Ah, Jane Eyre... That's brings back memories bothe bad and good.
I was first exposed to it when I was (quick calculation) thirteen, in an English literature class. I hated it. (Then again, I wasn't too taken with the class, either. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against reading or the classics, either, for that matter. I was a particularly avid reader during my childhood and teenage years. I just didn't like the way the subject was taught.)
Back to Jane Eyre: I really hated it! The odd thing is, I can't even remember why. I just found it an excruciating effort and the story had no appeal for me whatsoever.
In fact... I hated it so much that couldn't even finish the book. (I managed to pass the exam with flying colours, though, because we had a choice of questions, so I only answered those relating to the first third of the story, which I had read properly!)
A few years ago, however, I decided to reread the book. (Odd, I know, given how much of an impression it had left on me.) To be frank, I fully expected to hate it again, and I wouldn't have bothered to try at all were it not for the wonderful ninety-nine pence Wordsworth Classics that were coming out at the time. (These were great, because I got to experiment with all sorts of classics I wouldn't have tried otherwise. Hey, if buy a book for ninety-nine pence, you don't feel nearly so guilty about ditching it as if it cost 6.99.)
To my complete and utter surprise, I adored it second time around. And we're talking I-couldn't-put-it-down type adored here. Okay, so there is gratuitous use of the semi-colon in it, but... <shrugs> How had I missed all the feminist subtext before? And all that simmering tension below the surface! And, perhaps most surprising of all, I really cared about the characters in it second time around.
So, I guess, somewhere between thirteen and thirty something, I must have generated a tolerance (and in this particular case a love of) tortured heroes and poor put-upon heroines who defy the odds and managed to carve destinies for themselves anyhow.
So, all told, I have to put myself in the pro-Jane Eyre corner.
Chris
P.S. Beverly: I don't read romances regularly, so I've found your insights in this thread particularly fascinating. Thank you.
