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"Reader, I married him" (Bronte 425).

*off-key kazoo noises*

That is how I felt about the ending of this novel. It is happier than the ending of Othello, but I still feel disappointed.

Jane goes back to Rochester only to find that he is blind, missing a hand, and his estate was burned down by the one and only Bertha. Bertha set fire to his house and then jumped out to her death. Rochester then just lived in isolation, so when Jane went to find him, she was more open to marrying him because she was more of his equal.

While I do appreciate how she chose the man who she could be equal with, I still mourn a bit for Bertha. She was a metaphor for Jane, and her death only benefits Jane and Rochester even more. I understand the love story and happy ending for Jane, but at the expense of Bertha?

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As I finished reading the novel, I wanted to see a beautiful ending for Jane. However, I think she chose the lesser of two evils, which isn't the ended I wanted for her.

First, St. John became so rude and pushy. I was rooting for him a little bit, but then he started pressuring Jane to become the perfect Christian wife and leave with him, which goes against her morals. She denies and St. John gets triggered, because as a man he believes he is entitled to whatever he wants.

"But as his wife—at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked—forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital—this would be unendurable" (Bronte 386).

Jane feels the inner turmoil of womanhood. She would have to keep her fiery person buried deep in exchange for a strict Christian husband. She almost falls for it until, a voice?

Rochester, again. She hears him calling to her.

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I am liking this Jane "Elliott."

I started this new era scared for Jane again, since she almost died after leaving Thornfield Hall. However, seeing her friendships with Hannah, Diana, and Mary blossom made me feel hopeful again. Jane even revealed that her alias was fake! That's a pretty serious relationship.

I actually like St. John. It was a strange start, but I started to warm up to him a bit, especially with his romance with Rosamund. Did that work out? Nope, because he wants a good Christian wife,

" 'Rosamund a sufferer, a laborer, a female apostle? Rosamund a missionary's wife? No!' " (Bronte 356).

I like St. John a bit more than Rochester for Jane, but this statement seemed a bit judgmental. In a way, I feel bad for Jane. No man in this novel is just nice, understanding, gentle, or in any way a feminist. They all are so self-absorbed that it can be incredibly frustrating reading this in the 21st century.

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*sigh* Rochester.

I'm sorry, but I just cannot stand this guy. He puts his self-esteem issues on every "mistress" he meets and if he can't be miraculously saved by them, he leaves them and says it's like, "'the next worse thing to buying a slave.'”

" 'Hiring a mistress is the next worst thing to buying a slave: both are often my nature, and always by position, inferior: and to live familiarly with inferiors is degrading.' " (Bronte 299)

Wow....and right in front of Jane.

I am so glad Jane ditched him. He clearly is very toxic and relies on a woman to save him, and Jane knew it was strange since he is super wealthy and, ya know, a man. Jane would have been literally second class to him! I am so glad she leaves him and his male manipulator ways behind.

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"What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it groveled, seemingly, on all fours: it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing: and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face" (Bronte 282).

Yup, Rochester was DEFINITELY hiding something.

Jane and Rochester are getting married when someone objects and is like, "What about your other wife?"

Oh, that one? The Creole woman (a black woman) locked in the attic?

.....wHAT????????????????????????

Rochester keeps his first wife in an attic and describes her as being mad, and isolation is somehow supposed to help?

I understand the deeper symbolism of the woman in the attic, but the fact that she is black made it more uncomfortable for me. A white man marrying a black woman only to lock her away made me feel sick, especially after studying the poems about racism for my Living Poet project. It made me hate Rochester even more to be honest.

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Rochester is definitely hiding something.

We already established this in the last blogs, but now he almost makes it obvious. He basically uses the equivalent of "asking for a friend." He asks Jane, for a friend, if he could ever achieve salvation for something that happened in his past. She replies with the classic "idk pray about it."

Jane gets the short end of the stick for a while. Because it's a bad omen to dream about kids, she dreams about babies! Yay! Then, she finds out her cousin committed suicide and Mrs. Reed is about to die. Jane visits her to try and patch things up and Mrs. Reed is still a bully, and then dies. Can't say I shed a tear for her.

