(Jane Eyre 2006 by the BBC. Image from http://danitorres.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/jane_rochester_2.jpg)
I chose this image (from the 2006 BBC film version of Jane Eyre) for the blog today because Rochester and Jane are both looking right at the camera, and not at each other. This direct gaze challenges a viewer and can serve to remind us that we are watching a movie. Earlier in the semester we discussed metafictional moments, times when the text is calling attention to itself as a text. These moments of textual self-consciousness break through and remind readers that they are engaging a fictional work.
Jane Eyre contains many such moments, the most famous one being in Chapter 38 when Jane writes, "Reader, I married him" (Bronte 498). What other metafictional moments seem important to you in Jane Eyre? Why? What response as a reader do you have to these moments? What do you think are the reasons Charlotte Bronte included them?
On page 318 Jane states, "Stay till he comes, reader; and, when I disclose my secret to him, you shall share the confidence." This part I think makes me feel like I am let in on the secret somewhat before Rochester is about Jane's incident with the dream and the tree. I know I find out at the same moment he does but I feel like I have Jane's full confidence that she told me first. Moments like these just make me want to keep reading so I can see what happens. The suspense keeps me on the edge of my seat and it sounds like a very intimate secret when it is addressed to an audience like this. This part is important because we know that it must be something awful and as a reader this vision she gets is like a warning and we know later that is exactly what it was because then she finds out about Rochester's first wife. Jane knew it too but chose to ignore it because she has fallen for Rochester's evil wiles.
ReplyDeleteI think that these moments were included to make the story more intimate. By addressing the reader directly, it is as though a living person is speaking to us. We are no longer passively reading a book; we are actively engaging in a conversation. It also makes us more inclined to sympathize with the characters. We could not care less about fictional characters, but we care a great deal more when we feel as though we are in a conversation with someone. In conversation, it is much more acceptable for one to talk about one's emotions and inner thoughts. The conversational format justifies the emotionally of the book as well as the reliance on inner thoughts and impressions rather than a factual account of events.
ReplyDeleteThere is a scene on page 344 in chapter 27 after Rochester has told Jane about his wife and the whole story concerning her. He asks Jane is she forgives him and before she tells him his answer she writes, "Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot...I forgave him all: yet not in words, not outwardly; only at my heart's core." I think this moment was especially important because she goes on to reject him outwardly and refuse to stay with him; therefore, had she not included this metafictional moment to let the reader know her inner feelings, we would have had a much different perspective on this scene.
ReplyDeleteThere is another moment on page 378 when Jane is in the cake shop trying to get something to eat because she hasn't eaten in a really long time but she doesn't have any money and so she tries to trade some food for her gloves but the lady refuses. She then says, "Reader, it is not pleasant to dwell on these details." The next day is no better and she addresses the reader again saying, "Do nto ask me, reader, to give a minute account of that day; as before, I sought work; as before, I was repulsed; as before, I starved; but once did food pass my lips." I think Bronte included these two moments to really make the reader see just how grim and horrible these first few days on her own were for Jane. Jane is practically pleading with the reader not to ask her to share her story here, which obviously we can't, but it just emphasizes how low she felt at that moment in her life.
There is one more that I thought was really important too on page 498 in chapter 37 when she says, "And, reader, do you think I feared him in his blind ferocity?--if you do, you little know me." I thought this was a really interesting quote because it's almost like she is challenging the reader to see how well they have come to know Jane and have paid attention to her story and her feelings thus far. It was kind of like a wake up call to the reader.
