Second July Review: Jane Eyre

What an amazing, emotional movie. I didn't read the book though, which was written by Emily Bronte's sister, Charlotte Bronte, but the movie itself was already spoken in very difficult, old English language which can be hard for a non-natural speaker. Anyway, this movie doesn't even need words for a viewer to understand how much pain there is present and how complicated the whole situation was. The horrors that haunted poor Jane for whole her youth. The injustice and cruelty that were caused to her. Life was very difficult for a poor young girl back then and Jane had more than just a taste of it. Despite always being misunderstood, judged and seemingly guilty of every single thing, she kept her dignity, humility, respect and the one true fire within her. Not an easy job to be done, that's for sure.

The past was Jane's greatest enemy. It never left her side. Even though she might seemed strong and somehow fearless on the outside, she had a sensitive and weak side, too. Everybody does. She tried to escape it several times, and she was good at pretending. 

She was wild and true to herself from when she was just a little girl and lived at Mrs Reed palace. Her nature could never be tamed and that was what bothered the people Gateshead Hall. That she wasn't following their rules. She was scarred for life. When her aunt by marriage, Mrs Sarah Reed, sends her to horrific Lowood school for girls, Jane realizes her life is far from idyllic. There she was punished, tormented and in huge pain. The flashbacks of her past in the future reminds us how those scars affected her. How they changed her life. She was one strong girl for sure. 

When she was in her adolescence there was a job offer and she took it immediately. She became a governess to a young French girl named Adele, a daughter of Mr Edward Fairfax Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall. Their (Jane's and Mr Fairfax's) encounter was rather unexpected. Surely, it was something special and highly unlikely and unusual for a girl to make a man fall off his horse. By then she didn't know who that man was, except that he is one bitter and grumpy rich man. That was sufficient for young Jane to make a perfect image of the man.

via: http://www.filmcaptures.com/jane-eyre/

Only after when the housekeeper of the Thornfield Hall, a nice widow named Alice Fairfax, told her that the master is in a bad mood because of a horse fall, Jane realized with horror who the man actually was. But even when he demanded her presence in his study, she never lost her authenticity, dignity and modesty. She remained true to herself, pure and honest, which was one of the main reasons why she enchanted Mr Fairfax the way she did. It was only a matter of days when he fell madly in love with her. But things weren't as simple as they seemed.

As told before, Mr Fairfax was known to be a bitter man, always in rage and known for his short temper. He disliked children and old ladies, but the arrival of the young governess was like a fresh new breath to his dull life. But what I really disliked about Mr Fairfax, and what seemed to be his only fault, was how indecisive he was with Jane. Later I realized he had a damn good reason for it, but still it left Jane in confusion and doubt. So justifiably, she felt insecure about her and his feelings. But while she kept safe distance between her and Mr Fairfax, his feelings were one time more than just obvious, then another time he flirted with other ladies so much even the staff began to spread rumors about marriage. Jane was left devastated. 

It was very unfair of Mr Fairfax to leave her in doubt like he did. To play with her emotions and leave her in the dark. And Jane made it very clear that she will not fall for it, since, like she said, she still had to respect herself and that trait was one of most rare among women in those times. Only after Mr Fairfax was left with no choice, he confessed his love to poor Jane. Their love blossomed like never before, their hearts were happier like never before. Because it was finally true, finally real. Out there, spoken with no shame. People were surprised, no doubt. But if two people truly love each other, their love shouldn't know any boundaries. Not even people talking things. But those times were different. Back in those days it was all about reputation, wealth and family. It was all they had and all they ever measured each other in. That's why Jane was so struck by everything, because a) she was never so close to a man who b) would also own a fucking castle. Yet we all know that their love was true and pure and not the "money" kind. It was real. 

via: http://foersteevghf.blogspot.com/

But, of course, things had a dramatic twist no sooner than at the actual wedding event. No wonder why Mr Fairfax rushed the whole thing. Right before they would say their vows, Richard Mason, one of the former guests at the Thornfield Hall, prevented the wedding and showed the gathered few the truth about master Fairfax. That he is already married.

That shocked Jane right to the bone, but not only that she had was shocked, she was suddenly dragged out of the church by her hubby-to-be to a secret inner room where the wife was chained. Yes, chained. Her name was Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the violently insane first wife of Mr Fairfax. It was a shocking sight and Jane had to give herself some time to let that sink in. Later it turned out that Jane couldn't ever marry Mr Fairfax. Not only cause of the unfortunate little thing with the wife, but also because Jane had to keep the respect. She could never live happily and in peace with a man knowing he's hiding his wife somewhere in an attic. It felt wrong to Jane, but the way she left poor Mr Fairfax crushed it broke my heart. 

Confused and frustrated Jane then escaped the Thornfield Hall and found a roof over her head. The man living there happened to be her cousin. She found a happy life there, but she could never escape her past. Flashbacks were often. She left in solitary, even though she was afraid of the voices that crawled in the night. His voice. But I (sort of) understood her. Things were a whole lot different back then. It was a shocking discovery for Jane to have found that the man she loves is already married. Divorce wasn't so common back then, let alone acceptable. And Jane was more than aware of that. So she escaped her past, the pain, the memories. And she thought she'd be safe if she'd run away. Oh but how wrong she was.

It was more than just flashbacks. Once she even mistook Mr Rivers (her cousin) as Mr Fairfax and her imagination did its thing and she imagined the kiss and all that. A bright sign she was clearly not over Mr Fairfax and that there was something needing to be done. 

Jane hit the road, left her job and fled directly to Thornfield Hall, in search for the love of her life. She was tired of running away from it and she was finally prepared to embrace it in her life when... She found another horrifying discovery. Thornfield Hall was burned to the ground. Jane explored the area when she found good old Mrs Fairfax, the former housekeeper of the Thornfield Hall. All she kept saying was where her darling was. 

She went across the lawn and found Mr Fairfax sitting under that great old tree where he once, long time ago, confessed his love to Jane. His appearance indicated obvious negligence and that something was terribly wrong. It turned out he was left blind as an aftermath of trying to save everyone from the fire his wife caused. But Jane didn't have to speak a word to make Mr Fairfax aware of her presence.She only needed to place her hand on his and he smiled through tears, knowing his love has returned. There was no hate. No pride or anything holding them back this time. This time, they were together for good.