However, things eventually look up for Jane because #Jochester is canon! They both admit their love for each other, which I obviously saw coming. Are they my favorite couple? We'll have to see.

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"And Miss Ingram had looked down at her with a mocking air, and exclaimed 'Oh what a little puppet!' " (Bronte 170).

Yup, I hate wealthy people.

I am making a very hasty generalization of course, and this is mostly for comedic effect. However, it is not hard to see where I am coming from when the party of rich people abuse Jane and other servant women simply for being working class. Hearing how they gave their governesses such a brutal time makes me so upset.

Maybe it's because I was brought up with manners and kindness, but I treat everyone around me with basic respect and kindness. This is especially true for public servers like waiters, retail employees, etc. The idea that someone can be so cruel and abusive to another human being who is just trying to do their job sickens me. When I read about Ingram and others bullying and disrespecting Jane, I swear I could hear the national anthem of the USSR playing*.

It is not just the party scene that makes me pity the rich, but also how marriage is purely for financial and social gain. Love? Happiness? Nah, they just want the clout!

* any references to communism are purely for comedic effect

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Starting this new saga of Jane's life, I just wanted her to be happy and fall in love and start a feminist uprising. I was excited to see where this new journey started....until the spooky stuff happened.

The spooky stuff I am referring to is Rochester, in my humble opinion. I understand that he is supposed to be mysterious and broody with a very interesting history because gOtHiC sTuFF but I am just not into this guy. Maybe it's because I can't stand people who are wealthy and cruel, but that could just be my Marxist tendencies*.

Anyway, seeing how he treats Jane strangely just makes me uncomfortable. The way he gets drunk and talks about sin with Jane, it just reminds me of the very toxic trope where the male love interest is emotionally unavailable, manipulative, selfish, and yet sooooo handsome.

I think I am just too much of a #TeamJane girl.

* any references to communism are purely for comedic effect

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When I started the next six chapters, I had hope that the school would be a place of hope, freedom, and happiness for Jane. She could meet people her age and make friends. She could be celebrated for her fiery personality.

I was so, so wrong.

Lowood is a place where dreams go to die. Children are not human beings, but robots to be beaten and controlled to fit the impossible standards of the adults that run the school. Mr. Brocklehurst and Mrs. Scatcherd bully Jane in particular, calling her a liar (thanks to Mrs. Reed's influence). The superintendent, Miss Temple, is a huge exception: she is kind and thoughtful. I think of Miss Honey from that movie Matilda when I think of Miss Temple.

Jane befriends Helen, a shy girl who uses her Christian faith to make the abuse bearable. She makes Jane's abuse less hellish as well, such as smiling to her when Jane is forced to not have vocal communication with anyone.

And then she dies.
Cue the angry screams

In the last chapter, conditions dramatically improve as Brocklehurst is removed from leading the school and Jane excels at her studies. Jane grows up and serves as a teacher for two years. However, she leaves and takes up a new job.

Can someone give Jane a hug please? Maybe a cookie?

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“I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick. . . .”

In the beginning four chapters of the novel, I attached to Jane Eyre, particularly because of her aunt, Mrs. Reeds's, cruel and unusual abuse. I saw myself in Jane: curious, skeptical, feisty, and academically prosperous. Mrs. Reed is an "evil stepmother" type character and I love to loathe her. I was especially appalled when she locks her in the "red room"- a room where her uncle died. This is a disturbing portrayal of emotional, mental, and borderline physical abuse. When it was revealed Jane was going to leave to a school, I was relieved. I wanted to pick up Jane, wrap her in a blanket burrito, and take her to my house to watch movies and drink tea.

On a lighter note, I am in love with the Gothic undertones of the book. The influences of ghosts in the "red room" and the idea of the supernatural makes the novel way more interesting than what I expected. As someone who loves alternative subcultures like punk, goth, etc., the edgier elements call to me.