I agree with Kara that when she addresses us it makes it feel more intimate. Like we are in her head. She shares all with us. I think she wants to explain herself, so we aren't in the dark. When I read it I don't hear it as if it is going on at that moment, I hear it like she is telling us the story at a later time. I feel like she has different motives each time she does this, sometimes to get us back on track, sometimes to key us in or remind us of something else. After she had left Thornfield and had been living a happy life with St. John and his sisters she says, "Perhaps you think I had forgotten Mr. Rochestor, reader, admist these changes of place and fortune. Not a moment. His idea was still with me, because it was not a vapor sunshine could disperse, nor a sand-traced effigy storms could wash away; it was a name graven on a tablet, fated to last as long as the marble it inscribed. The craving to know what had become of him followed me everywhere; when I was at Morton, I re-entered my cottage every evening to think of that; and now at Moor House, I sought my bedroom each night to brood over it". She constantly reminds us of him, not to tell us that she hasn't forgotten about him, but to make sure we haven't. Like she wants to tell us that their story isn't over. She needs to be able to tell us what is happening while still making sure we are up to date with everything that is going on. She has to clue us in on what is going outside of her, and what goes on in her head.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kara that these moments actively bring us into the story and make us more like a character or friend to Jane than just and outsider reading her story. It's more like she is personally telling us everything she does and thinks, like we are her best friend and trusts us with all of her inner most thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOne really key metafictional moment is at the very beginning of chapter ten. She writes, " Hitherto I have recorded in detail the events of my insignificant existence....But this is not to be a regular autobiography. I am only bound to invoke memory where I know her responses with possess some degree of interest" (pg 99). While this is not one of the many instances that she calls us reader which immediately reminds us that we are just that, a reader, it is almost more of her coming out of they story to catch us up on some information. It would be as if she had a narrator other than what she is writing that adds in side notes so that we could keep up. She tells us that she is going to skip the next eight years after Helen's death because nothing so exciting happens that she needs to spend more than just a few lines to catch us up. She instead says she wants to focus on the things that would actually be of interest to us as the reader. While it's good that we now know that they received better living conditions and that she is a teacher, but it's not so important as to really need more explanation than that. By stating it as she does, using metafictional moments so often, this passage does not seem out of place, instead, it is just her, again, speaking to us, as a friend so that we can continue to understand the story. I feel like the whole story is her talking to us and telling us this personal story, and her metafictional moments only add to that for me because as we tell a story to someone, we tend to add side notes, just as she does in those moments to us.
A meta-fictional moment that I saw was when Jane thinks to herself, “I Had no intended to love him; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate from my soul the germs of love there detected; and now, at first renewed view of him, they spontaneously revived, green and strong! He made me love him without looking at me” (Bronte, 203). This stood out to me not only because Bronte brings the reader in it also makes the reader a part of the story. The relationship that the reader is gaining with Jane as a friend gets returned in this sentence. Throughout the story the reader emotionally becomes attached to Jane and wants Jane to be happy and survive. When Jane says,”the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate form y soul the germs of love” it is read as if she was saying and my friend Helen knows how hard I tried to get rid of the germ of love. I like how Bronte does this because I like being brought into the story and it is nice to be recognized by the main character because it is more of a 2 way friendship verses the normal one way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Kala and Kara stated. I believe that these moments are meant for us to feel like we are not just merely watching the story happen, but to make us feel as if we are included in the story. I believe that these moments are also used to indicate significant moments and to let us know to pay special attention to what is being said.
ReplyDeleteOne example of a metafictional moment that I found is at the beginning of chapter 11. "A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the curtain this time, reader, you must fancy you see a room in the George Inn at Millcote, with such large-figured papering on the walls as inn rooms have; such a carpet, such furniture, such ornaments on the mantelpiece, such prints" (111). I believe that this is a significant moment because it is as if Jane is telling us to pay special close attention and notice that the surroundings have changed. I believe the detailed description of the inn is to show us how contrasting the place is compared to the school. I also believe that this statement not only marks the beginning of a new setting and scenery, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter in Jane’s life. Before this chapter, the story was about Jane's childhood, and now this chapter marks the beginning of Jane's adult life.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with former posts about intimacy. Indeed, it will make the readers to feel closer to Jane and closer to Charlotte as well. Those moments are like saying "hey, readers you are with me while I'm telling you this." As if Jane's voice is right next to the readers
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it will draw the reader closer to the time period and makes you see the scene, it brings you to the location where things happened, especially whenever a new chapter starts at a new place. On page 331, "The church, as the reader know, was but just beyond the fates; the footman soon returned." Do readers really know about the church? I doubt, but readers would feel familiar and wouldn't stuck at that moment and feel distant, even if they don't know about the church.
