Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Jane Eyre: A Guide to Reading and Reflecting by Charlotte Brontë, Karen Swallow Prior

46 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

That was terrifying! She's so very obviously has daddy issues (parent issues in general), abandonment issues, everything issues! She meets her boss for two minutes and suddenly she's in love? He says to her he's old enough to be her dad and they still "fall in love"??? No one told me this was a horror story! A cautionary tale to all young women! She's not even 20!!! Every girl should have an adventure when they're 19 but don't be locked down to a man in his 40s!!!! R U N

One thing I did kind of a little bit like was the many, many, many literature and bible references. Only because it made me realize what I think of now as brainrot has always existed. If they had phones they'd be obsessed with vine / tiktok / twitter / tumblr references. If all I had was books and gossip and the daily newspaper or whatever I'd be randomly making bible references too. We're not so different past humans and I, except I'm not racist. So actually we are different.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Antisemitism

camiandkitread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 

Charlotte Brontë’s atmospheric novel “Jane Eyre” explores themes of social criticism, personal growth, and romance through the story of its titular heroine. The novel begins with Jane's childhood, which were marked by cruelty and neglect as an orphan under the care of her cruel aunt and cousins. Despite the bleakness of her situation, Jane's resilience shines, setting the stage for her transformation. Her fortunes improve when she secures a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the enigmatic Mr. Edward Rochester. Their initial interactions are fraught with tension until affection slowly blooms between them. However, societal expectations create significant obstacles for their budding romance. 

 

The relationship between Jane and Rochester is further complicated by the revelation of dark, long-hidden secrets that threaten the life they hope to build together. This twist adds suspense and drama, as Jane must confront her own values and make a difficult choice. Brontë skillfully balances elements of mystery and romance with broader themes of social inequality and moral integrity. Jane’s journey is not only about finding love, but also about navigating Victorian social structures and personal dilemmas. 

 

Jane Eyre is a particularly fascinating character due to her morose and introspective personality, which provides her with remarkable depth and complexity. Her life is marked by significant hardships that result in constant self-reflection and character growth. The first-person narration allows readers to intimately experience Jane’s internal struggles, her search for self-worth, and her unwavering commitment to her moral principles. Despite enduring various forms of abuse—both physical and emotional—Jane remains steadfast in her pursuit of authenticity and justice. Her ability to rise above continual adversity makes her a character of enduring relevance, as readers continue to resonate with her personal trials and triumphs. Since its publication in 1847, “Jane Eyre” has remained an influential work, largely due to introspective, melancholic personality. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

The writing is great of course but i honestly saw the story more as horror than romance. Like this is absolutely not a relationship i'd want to end up in

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Suicide

megan_harper's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I originally had rated this four stars because it really is very well written and it’s prose is beautiful. But after thinking about it a lot, I brought my reading down quite a bit. I really enjoy the character of Jane however it’s annoying that there were so many God awful human beings who were in charge of caring for her throughout her life.

Jane‘s family who was charged with taking care of her after her parents died terrible. At school, all of the kids are so malnourished that half of them die from an outbreak of typhus, and Jane’s one friend end up dying of consumption. There is also a teacher who accuses Jane of being secretly Jewish masquerading as a Christian. Like, if that were true, do you blame her for not wanting to deal with your antisemitism, lady? Mr. Rochester is an absolute bitch he’s married, but his wife goes nuts so he locks her in the fucking attic And pretends that she doesn’t exist then allegedly he’s super in love with Jane, but he lies to the other woman that he’s courting and finds out she’s a gold digger so then and only then does he profess that he loves Jane.

Later on, seeing the determination that Jane possesses, I was so hopeful that she would not settle for some shitty dude however

she almost takes up her COUSIN (yeah, yeah Victorian England, whatever) on a marriage proposal, but then ends up going back to goddamn Mr. Rochester, who has had his hand amputated and lost an eye and a housefire that his wife that he pretended didn’t exist before she jumped off the roof to her death.  Jane marries this man and spends the rest of her life, taking care of him and having his children. And then somehow he regains his vision back through the love of Jane’s heart.

  Anyway, I liked Jane and like 2 other characters. Everyone else sucks and I demand justice for the first Mrs. Rochester. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

gandalf_a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

theothergrl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The prose is magical and extremely quotable, the story telling is brilliant with it's constant plot twists and developed characters. There are also some beautiful messages about sticking by your principles despite even the hardest of trials, I found Jane's character extremely strong for that, and she's not yet 20! 
If it were for that I'd give it 5 stars, however the 2nd half is heavily racist, ableist, xenophobic, and classist. Themes of colonialism and religious missions, institutionalisation, grooming (Jane is sadly very much groomed by the men in her life), etc. There is no condemnation of any of this, no revolt against bigotry in the narrative. Therefore, I can't give it a pass for being "of its time", as there are many classics which either resist against or refuse to entertain such bigotry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Incest, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism and Religious bigotry

brithebusybee's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity

ritzee13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved this book as a reread aswell, it was nice to know the story beforehand and catch glimpses of Mr. Rochesters shady behaviour and St John's robotic plans for the future. 

Also, I didn't realise how many red flags poor Jane is surrounded by. I begrudged her choice to go back to Rochester, but he was so much better than her cousin. 

The story provides keen insight into what could happen to a poor and helpless woman in a patriarchal society. It seems so easy for the men in her life to push her around and even order her to marry them, it makes me so uncomfortable. 

Also, as an Indian woman, I find St. Johns mission to rid the hindu heathens of their beliefs so ridiculous and disturbing. I don't know how people can go around claiming they have the greatest thing and try to fear monger people into a religion, its baffling.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

rainynook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Even though I was an English major, I somehow never read "Jane Eyre" until now. What a mistake! This is one of the best books I've ever read.  Just delightful.  Beautiful writing throughout. It's a bit long, but worth it.  I did not love the ending, I thought it was a strange ending for such a gorgeously wrought story.  But really, it was not important.  I listened to the Audible version voiced by Thandie Newton - that woman is a gift to the listening world! She is an absolutely brilliant reader, and I'd listen to anything and everything she's done. Her outstanding vocalizations, accents, voices and intonations brought this story, first published nearly 200 years ago, to life in all the best ways. Bravo, Ms. Newton!  And thank you!  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment