“A Literary Parse”
Welcome to
“A Literary Parse”
where we unlock the secrets to literary classics,
extracting facts, characters, plots, and quotes
and have a little fun meddling with masterpieces...
Dear Literature Lover or Iconic Fact-Finder,
While I hope to shed light on various literary works for quick reference, I will always encourage you to read and enjoy (or not!) a given book for yourself.
Until then, here’s what you can expect for each work that I cover:
- pertinent book information, including its length on the Scale of Animal Farm to Anna Karenina
- the main players and setting
- a few memorable quotes, contextualized
- a concise, provocative, no-more-than-a-page synopsis
- fun with vocab (I will use the most vexing words in a short paragraph to
summarize or introduce the story...
This month’s classic
Jane Eyre
Author - Charlotte Bronte, pen name - Currer Bell
Year Published - 1847
Publisher - Smith, Elder, & Co.
Length on the Scale of Animal Farm to Anna Karenina (at a reading pace of 250 words per minute)
Animal Farm - 1 hour 44 minutes Anna Karenina - 23 hours
Jane Eyre - 12 hours and 20 minutes
Main Players - Jane Eyre, Rochester
Setting - Northern England, early 19th century
Quotes
“I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage;
a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there, were it but free, it would soar cloud-high.”
- Rochester to Jane, alluding to the fact that she has captured his attention (175)
“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?
You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart...”
- Jane confronts Rochester, demanding that he take her and her heart seriously, a confession he all but forces out of her when he torments her about his imagined fiancee (323)
Personal favorite quote/exchange
“Tell me now, fairy as you are - can’t you give me a charm, or a philter, or something of that sort, to make me a handsome man?”
“It would be past the power of magic, sir;” and, in thought, I added, “A loving eye is all the charm needed: to such you are handsome enough; or rather your sternness has a power beyond beauty.”
Mr. Rochester had sometimes read my unspoken thoughts with an acumen to me incomprehensible: in the present instance he took no notice of my abrupt vocal response; but he smiled at me with a certain smile he had of his own, and which he used but on rare occasions. He seemed to think it too good for common purposes: it was the real sunshine of feeling - he shed it over me now. (313)
Synopsis
Jane Eyre is the first-person tale of a young woman, orphaned as a baby, raised by disinterested and cruel relatives, and finally sent to a boarding school for indigents. Learning grace from a young, dying friend, and having more academic and artistic accomplishment than she will ever own in her eleven years as a student-then-teacher, she leaves the school and takes a governess position for one young child at a private estate.
Jane becomes fascinated with her employer, Rochester, and soon falls in love with him, amidst mysterious happenings at Thornfield Hall. Rochester teases and torments her before admitting he loves her, too, ... but the gift of happiness through marriage is withdrawn at the altar when the mystery of the manor is explained by the presence of his first wife, kept secluded in the attic. Rochester explains the circumstances, making a seemingly horrifying injustice palatable, but it’s not enough to make Jane stay; she assures him she loves him but runs away.
With no money and no plan, she travels many miles and, on the point of exhaustion and near death, she encounters the Rivers family, who take her in. Once restored to health, she finds contentment in teaching young girls in the community, and her fortunes turn further when she finds herself a wealthy woman (an Eyress...!?) St. John Rivers short-circuits this time of joy and respite by insisting that she marry him and join his mission work in India.
Jane finally feels/hears Rochester’s call of despair for her, and she returns to Thornfield, finding it in ruins. She tracks down a blind, injured, now widowed Rochester and they have a glorious reunion.
Vocabulary
Lest you be contumelious and consider my efforts meretricious, I simply want to give proper eulogium to Jane Eyre. I long for a badinage, without, of course, being sophistical.
Let me palliate you - I hold no chimeras that I will arrogate a new and profound understanding; I defy solecism, as I would never be the cynosure regarding a work that is not my own.
Cui bono?
Anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the classics, in this case, Jane Eyre, and have fun doing it. I won’t be mendicant. If you’re antipathetic, well, I suppose I shall tyne your interest, but I won’t be lachrymose or enervated in my efforts to share a small rill of understanding. Let’s have a coruscating confabulation, shall we?
Special Notes
Jane Eyre is one of my favorites, and as I contemplated the synopsis, I found myself putting it to verse. (This is not especially surprising, since I am also a writer of children’s books.!) The end result? A sweet little illustrated gift book for Jane Eyre fans — coming soon!