Also, the one of important functions for metafiction is to expose that no matter how real it is, it's still fiction. It's a way to tell the reader that all what's happening in the fiction is less or more than the reflection of live. By providing metafictional moment, personally it helps me to realize more and think about the plots more than I was planning to. It's like if it's all real, then the readers are just accepting the facts of a story, but if it's created based upon reality, there are a lot to discover under the surface.
I like what Kara said about the reasoning for Charlotte Bronte’s style in Jane Eyre. I think that this style is crucial in directly engaging the reader with the text. It makes it feel more like a story and the author or character is speaking to you. The quote that was addressed in the prompt makes me feel like these moments are there to say “Hey, are you paying attention?” Similarly, in Dracula the style that Stoker uses has an effect like Bronte’s. Writers have a different approaches when dealing with these metafictional moments. This is a great way for authors to distinguish themselves and create new styles. Personally out of the metafictional moments we have looked at, I really like the famous one mentioned in Chapter 38. It is the most straight forward moment in this style. It really helps you figure out what a metafictional moment is. I also think that when an author uses this style, they really want you to pay attention because something important is about to happen. Like I said earlier, it is almost like they are your teacher telling you to pay attention in class. If you aren’t paying attention to the story, you will when you see a metafictional moment like this because it really surprises you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the posts above on how these moments serve to bring in a level of initmacy and how they serve to engage the reader more closely in the reading. I believe its the authors way of jogging the reader out of there thoughts. Some readers, like myself, become so absorbed in the reading that they switch to autopilot, meaning that they read the words just to get through a section. This style makes the reader absorb the meaning and context. I also believe it switches the readers view from feeling like an outsider, seeing the events from a distance, to feeling like the author is sitting right next to them, telling them themselves their own story.
ReplyDeleteWhat is cool about metafictional moments is that they make the reading seem more intimate between the narrator (in this case, Jane) and the audience (YOU (or ME!)).
ReplyDeleteSure, the metafictional moments in Jane Eyre arent' personal, but they make it seem as if you and Jane are sharing secrets. This is extremely significant in this novel in reference to Jane's background. Being an orphan and hoping from her aunts, to school, to her new home with Rochester, shows how Jane's life has had its fair share of loinliness. Jane doesn't have any close friends that have been with her consistantly through her life whom she can share secrets with, gossip to, or simply tell them how our day was.
In a way, Jane puts us in her world while at the same time reminding us we are not a part of it.
These points are extremely important, especially in a book such as Jane Eyre. I don't think this book is necessarily a story line that every reader can connect to. Also, sometimes when a reader is reading a book it feels like the reader is an outsider, not apart of the story. By having lines such as this, it makes the reader feel like Jane is a friend telling us this whole story. It helps us connect to the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what kimmy said, how she puts us in her world, while at the same time reminding us we're not really a part of it. This is very true and these different aspects of the book helps remind us of these things.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Kala said about when the author addresses us it makes us feel like we are almost part of the story. It feels as though Jane is talking to us directly as if we are a close friend or confidant. In all the passages previously mentioned readers are drawn further into the story by her simply acknowledging that someone is reading her story and knows what is happening as it happens. I think this is a great way to make a reader really want to keep reading and become invested in the story.
ReplyDeleteOn page 344 Jane says, "Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot." Her involving the reader in this decision is a very creative way to get the reader to have a response. After reading what she felt like after finding out Mr. Rochester had betrayed her, it's hard for the reader to accept her forgiveness towards him. Personally, as the reader, I want to scream back at Jane and say, "wait! look at how he made you feel!" It's like the reader and Jane are having a conversation, but at the same time they aren't because the reader cannot respond. It engages the reader, but it is also frustrating to just sit and read/watch what is happening.
ReplyDeleteI have also agreed with what everyone has said so far. I think it is great that the author addresses us as the reader and brings us closer to what is going on. While I have been reading this I feel like I am right there with Jane and Mr. Rochester watching everything unfold from right beside them. It has definitley kept my attention throghout the whole story and has kept me excited. To know that the author really wants the reader to enjoy their story means a lot. I also agree with what Kimmy has said, even though we are brought into Jane's world it is still made clear that we are not apart of her world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of metafictional moments, I definitely think of when actors or actresses break the fourth wall. For example, like in a sitcom, when the character would turn towards the audience and say something like a rhetorical question or insight to the situation that other characters in the scene do not know.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to the fourth wall in theatre, these metafictional moments open up a new form of narration to the audience. It allows for insight from the character to the audience, without other characters knowing. Or even, like Kara said in an earlier post, it really creates a relationship of intimacy between the protagonist and the audience.
Page 22 ends chapter one with "unconsciousness closed the scene." She could have said she was unconscious or she fell asleep, but mentioning the scene reminds the reader that they are reading about what happened. They are not actually there. When the word “scene” was mentioned, I thought immediately of the theater and the stage going dark and a curtain falling. This visual brought me out of the book and the story and made it as if I was watching it as a play. The description of the situation as a scene and mentioning the ending of it even though the story does not skip over a significant amount of time alludes to the change that has taken place in her. From that point forward she will never be the same as she was before the incident in the red room. She mentioned it later in the book when she has grown, showing that it was a pivotal moment in her life. It warns the reader to take note of what is happening at this point; signaling its importance.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we have these moments when Jane is speaking to the reader because Bronte wants the reader to possibly feel as if they are right next to Jane experiencing what she experiences and as well as having a personal relationship with Jane. Seeing as how when she was younger she was never really close to anyone except for Helen at Lowood, when she speaks to the reader, they can kind of serve as a friend or a confidant who she talks to because she has no one else.
ReplyDeletePg. 57
Let the reader add, to complete the picture, refined features; a complexion, if pale, clear; and a stately air and carriage, and he l have, at least as clearly as words can give it, a correct idea of the exterior of Miss Temple - Maria Temple, as I afterwards saw the name written in a Prayer Book intrusted to me to carry to church.
I like Jenny's idea of breaking of the fourth wall. It's true that the characters in text are not aware of what Jane is thinking. She conveys everything to the reader and makes them a part of the story. Its like the reader is another actor in the novel. Jane is talking to you and sharing her feelings as if you were one of her friends.
ReplyDeleteOne such instance is on page 111.
"Reader, though I look comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind. I thought when the coach stopped here there would be someone to meet me; I looked anxiously round as I descended the wooden steps the 'boots' placed for my convenience, expecting to hear my name pronounced and to see some description of carriage waiting to convey me to Thornfield."
In the above lines Jane is sharing her disappointment with the reader as if we were her friend. And she finds solace in complaining to the reader. She is disappointed as no one came to receive her at the station.
One moment that I really enjoyed reading and which the speaker is addressing the reader is at the bottom of page 129 and to the top of page 130. Eyre is challenging the role of women in society during this time period. She is claiming that women are just as equal as men emotionally and mentally. Also that women should be given the same stimulus as men. This is a very radical claim to be making that women should be viewed as equal to men. But she is also trying to tell her female readers that they have a right to think and act just as men do.
ReplyDeleteI believe the idea of the red room is metafictional in janes case because it is showing how what she must overcome throughout her life. It throws out all of her problems and makes her face them all. Once she gets out of the red room it was used as a symbol of what was and what is to be, meaning she'll still have some problems to overcome no matter what but she is better off!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Kara certain moments throughout the book, give the illusion that you are almost friends with Jane, it is as you were talking to just a friend. I like how Kara said that we are engaging in conversation because that is how I felt when reading. In chapter 38 along with her engaging the reader by telling us she was married, also goes on to say, “You have not quite forgotten little Adele, have you, reader? I had not;” I love how she asks the reader a question; this further demonstrates what I was saying about talking as if the reader and writer were friends. She is asking me to recall something that happened farther back in the book so it is almost like we have a history together, like we have been friends awhile and people that have been friends for a long time talk about past memories. I think Charlotte included these because she wanted the reader to be a friend to her on some level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the posts above. I have noticed points in the story where Jane allows the reader to judge a situation for themselves which makes each reader have their own experience with the book. As we notice when we have conversations in class, everyone reads interprets the story differently. I love hearing how other people read a situation when it different from yourself. I feel Charlotte inculded these moments to give each reader a better more intimate experience with the book.
ReplyDelete