*The Tenant of Wildfell Hall* has rather astounding social commentary surrounding marital relationships/expectations (among other topics) especially for Anne Bronte’s time, enough that I low-key want to write a dissertation on the subject. To say simply that Anne Bronte selected her many characters and their personalities with care would not do the story and the questions it raised justice. Helen Graham might, to some modern readers, come across even as TOO “righteous” or perfect, but given the situation she finds herself in I rather think the author had to make her heroine practically without fault. Gilbert Markham’s tendencies toward pettiness and jealousy rather annoyed me, but overall he’s decently tolerable. The less said about Arthur Huntingdon Sr. (except for character analysis), the better – let’s just say I never imagined I’d be internally screaming “for pity’s sake, woman, get out NOW and leave the wretch!” at a character from a book written in the 1840s, but here we are!
*Jane Eyre* is enjoyable, yet in some ways it is worse with a re-read. First time through, ignorance of Rochester’s secrets allows the reader to be intrigued by him, and the initial shock in learning of his circumstances lends to feelings of sympathy for him. Second time through, the entirety of the book I was subconsciously keeping track of how many times he lies to Jane and acts only in his own self-interest, thereby putting Jane in mortal danger AND – even worse – blatantly disregarding her own moral standards, the very standards he makes direct observation of several times over! Still, it’s nearly impossible not to pity him to some extent and even want him to be happy, especially at the end – and he does execute his duty toward Adele and even Bertha fairly well, especially considering that the times he lives in leaves him with no real recourse in dealing with the latter. St. John Rivers, on the other hand, leaves me alternately rolling my eyes and wanting to bring my forehead to repeatedly and forcefully meet the wall. It’s made abundantly clear who Jane prefers, and that of course is really the only consideration into the matter. In some ways, the conclusion reminds me somewhat of *My Fair Lady:* Jane, you deserve much better than either of them. However, Rochester – unlike his counterpart Higgins from *My Fair Lady* – actually seems to recognize this fact; and, despite his sarcastic and somewhat bitter nature, Rochester treats Jane with rather more kindness, respect, and affection than Higgins does Eliza, and he does seem rather repentant at the end. There’s also quite a bit of subtle commentary regarding social classes and educational opportunities which is quite interesting to pick up on.
*Wuthering Heights.* Ugh. The first five chapters I hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on; the last twenty-nine chapters I was disgusted by the majority of the characters, but most especially Heathcliff and Catherine (the elder). It ended fine only because Heathcliff finally died. And now I can say I read it and will never read it again. Is there an underlying theme to how much damage one bitter person (or more) can do to those who might otherwise be decent people? Sure. But I still will never read the book again.
Your thoughts?
by Educational-Tea-6572