Jane and I

[lettered]

I Netflixed the BBC Masterpiece Theatre 2006 adaptation of Jane Eyre, starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. It was on two disks, so I had to get them separately. I watched each twice on the same night before parting from them and now I've bought it from Amazon. I've seen about five other adaptations of Jane Eyre (Cirian Hinds, William Hurt, Timothy Dalton, George C Scott, Orson Welles as Rochesters) and none come even close to this in the slightest. It captures so much of what I love about the book.

Jane Eyre changed my life. That sounds corny, melodramatic, a little pitiful, and strangely lacking in healthy priorities, but I've always felt it to be true. I was fourteen when I read it and I never felt alone again after that. To have it now with pretty people (eta: um. Which I should have a problem with, as the people in JE are not supposed to be pretty. They are in this, gorgeous, but what I meant was well-acted and well-scripted and that. Anyways, they *act* like they are not beautiful, and not in the She's All That way, in the seriously lacking confidence or being gruff way, and that's what matters to me here) to look at is . . . really a dream come true. Which sounds corny and all that other stuff all over again; it's hard to fathom how this could mean so much to me. But it really does.

Anyway, what sucks is I don't know where to talk about this online. Although I've spent the past two years with Buffyverse, I've often slipped away by cover of night to poke around other fandoms like BSG or Beauty and the Beast or Harry/Draco but I can never quite figure, in both the big and tiny fandoms, where the PEOPLE are. There's not a community-feeling like I feel like I have with my (mostly Buffyverse) flist, where lots of people know each other, like each other, respect each other, and talk about things (/Margaret Dashwood). I mean really! How do you go about finding a place in a new fandom? I know this is an age old quandary, a topic of much debate and meta, but how do you go about it?

And where oh where is Jane Eyre's www.pemberley.com?

Comments

[chrisleeoctaves.livejournal.com]

I am not fannish about Jane Eyre, but I was also about 14...maybe 13...when I first read the book and it made a HUGE impression on me. I totally identified with Jane and the book was so vivid and exciting and filled with passion and intrigue and perhaps, in many ways, paved the way for the themes which have captured my imagination ever since.

I have not seen the adaaptation of which you speak- but I will Zip it and watch when I am back home.

*hugs you*

[(Anonymous)]

I loved this version of Jane Eyre too!!! There is an active forum at Toby Stephens' fansite where they discuss all things Jane Eyre, if you are interested.

The fansite is tobystephens.moonfruit.com

Or the forum can be accessed directly:

www.z11.invisionfree.com/Toby_Stephens

There was also a fairly active discussion at C19 forum; Bronteblog when the movie came out..but it has since died down.

[elisi]

I know the_royal_anna adored that adaptation too. And looking though her LJ I found this. Might it be of interest?

bbccostumedrama

[anelith.livejournal.com]

I love seeing you be excited over a book. I loved Jane Eyre when I read it as a teenager too, but not as passionately as you (I was too wrapped up in science fiction and fantasy, I guess).

Have you read The Eyre Affair? I think you would enjoy it, if you haven't.

[timeofchange.livejournal.com]

Jane Eyre is the only book I've read more than twice (not counting books I reread for research while I was in school). I used to read it on average once a year. I probably read it when I was about 13 or 14, too. My mother had gotten me the "100 greatest Books" in paperback, and I worked my way through them. It was the best gift she ever gave me. Years later, I even got my sister, the non-reader, to read it. It turned her into a reader. I know that when she read it, she identified with Jane. She understood, for the first time, the alchemy that happens between reader and character. I saw its flaws, even the first time I read it. I saw the melodrama, and the all-too-convenient plot twists. It didn't matter. I've never actually thought about why that is. I just loved it. I have to Netflix now. Thanks for the rec.

[pjgale.livejournal.com]

Ah the Dashwood girls! Love them. Me sister refuses to read/watch any 'bosum heavers' as she calls them. I regularly tell her she is missing out on a beautiful, lush world of ladies and gentlemen- and angst. God the angst in Mansfield Park. It kills me in such a good way. You've inspired me to get out my old favourites. I haven't read them in a while. (:

[pjgale.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights?!? Have you read Rebecca?

[moss6886.livejournal.com]

Um, speaking of That-Fandom-Which-Is-Way-Too-Scary, I recently (as in less than two weeks ago) got blindsided by the H/D phenomenon. But I'm chicken! Do you have any fic suggestions?

*mutters, hides head in embarrassment*

[seraphcelene]

Jane Eyre changed my life. That sounds corny, melodramatic, a little pitiful, and strangely lacking in healthy priorities, but I've always felt it to be true. I was fourteen when I read it and I never felt alone again after that.


*heart*

:)

[imnotacommittee.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so happy you liked the BBC version. I love how they keep making adaptations of these classics and people go off on rambles/rants about why they're better/worse/completely off from previous versions.

I've only seen a couple other versions and have liked them all well enough. Except for that raving Cirian Hinds clippie... oh my! This one is certainly pretty, and while they've either made Jane older or Rochester younger, the change fits. It's funny that you say that the actors are pretty, because I didn't think they were. Oh, that sounds horribly shallow, and I by no means think they're unattractive, but I thought Jane was the right amount of pretty/plain. And I loved that inner glowing beauty she had on her ill-fated wedding day. /sigh/ As for Rochester, well, I guess us 21st-Century-ladies like the Byronic heroes to be rugged and sexy. I liked how Bertha was a pretty woman too, instead of a hag - made her seem scarier.

I feel for you in your quest for JE-fans. It doesn't quite have the fan-base one would think it would. Pemberley.com had a heated discussion about it when it came out, but I couldn't find it anywhere else. If music montages are your thing (I adore them), This site might actually make you like (a little) the musical.

Glad you got to see it and you enjoyed it!

[zibbycomix.livejournal.com]

I was supposed to read "Jane Eyre" for a class in college, but I was only able to read half-way through it. Ever since then, it has been my intention to read the whole thing some day.
About fan communities- I've always felt at home with anyone who is a Harry Potter fan. I know what you mean though about fandom- I think it is hard to find communities and to fit in at first. But the great thing about it is that in a particular fandom, everyone is a fan of what you like, and you can always talk about that, so it works out well. =)