Few weeks ago I was in Cyprus as a volunteer there helping with a big English camp. I didn't have much time for doing something I enjoy as I was always running in front of the crowd trying to stop the car or convince the kids to speak English. In the middle of the second week I finally got some time for myself. I was too exhausted to go to the beach so I decided to relax while reading a book. When I turned on my E-book, my first thought was that I should finally end "Jane Eyre" that I started while preparing for my exams last month...Well, I can't say that I read much so you may consider that I started reading it from the very beginning. And that experience was extraordinary. I remember going to the local college with a big bunch of children and reading this book while walking. Thank God some of “my students” were nice enough to warn me before I bump into a lantern of a tree. Some of them were very curious why am I so absent-minded that started walking and reading next to me.
The point in this whole preface is to tell you my thought about “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë as I was impressed. I won’t try to make a literary analysis…Just few words about the book.
First of all, I was really surprised and happy in the same time that this work written in the Era of Romanticism actually has a happy end. As a lot of people compare Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina I had the impression the Madam Brontë’s heroine will have the same tragic destiny. But unlike Anna Karenina, miss Eyre has this strong struggle spirit that helped her to overcome the difficulties. I respect (if you can say that about a book character) Jane Eyre, really. It would seem that an inconspicuous girl or woman without family, money or relations can’t make it in this world, especially if we are talking about 19th century. But Jane Eyre did it. And she did it without giving up her believes. Jane Eyre is a clever, good and extremely generous woman. She was aspiring to happiness although all the bad thing in this world. She forgave her offenders, helped the lost people, equalled to worthy ones. Even when her dream was so close to her, Jane Eyre didn’t give up herself because it was wrong and she knew that. But in the end all her sufferings led her to the perfect ending. I think Fyodor Dostoevsky said his famous words “Beauty will save the world” for such women like miss Eyre. It’s a pity that nowadays people consider “beauty” as 90-60-90 and don’t see the inside potential of a woman or man. I think that Jane Eyre’s inside beauty costs much more than some models’ perfect look.
I think that after reading “Jane Eyre” you will learn some simple but very important things about life, about yourself. I don’t want to reveal all the interesting parts as it’s much more fun having you own “life investigation” through the pages of the phenomenal book by Charlotte Brontë. So find some free time, a nice comfortable armchair, a book and get lost in the world of classical literature.
