Showing posts with label Jane Eyre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jane Eyre. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Jane Eyre'vrywhere!
Here is a cool post that I found (posted literally an hour ago!) from a blog that I follow and coincidently it's about Jane Eyre and its adaptation/popularity within pop. culture. From films to graphic novels... check it out! http://iheartclassics.tumblr.com/post/3327180803/jane-eyrevrywhere
Monday, February 14, 2011
Governess Movies
Thanks everyone for some great discussion today regarding Jane Eyre and the socio-historical contexts of Bronte's novel. Our consideration of governesses and the place of women in Victorian Britain got me thinking about representations of governesses in cinema. Hollywood has certainly interpreted the governess narrative and, in particular, Jane Eyre's character in a number of ways.
Minnie Driver is a seductive re-envisioning of Jane Eyre in Sandra Goldbacher's 1998 film, The Governess. Set in Scotland in the 1840s, this film is sensually seductive, too, with its rich fabrics, rustling fabrics, and evocative sets. This film also explores the dynamics of gender and looking - Driver's governess is an early photographer and she quite literally wields the gaze by the film's conclusion.
Meanwhile, Deborah Kerr played her share of governess roles on the silver screen. She portrays Anna Leonowens in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (1956), teaching English to the children of the King of Siam (aka Thailand) in a colonial paradise of palaces and proper British accents. Kerr's hoop dresses in this film are FABULOUS and certainly a far cry from Jane's black silk. Kerr's dresses move, shine, flounce, fold . . . I think I'm in love. The costume designers on this film must have had a ball.
In 1961, Kerr starred as the hysterical (is she crazy or not?) governess in The Innocents, a psychological horror film with some pretty creepy little kids. This film interrogates the Victorian governess as a psychological subject, and uses the machinery of the Gothic (spirits, dark mansion, long hallways) to cast doubt on the sanity of its protagonist.
And I cannot wait to see what the latest Hollywood version makes of Bronte's text: March 11, 2011 marks the theatre debut of Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre.
Minnie Driver is a seductive re-envisioning of Jane Eyre in Sandra Goldbacher's 1998 film, The Governess. Set in Scotland in the 1840s, this film is sensually seductive, too, with its rich fabrics, rustling fabrics, and evocative sets. This film also explores the dynamics of gender and looking - Driver's governess is an early photographer and she quite literally wields the gaze by the film's conclusion.
Meanwhile, Deborah Kerr played her share of governess roles on the silver screen. She portrays Anna Leonowens in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (1956), teaching English to the children of the King of Siam (aka Thailand) in a colonial paradise of palaces and proper British accents. Kerr's hoop dresses in this film are FABULOUS and certainly a far cry from Jane's black silk. Kerr's dresses move, shine, flounce, fold . . . I think I'm in love. The costume designers on this film must have had a ball.
In 1961, Kerr starred as the hysterical (is she crazy or not?) governess in The Innocents, a psychological horror film with some pretty creepy little kids. This film interrogates the Victorian governess as a psychological subject, and uses the machinery of the Gothic (spirits, dark mansion, long hallways) to cast doubt on the sanity of its protagonist.
And I cannot wait to see what the latest Hollywood version makes of Bronte's text: March 11, 2011 marks the theatre debut of Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Womens Place in Victorian Society
Hey guys!
I'm partnered with Stephanie, who is two posts down. We broke it down so I am relating everything to Jane Eyre. I found as i was reading Jane Eyre I noticed the treatment of women throughout the whole novel.
When Jane Eyre was first introduced to the Lowood Institution she noticed a scripture that was engraved above the door. This scripture told the young girls that were a part of this institution to, “ ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’-- St. Matt. V.16,” (Bronte 109). The fact that this scripture was one of the first things that stood out to Jane upon reaching Lowood is important to notice, because it is essentially telling these girls that they are living their lives for the men that surround them; that they must work to please these men. This notion of men’s superiority over women and women’s need to serve men is continued on throughout Jane’s time at Lowood. It is seen again as Mr. Brocklehurst visits the Institution and insists that all the children’s hair must be cut off. He tells Miss Temple, “ ‘Madam,’ he pursued, “I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us had a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven: these, I repeat, must be cut off,’” (127). Mr. Brocklehurst admits to the fact that he is trying to teach these young girls to be shameful of themselves, that they have no right to be pleased with themselves but must only yearn to please others.
Not only does Jane have to dress and do her hair to please men when she is at the Lowood Institution, but when she is in the presence of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield hall she also has to worry about her fashion. When Jane is first invited to join Mr. Rochester for tea she inquires Mrs. Fairfax if she should change her frock. Mrs. Fairfax replies by saying that whenever Mr. Rochester is around she dresses “for the evening,” so Jane replaces her black stuff dress with a black silk one, which was one of her best ones (189). This makes it clear that women in Victorian society were expected to dress to impress the men around them at all times, that they must always take time to look presentable.
