy wife.

What starts out as a story of young love turns into a story of vengeance, hate, mental illness and male power. If Bertha Rochester was Charlotte Bronte’s inner scream against the constraints that women were kept in during the 19th century, then Antoinette Cosway enlarges and opens up that inner scream.

I re-read Wide Sargasso Sea not only because today is National Book Lovers Day, but because the book publicly exposes the double standard that women have become the norm for women over the centuries.

Today I re-read Wide Sargasso Sea.

Mr. Rochester Book Review

Readers of Charlotte Bronte’s immortal book, Jane Eyre have been in love with her leading man, Edward Rochester for more a century. One moment he is brooding, Byronic and mysterious. The next moment he is vulnerable and open in his feelings about Jane. But Jane Eyre is told through Jane’s perspective and we only see Mr. Rochester through her eyes.

Sarah Shoemaker’s new novel, Mr. Rochester, is a first person account of the events in Jane Eyre as told from the perspective of Edward Rochester. The readers first meets Edward Rochester as an eight year old boy. His mother died in childbirth, his father is emotionally distant and his elder brother, Rowland is not above hitting or verbally abusing Edward. Sent to school and then to work in the office of a factory, he grows up, slowly becomes the man who Jane meets on that cold wintry night on the road to Thornfield.

I really liked this book. What I liked about it was that Ms. Shoemaker rose to the very daunting task of re-creating the world of Jane Eyre while putting her own spin on the cannon narrative of the novel. The challenge for any writer re-writing a beloved novel is to write the story that not only feels right to them, but also easily exists within the world of the original novel. While some writers try and unfortunately fail in this quest, Ms. Shoemaker succeeds.

I absolutely recommend it.

Downton Abbey Series 6 Episode 3 Recap: Introducing Mr. And Mrs. Carson, Tom And Sybbie Return And (Hopefully) Baby Bates

*As usual, these recaps contain spoilers. Read at your own risk if you have not seen the episode.

Upstairs

• Edith reunites with Bertie Pelham (Harry Hadden-Paton). Viewers met Bertie briefly at the end of the last series when he was staying with Rose’s (Lily James), in-laws, Lord and Lady Sinderby. Bertie asks Edith to meet him for a drink. When Edith has to pull an all-nighter because she has a deadline and her unruly editor is out of the picture (thanks to Edith finally firing him), Bertie offers to help Edith and her assistant, Audrey (Victoria Emslie) complete the manuscript to be sent to the publisher the next morning. This guy is a keeper. He is not old enough to be her father and is not the 1920’s equivalent of Edward Rochester. Whatever you do, Edith, this guy is a catch. Do not let him go.
• Tom (Allen Leech) and Sybbie (Fifi Hart) return. But of course, they make their entrance during the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Carson’s (Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan) wedding breakfast. At least they are back and back for good.
• Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) disagree on the wedding celebration. Mary calls her mother a snob.
• Robert (Hugh Bonneville) is again caught between his wife and his mother about the hospital. The disagreement between Isobel  (Penelope Wilton) and Violet (Maggie Smith) is becoming a bit too vicious as evidenced by Isobel’s below the belt comment to Dr. Clarkson (David Robb). Isobel later apologizes, but the battle lines are drawn.

Downstairs 

• Mrs. Hughes has decided what she wants to wear on her big day, but wishes she had something else a bit nicer. Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicols) conspire to create something nice for her. But before her wedding, Anna, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore are caught by Cora in her room trying on a jacket. Not in the mood to deal with anyone or anything, Cora snaps, but later apologizes.
• Anna thinks she is pregnant, but does not tell anyone other than Mary. Not even her husband, Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) knows.
• After her blunder in the first episode and the news that Yew Tree farm will soon be empty, Daisy (Sophie McShera) asks Cora about her father in law moving in.  Cora does not have the heart to tell the girl that the idea is still a little too pie in the sky.
• Seeing his own past in Daisy, Molesley (Kevin Doyle) encourages her to move with her education with Baxter (Raquel Cassidy) is included on the plans for Mrs. Hughes wedding dress.
• In the Dowager house, a little secret is revealed about Spratt (Jeremy Swift). His nephew has a police record. Miss Denker (Sue Johnston), swears she can keep a secret.
• Thomas has another job interview. The only issue is that the house is empty, with the exception of the elderly owner and a part-time house keeper. I think Thomas better pass on this one.

Overall

This episode was certainly more exciting than the last episode. I loved that Edith has finally found a life outside of Downton.

Dowager Quote Of The Week

On Lord Merton (Douglas Reith) being on Team Isobel about the hospital “A peer in favor of reform? It’s like a turkey in favor of Christmas,”.

You Might Be A Bronte Fan If…..

You might be a Bronte Fan if…..

• You own and/or have seen several filmed adaptations of the novels.
• You own and or/have read all of their novels.
• You own and/or have read biographies or fictional stories based on the lives of the Brontes.
• You  are annoyed when Charlotte and Emily are mentioned, but Anne is not.
• If you are a straight female or a gay man, you fantasize about Edward Rochester or Heathcliff.
• Visiting Haworth, the Bronte Parsonage, Haddon Hall, and/or the Moors is on your travel bucket list.
• You mourn over dead leaves.
• You follow the careers of the actors who have played Bronte characters, even if some of their post-Bronte choice of roles were questionable.
• You can easily rank your favorite adaptations of the novels and the actors who played the various characters.
• You saw the Jane Eyre musical.

• Your annoyed when people confuse any of Brontes with Jane Austen. Jane Austen is not the sequel or the prequel to Jane Eyre.
• You side with Emily Bronte in the debate about who is a better writer.

• You were thrilled when you assigned to read one of the novels in school.
• And finally, every time you finish one of their novels, you silently thank them for being bold enough to share their genius with the rest of the world.

Wide Sargasso Sea Book and Movie Review

Fanfiction can be defined as fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.

While some might think that this is a new concept with the age of the internet and social media, fanfiction is a much older genre than some might presume.

Wide Sargasso Sea, written in 1966 by Jean Rhys, is a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s literary masterpiece, Jane Eyre.

The novel is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a heiress who is creole by birth and living on a plantation whose glory days are long gone. When she grows up, she is married off an an Englishman, Edward Rochester who removes her from her island home and takes her to his gloomy isolated, Yorkshire estate to live. This is a story about madness, lust, greed and how women cope when they have no power to control their own lives.

The most recent film adaptation of this book was made in 2006 with  Rebecca Hall as Antoinette and Rafe Spall as Edward.

What I enjoy about both the book and movie is that we are introduced to a character whose story we only know one side of. In Jane Eyre, Bertha Rochester is Edward’s secret wife, suffering from madness. Her only companion is a paid servant. In Wide Sargasso Sea, we meet Antoinette and we see the story from her point of view. We see the injustice not just being a woman in that era, but being a woman of mixed race in that era.

I recommend both.

Jane Eyre 1973 Vs Jane Eyre 2006 Vs Jane Eyre 2011

If one were to judge Jane Eyre simply by her early life, one might say that she is doomed to be unlucky and unhappy. Jane is orphaned as a baby and raised in her deceased uncle’s home by an aunt who despises her. At the age of ten, she is taken to Lowood school, a charity school where the students are receiving subpar treatment. Eight years later, Jane leaves Lowood to work for the enigmatic and mysterious Mr. Rochester as the governess for his ward, Adele.

Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1847 novel has been remade on screen multiple times over the years. In this post, I’m going to write about my favorite Jane Eyre adaptations and let you decide which among the three is your favorite. The criteria for comparison remain as is:

1. How closely the screenplay mirrors the novel.
2. The chemistry between the actors, especially the potential love interests.
3. The age of the actors, if they are close enough in age to the character to be believable in the part.
4. If the locations chosen to film resemble the scenes from the book.

