Is there any literary character that is as horrible as Aunt Reed and John Reed? I know Mrs Norris from Mansfield Park is dreadful, but Aunt Reed is right up there with her. There is absolutely no redeeming character with her. She is vain and treats her husband's sister daughter terrible. One must wonder how Jane was treated when Uncle Reed was alive. I find myself getting so angry with those characters and when Jane finally voices her opinion and states quite rightly that she is not deceitful, you just want to stand up and cheer!
Jane finally finds some comfort in Bessie, but alas, it is short lived.
Where is everyone else in their read of Jane Eyre? What are your thoughts so far? What do you think of the way that Jane is treated early on. And what is it about that red room!
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I'm not reading along at the moment, but I have read Jane Eyre in the past. The way Jane was treated was downright infuriating! Child abuse... People certainly had some strange ideas about discipline and child-rearing back then.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a lot of reading time this weekend, but I'm up to chapter 3. Since only being familiar with the BBC movie, I was so surprised to learn of dear Jane's humble beginnings! And that Aunt Reed is just evil! I'm sure it's a result of her resentment towards her husbands family somehow. Some underlying jealousy. And when Jane contemplates how her Uncle would treat her well if he were alive just made me so sad for her.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for jane to speak up! I'm putting in some Jane reading tonight! Thanks so much for starting this readathon! It's nice to be able to chat about the book while reading!
P.S. That red room is creepy...
There was a lot more in those first two chapters than what I remembered. I'll put my notes into complete sentences later this week, because Bronte is saying some really interesting things about how people who are different are treated by "normal" people.
ReplyDeleteAunt Reed and John Reed are awful but they're also pretty true to life- there are a lot of people out there just like them, sadly. Little Jane says what we'd all like to say to bullies and jerks! I always thought Bessie was sort of cold comfort; Bessie doesn't seem brave enough to really stand up for Jane, no doubt because of her own economic position. The whole family situation makes interesting commentary on the relative position of the rich and poor, the privileged and the vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteI'm so behind...I haven't even started yet! Next weekend, I plan to play catch up!
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