Eyre
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"Namaste."
(The sacred in me recognizes the sacred in you)
Although one individual may clearly see or hear another, that which is seen or heard does not necessarily reflect the authenticity, or spirit, of the individual being perceived. The spirit that all-too-often remains hidden beneath layers of customs, conventionalities, and mortal flesh (and in today's world, chronic stress, political correctness, and even fear).
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was an English novelist and poet (1). She grew up in a small village called Haworth, situated in northern England. Brontë wrote her first poem at age 13; this was to be the first of many poems and a number of novels that she wrote throughout her life. After completing her education at Roe Head School in the nearby town of Mirfield, she also became a teacher there.
Brontë was unhappy as a teacher; her passion had always revolved around a fictitious world that she co-created with her siblings, an imagined country called Angria that she based much of her poetry on. Angria provided a much-needed diversion from the lack of fulfillment that teaching gave Brontë; perhaps Angria even prevented her spirit from fading away. Following her teaching, Brontë worked as a governess to various families in northern England, a career that kept her occupied for the next 2-3 years. She did not enjoy this either, believing that her employers often treated her as a kind of slave.
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Charlotte Brontë (aka Currer Bell). |
Eventually, Brontë decided to pour her energy into writing. Her first novel, The Professor, was not successful; however, it managed to stir up just enough interest for a prospective publisher to support Brontë's second novel, Jane Eyre (2), which became hugely successful and remains a literary classic to this day. Perhaps one reason for the book's success was its authenticity; it was based on many of the experiences from Brontë's own life up to that point in time. She authored the book under a pen name, Currer Bell, so that any links to her own identity, such as gender and class, would remain hidden and therefore not create preconceived notions in the minds of publishers (or readers) that might extend to their estimation of the novel itself. Perhaps, like the fictitious world of Angria, the fictitious pen name of Currer Bell provided a shield that protected Brontë's spirit.
If you have not read Jane Eyre and plan to do so, you may want to stop reading this article right now. That said, I won't give too much away (you could also watch one of the movie adaptations beforehand - I recommend the 2011 version).
Ms Eyre, Mr Rochester
The star of Jane Eyre is of course Ms Eyre herself. She has a lonely and miserable childhood with her maternal uncle's family at their home of Gateshead Hall, followed by an equally miserable experience at Lowood, a school for poor and orphaned girls. The restrictions placed upon her at both of these places result in Ms Eyre adopting an excessively self-controlled, calm, and austere outer shell. After spending another two years as a teacher at Lowood, Ms Eyre becomes restless, and decides to take up a posting as a governess at a stately house known as Thornfield Hall.
During her time at Thornfield Hall, Ms Eyre gets to know the owner of the house, Mr Rochester, who comes across as a sour, surly, and arrogant fellow. He acts coldly towards her at first, even bordering on heartless at times. Yet as the story unfolds, and as Mr Rochester's past opens up, the reasons for his off-putting behaviour become clearer, for it deflects his attention away from a dark sort of secret that he harbours - a secret that is, in his own words, his "own demon."
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Ms Eyre meets Mr Rochester...custom and convention. |
Throughout the earlier chapters of their lives, Ms Eyre and Mr Rochester have each adopted, and continue to project, numerous layers of customs and conventionalities that have allowed them to survive in their respective worlds. Ms Eyre projects herself as self-controlled, calm, and austere. Mr Rochester projects himself as sour, surly, and arrogant. Yet these traits do not in any way reflect the authenticity of that which lies within each of them.
Jane and Edward
"I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh:
it is my spirit that addresses your spirit."
As time passes, Ms Eyre and Mr Rochester peel away each other's respective facades, which allows each of them to peer into the other's spirit. Jane Ayre recognizes Edward Rochester, and Edward Rochester in turn recognizes Jane Eyre. And although the novel has been lauded as a classic work of fiction for many reasons, to me the greatest of these reasons is that the story portrays the effort put in by both of these characters as they work together to life their respective veils of artificial customs and conventionalities that cloak - but do not define - the essence of their beings.
For the real greatness of Jane Eyre is that it starts out as a story about a Ms Eyre and a Mr Rochester, a story about two people that have become accustomed to projecting that which they are not in the interest of self-preservation; this makes their lives easier...but in some ways, harder. And so by the end of the novel, both Jane and Edward decide to each other in a purer sense - As They Are - and so does the reader.
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As They Are. |
It can be extremely difficult to discern the authentic nature of a person beyond the things that make one liable to make predictions about the nature of that person before even speaking to them. Things like their age, gender, race, religion, or creed, or the stressful circumstances of their life at that moment, or the influence of political correctness and fear on words and actions - all these things result in a sort of pre-judgement that can be difficult to throw aside. Even more interesting is that all these external forces can influence a person to such a degree that they may say or do things that do not reflect their own essence - they can make someone believe things about themselves, about who they are or what they want, that may not be true.
Jane and Edward could have gone on playing "Ms Eyre" and "Mr Rochester" for the rest of each of their lives. No customs would have been rocked, no conventions disturbed. Yet each took the time to recognize the spirit not just in the other, but in themselves. Which provided for a much more interesting story.
Namaste. :)
Solace.
References
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB.
(2) Brontë C. 1847. Jane Eyre: An Autobiography. Smith, Elder & Co.