Jane Eyre 1973

Cast: Jane Eyre (Sorcha Cusack), Mr. Rochester (Michael Jayston)

• Pro’s: This TV adaption is the truest of any of the filmed adaptations. It’s as if Charlotte Bronte was somehow in the room with the production team. It is flawless, the actors are perfect in their parts. In short, I have nothing but praise for this adaptation.
• Cons: The only con that I can think of is that it is 41 years old. It looks 41 years old.

 Jane Eyre 2006

Cast: Jane Eyre (Ruth Wilson), Mr. Rochester (Toby Stephens)

• Pro’s: Another flawless production. Sandy Welch’s screen play mirrors the novel. Wilson and Stephens have it, whatever it is, that actors have when they are playing certain characters.  They are on fire on screen. The viewer (especially this viewer) has the feeling that when this mini-series is over, Jane and Edward will have a very happy life together, in and out of the bedroom.
• Cons: None.

Jane Eyre 2011

Cast: Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska), Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender)

• Pro’s: Director Cary Fukanaga and screenwriter Moira Buffini take an unorthodox approach to story telling. The movie starts half way through the novel, after Jane has left Thornfield.  The casting of Wasikowska and Fassbender was a brilliant choice. Both age appropriate, they are perfectly cast in their parts.
• Cons: It is a movie vs. a mini-series, so not everything from the book got into the movie. But I’m pretty satisfied with this adaptation.

And the winner is…..I’ll let you decide.

My Favorite Jane Austen Adaptations

Adapting a book into a performable format is complicated. It has to be true to the original novel and please the fans while appealing to the entire audience, not just the hard core fan base.

I am a Janeite. As one might be able to guess my personal library and DVD collection contains a fair amount of Jane Austen related materials.

I would to share my top three favorite Jane Austen adaptations and why these three films should be viewed as templates for any writer or filmmaker looking to adapt a book.

My criteria is the following:

1. The actors have to look the part. The chemistry has to be there. Otherwise it all falls apart. (Yes, I am looking at you, 1996 Jane Eyre. William Hurt was too old for the part of Edward Rochester and had zero chemistry with Charlotte Gainsbourg).

2. The set has to look right. Every reader has their own idea of what the setting looks like, but it has to like right.

3.  It MUST follow the book as much as possible.

That being said, here my favorite Jane Austen Adaptations

3. 1995 Sense and Sensibility

Directed by Ang Lee and written by Emma Thompson  (who also played the lead role of Elinor Dashwood), this adaptation is beautiful.

Joining Emma Thompson is Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood, Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars and Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon.

Putting aside the fact that Emma Thompson was a generation older than her character and played Elinor as if she was in her late 20’s, I have no complaints about this adaptation. I’ve read that some people didn’t think that Hugh Grant was the right actor to play Edward, but Edward Ferrars is a bit of a controversial character within Jane Austen fiction. I personally think that Dan Stevens was a better Edward, but to each their own.

2. 1995 Persuasion 

Persuasion is the last of Austen’s completed novels. It has an Autumnal feeling, sad and sweet. As if she knew deep down that this would be her last completed work.

Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds play the two leads, Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth. The chemistry between them is palpable.  They are both age appropriate and look like they have experienced a bit of life.

It’s lush, it’s beautiful and as with the novel, when you think that second chances don’t happen, they do happen. So does the happiness that you thought was lost forever.

1. 1995 Pride And Prejudice

You knew this was obvious. This is the one where Colin Firth in clingy pants strips down to his knickers and white shirt and dives into the lake.

Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle have some of the best on screen chemistry that I have ever seen. While I am sure they both would like the audience to look at their entire body of work and  not just this particular performance, there is no denying that whatever it is that make actors look good together on screen, they have it.

The supporting cast works. The filmmakers crossed their t’s and dotted their eyes with this production.  I still get shivers when I hear the theme song.

I recommend any of these films for any viewer or Janeite, whether they be a newbie or old fan.