As Jane grows up and moves from Lowood to Thornfield-Hall she begins to question the stereotypical qualities that have been forced upon her since she was a child. As readers, we rarely become aware of Jane’s feelings and what she is thinking, but finally she explains to us how she feels about these stereotypes that she has had to live up to. She explains that “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; the need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex,” (178). Jane understands that within Victorian society it is customary for women to get married or work as a governess, but she finds this hard to live with. She is frustrated by the fact that there are such different standards for her because she is a female, and wants the ability to live with the same amount of freedom that men do.
Hope this is helpful to everyone!
Sources
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 2004. Print.
I'm partnered with Stephanie, who is two posts down. We broke it down so I am relating everything to Jane Eyre. I found as i was reading Jane Eyre I noticed the treatment of women throughout the whole novel.
When Jane Eyre was first introduced to the Lowood Institution she noticed a scripture that was engraved above the door. This scripture told the young girls that were a part of this institution to, “ ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’-- St. Matt. V.16,” (Bronte 109). The fact that this scripture was one of the first things that stood out to Jane upon reaching Lowood is important to notice, because it is essentially telling these girls that they are living their lives for the men that surround them; that they must work to please these men. This notion of men’s superiority over women and women’s need to serve men is continued on throughout Jane’s time at Lowood. It is seen again as Mr. Brocklehurst visits the Institution and insists that all the children’s hair must be cut off. He tells Miss Temple, “ ‘Madam,’ he pursued, “I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us had a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven: these, I repeat, must be cut off,’” (127). Mr. Brocklehurst admits to the fact that he is trying to teach these young girls to be shameful of themselves, that they have no right to be pleased with themselves but must only yearn to please others.
Not only does Jane have to dress and do her hair to please men when she is at the Lowood Institution, but when she is in the presence of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield hall she also has to worry about her fashion. When Jane is first invited to join Mr. Rochester for tea she inquires Mrs. Fairfax if she should change her frock. Mrs. Fairfax replies by saying that whenever Mr. Rochester is around she dresses “for the evening,” so Jane replaces her black stuff dress with a black silk one, which was one of her best ones (189). This makes it clear that women in Victorian society were expected to dress to impress the men around them at all times, that they must always take time to look presentable.
As Jane grows up and moves from Lowood to Thornfield-Hall she begins to question the stereotypical qualities that have been forced upon her since she was a child. As readers, we rarely become aware of Jane’s feelings and what she is thinking, but finally she explains to us how she feels about these stereotypes that she has had to live up to. She explains that “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; the need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex,” (178). Jane understands that within Victorian society it is customary for women to get married or work as a governess, but she finds this hard to live with. She is frustrated by the fact that there are such different standards for her because she is a female, and wants the ability to live with the same amount of freedom that men do.
Hope this is helpful to everyone!
Sources
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 2004. Print.
Jane Eyre and Governesses
Brought to you by: Carly Basch and Jessica Flanagan
Our topic for tomorrow's Tutorial discussion sheds light on the world of governesses and its relation to Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte. Governesses (not to be confused with Nannies) take on the role of educating children in a wealthy household. Their responsibilities reside only through educating the children, not taking care of them unlike a nanny would.
From last tutorial, we left off by viewing Child Abuse and Jane's experiences of child oppression during her years at the Reed's and Lowood School. This week we hope to bring some information about the role of the governess, its significance to Jane Eyre as well as Charlotte Bronte's involvement as a governess and how her personal influences help shape, inspire, sympathize and even romanticize the role of a governess through Jane's experiences. From about Chapters 11-26, we are able to take a look into Jane's role as a governess and will explore some of the events that occur that show examples that would show realism but as well as romanticism. Our edited Broadview Anthology version of Jane Eyre explores personal letters Charlotte had with her employees when she was a governess as well as article clips during the time that relate to the topic of 'being a good governess'. We found this piece of information to have a strong backbone and influence into the writings of Jane Eyre and we wish to explore them further and present information on them. Coming from periodicals at the time, these articles will bring in some of the social and political aspects that are drawn to societies' outlook of governesses at the time and how that is incorporated with the novel.
Jane Eyre is seen as a piece that strongly empathizes the female protagonist through out the book and there is no doubt that some of the events that do occur, romanticize women in a way that Jane Eyre is a strong, outspoken individual and is able to find love, despite her social class and position. For fun, we have included a blog site that shows a list of other great novels that include Governesses: http://booklistsforbookworms.blogspot.com/2010/07/fall-in-love-with-governess.html . The post is called "Fall in Love with the Governesses". As well with novels, governesses are well recognized in films. A more contemporary character is Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, but here is the trailer from the film The Governess starring actress, Minnie Driver. Take a look and see if you can make some comparisons/contrasts to what we are reading in Jane Eyre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_nn5rCANg .
We look forward to expanding our knowledge with you, also at the end of the presentation we will be sharing a list of real-life governesses, which famous people they worked for and some of their significant impacts!
*External Sources used were:
"Fall in Love with the Governesses". Booklists for Bookworms on Blogspot.com. July 2010. http://booklistsforbookworms.blogspot.com/2010/07/fall-in-love-with-governess.html. Web.
The Governess. Dir. Sandra Goldbacher. Star. Minnie Driver and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Sony Pictures Classics, 1998. Film.
(website: Youtube.com was used to show the trailer)
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