1 day ago
8
I first read Jane Eyre as a 15 year old boy and instantly fell in love with it. Jane was a very relatable protagonist for me at the time because I was dealing with bullying both at school and home so there was virtually no escape from it. I love that she keeps to her own morals in spite of the fact that most people in that society just wouldn’t back then, particularly women. Her decision to refuse to marry St John in particular is what solidified her as one of my favourite characters in all of literature. Instead she chooses Mr Rochester despite how deeply flawed he is, not because of an obligation or sense of duty, but because she herself wanted to marry him.
The book also has some of the greatest lines I’ve ever read. I’m a writer, and Charlotte Brontë in general is probably my biggest influence. Both Jane Eyre and Villette were very formative experiences for me. The ones that come closest are Nabokov and Franz Kafka. Even before now when I did a writing session I would always read the first few paragraphs for inspiration.
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