Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte's classic is a fabulous read (much better than her sister's - Wuthering Heights - in my opinion). Below is a lengthy quote, but well worth the read. Jane has just left Mr. Rochester after finding out that he is already married to a madwoman. She loves him dearly and is going through inner turmoil. Should she go back and comfort him - she fears he will injure himself - or should she do what is best for both of them - even though neither of them wants that. The inner strength that she shows in this passage is moving.

"Think of his misery, think of his danger, look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature, consider the recklessness following on despair; soothe him, save him, love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do?"

Still indomitable was the reply, "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained, I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God, sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad - as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation; they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigor; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth, so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane, quite insane, with my vein running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my foot."

After I read a book, I enjoy watching the movie made from it - if there is one. There were many versions of Jane Eyre to choose from. I chose the 1983 BBC version and found it to be close to the book and well captured. It was made for TV and is broken up into thirty minute segments. I thought Timothy Dalton played a magnificient Mr. Rochester.