Jane Eyre, Part I
So you have two comments due by the 26th on chapters 1-9. Here's a few thoughts:
This book is a bildungsroman, a novel of coming of age or self-discovery. As such, we might want to keep our eyes open for quest elements (review your How to Read Notes...).
Set yourself in place as the novel opens. It's the mid-1800s. England. Class is an issue (remember, it's not how much money you have, it's your birth and your manners and your expectations). England's empire, their civilization of the world, is nearing its zenith. Women are either the "angel in the house", a near perfect being who has few emotions (angry? never! cranky? no way!) other than a love remarkable for its chastity and purity and a strong sense of duty or they are "bad" somehow - they've transgressed, gone against expectations.
Charlotte Bronte had a lot of time on her hands growing up. Strong imagination. No tv, you know? Everything has some degree of symbolic value. Nothing is just a tree or a storm or a plate or a song. Read with all your spider senses activated.
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 12:58 PM
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