Jane Eyre conquers the US blogosphere - Part III

After the second and last part of Jane Eyre on PBS, the reactions:

The live-blogging of the episode by fellow-ette. Always funny to read.

10:56. Credits roll. My mother, whose re-reading of J.E. inspired me to try it for the first time at the age of 10, calls me. "IT WAS SOOO GOOOD" we shriek at each other over the phone for several minutes. "I can't believe it's OVERRRR."

The Little Professor reviews the second episode. An interesting post to read carefully:

Script-wise, I thought that using flashbacks for Jane's decision to leave Thornfield was an interesting and mostly successful choice, even if there was perhaps just a wee bit too much incipient erotic congress involved. (...)
Overall, though, I think large chunks of the plot became problematic--to say the least--once ground through the script's secularization mechanism. St. John Rivers, Mr. Rochester, and Mrs. Reed all suffer from failures of niceness: St. John Rivers acts like a jerk, Mr. Rochester neglects to mention that slight impediment to the matrimonial state, and Mrs. Reed both hates Jane and refuses to forgive her. In the novel, these behaviors are signs of far more serious spiritual ailments, all of them with potential consequences in the next world as well as this one; here, they are just unfortunate psychological quirks that inconvenience Jane to some extent or other. Moreover, while the script tries to indicate the parallel between Rivers and Rochester, it does so in terms of shared passion--without noting the dangerous failure to practice humility, let alone accede to God's will, that also links the two men. (We also lose the connection between Rivers and Brocklehurst, as the script remains determinedly vague about theology.) The novel's insistent attention to moral decision-making and its repercussions, in other words, has entirely gone by the wayside; as usual, we don't come away from the miniseries with any awareness that Bronte ends with St. John Rivers' incipient death in the missionary field, not with the Rochesters' domestic happiness. Without Bronte's interest in the distinction between "custom" and divine law, the plot actually loses much of its resonance. (Read more)

The Monomania Diaries focus on "canvas-like" moments of the episode:

To celebrate next week's launch of the Jane Eyre DVD in the UK (and if you are across the pond, this week's conclusion of the series in the US) here's a mini picspam of some of my favorite "canvas -like" moments in this hugely aesthetic production:

This shot of Grace Poole in the stairs reminded me of a Vermeer painting... (read more)

Finally Petrona (*) publishes this post about the production and classifies it as the "cultural event of 2006".

The production was adapted by Sandy Walsh [sic]; Ruth Wilson (who I am told was not very well known previously) played Jane and Toby Stephens took on the more difficult role of Mr Rochester. I was quite won over by his portrayal. I had never much liked Mr Rochester in my previous readings of the book, but now I'm older I found that although I didn't like him still up until "the" wedding scene, I became increasingly sympathetic to his dilemma and actions subsequently. Toby Stephens gave a sincere and committed performance as well as being suitably irascible and, yes, passionate.

Picture source: this post on Casebook No.23 blog

(*) As it is commented below (see comments), Petrona is from the UK.

Categories: Jane Eyre,Movies-DVD-TV