Hi Steemians! How are you?
Coming back to the blog after a long absence with a book I had on my to-be-read list for some time: Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë.
On this occasion the author tells us about Jane, an orphan girl who lives under the care of her rich aunt, who does not support her, so she decides to send her to the Lowood orphanage. Jane is glad to be able to get away from her unpleasant cousins and her aunt, but the school is not what she had thought: the reverend who handled the funds of the institution made the girls go hungry and cold to "not spoil them" and "strengthen their spirit". The situation becomes so distressing that many of the girls get sick and end up dying.
Eight years later, as a teacher at the Lowood orphanage, Jane gets fed up with a monotonous life and decides to try her luck advertising herself in the press as a tutor, looking for a different job. Thus, she gets a job at the Thorndfield Hall mansion as a tutor for a French girl who was under the care of the owner of the house. However, the mansion hides secrets that our protagonist is not able to intuit...
Personal opinion:
I thought Jane Eyre was a very nice and endearing story. Besides, Brontë has a writing style that is beautiful and easy to understand, even though it is an old book. It is not complex in its understanding, so any reader can approach it without fear of being too dense or too heavy in terms of narration (which was one of my "fears" when I decided to read this book, but nothing further from reality).
On top of that, I loved, I mean LOVED (in capital letters!!) the character of Jane Eyre. I think all women can see themselves reflected in her or have her as a role model to follow. Jane exposes in a passionate way and perhaps a little too dramatic for my taste, but that is another subject that, unlike what men think, women also have yearnings, aspirations and concerns, desires to explore and know the world, to live new experiences and to be free to do what fills them.. I was also impressed by Jane's determination to, at only eighteen years old, leave behind everything she knew and jump into a new life with no one to help her if things went wrong. This girl really has some guts.
Another point in favor of this book is the intelligent conversations between Jane and her employer, dominated by wisdom and characterized by Jane's reflections, so advanced for her time.
Something that made me laugh were the stereotypes that were made throughout the book, such as the "characteristic" vanity of the Parisians or the "righteousness" of the character of the English people.... It made me think that in spite of how advanced this work was for the date in which it was created, it still remained a way of thinking that today would be outdated.
And of course romance could not be missing from this book. You guys, I am going to be sincere with you about this topic: I almost never read books that are focused on romance, to tell the truth they bore me a lot... Something that used to happen to me with other romantic books is that the "romance" as such didn't reach me, I mean, it didn't make me feel anything while I was reading. But with Jane Eyre, it was different. Brontë's way of writing is such that, although it was quite romantic, it gets you more and more hooked and makes you experience real emotions as you read. And this made me reflect a bit and come to the conclusion that I want to read more books that make me feel, that instead of just reading books to read and say "I've read I-don't-know-how-many books", I want to be able to say that maybe I read few or less of the ones I had planned, but the ones I read were enjoyed and stayed marked inside of me. That's what is really worth it, in my opinion.
I can only give this book the maximum score it deserves.
Dear booklovers, have you read Jane Eyre or any other book by Brontë? What did you think? Tell me in the comments down below!
