J is for Jane Eyre

Paula has a personal ‘link’ to Jane Eyre. 

I first read ‘Jane Eyre’ when I was about 12, and loved it. About a year later, the story was serialised in 6 parts on BBC, in the old days of black and white TV. Stanley Baker played Rochester and Daphne Slater played Jane. It was made doubly interesting by the fact that my class tutor at the time had been at school with Daphne Slater and used her ‘connections’ to get the autographs of both lead characters for us all.

‘Jane Eyre’ continued to be ‘special’ to me, especially after I saw a stage adaptation performed by our local repertory company. It was one of the first dramatic performances I remember that led to my lifelong love of theatre, and I read the book more times than I can count.

In my third novel, when I was in my late twenties, a school-based dramatization of ‘Jane Eyre’ was a focal part of the plot.

Fast forward 30+ years. I started researching my family tree, and discovered a link (in my father’s family) to landed gentry in the county of Derbyshire. One of my ancestors was Roger Eyre (born c1430, the son of Robert Eyre (c1390-1459) who owned land in the county and who had married Joan Padley, heiress to several other estates. They lived in the small village of Hathersage, and when they died, their tombs were surmounted with brass effigies. These are the most famous effigies in the church.

What is the connection between this and Jane Eyre? In 1845 Charlotte Bronte came to stay in the Rectory at Hathersage with her old school friend, and it was here she started to write her novel about Jane Eyre, whose name was inspired by the brass effigy on the tomb of Joan Eyre (nee Padley).

So it seems Jane Eyre was named after my 15-times-great-grandmother! Maybe that’s why I’ve always had an affinity with Charlotte Bronte’s novel?

P.S. I’ve also used Jane Eyre in two of my later novels. In Fragrance of Violets, Abbey’s acting career took off after she appeared in the lead role in a TV dramatization, and in Irish Inheritance, Jenna auditioned for the role.

My Favourite Hero

I’ll start by telling you some types of hero which would never be among my favourites: vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, aliens, ghosts, angels, demons, or other magically-empowered beings.  Okay, I know they’re very ‘fashionable’ right now but – confession time – I’ve never read any fantasy-type story.  Not even Lord of the Rings or any of the Harry Potter books.

I loved Hugh Jackman in ‘Australia’, in ‘Kate and Leopold’ and as Curly in Oklahoma. 

But Wolverine?  No thanks!

Even as a child, I preferred stories about ‘real’ people, and not ‘fairy’ stories.  I have absolutely no interest in ‘fantasy’ in the strictest sense of the word.  Most of the paranormal beings are, to me anyway, the stuff of nightmares, not of romance. 

I don’t like ‘bad boys’ either.  Never liked Heathcliffe, for example, or the ‘Byronic’ type of anti-hero. Maybe Mr Rochester in ‘Jane Eyre’ is also an anti-hero – keeps his wife locked up, pretends to be engaged to one of his lady friends to make Jane jealous, and then attempts to marry Jane bigamously?  What a jerk!  But we see him only through Jane’s eyes so can empathise (and sympathise) with her. 

What about Mr Darcy then?  Supposedly women’s favourite fictional icon, whereas really he was a dominant patriarchal male.  Forget Colin Firth clambering from lake in wet shirt (on second thoughts, though, maybe I will keep that image in my mind!).  But Darcy was moody, overbearing, repressed and patronising.  In the 1940’s Laurence Olivier played a very ‘buttoned-up’ Mr Darcy and no-one swooned over him.  My guess is that those who drool over Darcy have never actually read the book, but are simply drooling over the devastatingly sexy Mr Firth!  And that gives me the chance to put up a picture of him, not the famous lake scene, but the smouldering look as he watched Elizabeth playing the piano – whoa, definitely a ‘stop the DVD, rewind and replay’ moment!

However, I digress. I’m supposed to be writing about my favourite hero, and not Colin Firth.  But – hold on a minute, maybe I can still talk about Mr Firth.  In ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ he plays the modern equivalent of Mr. Darcy (great casting there!).  He’s reserved and awkward but ‘nice’, while Hugh Grant plays Daniel Cleaver, the modern equivalent of George Wickham, a shallow but sexy charmer.

Which was my favourite hero?  Without getting into the whole alpha/beta discussion again, I have to say it’s the reserved but nice one, of course, who proves to have more far strength of character than the sexy charmer, and more sex appeal too!   

When he kisses Bridget at the end, she tells him, ‘Nice boys don’t kiss like that.’  His reply is. ‘Oh yes, they f….g do.’ 

Now THAT’s my kind of hero!