I read all of them as a young teen, and what impressed me was the haunting writing of Wuthering Heights. It didn't matter that the characters were so closed and desperate - what mattered was that there was so much emotion written so beautifully.

Jane Eyre is my favorite of the Bronte sisters, though. My first romantic novel! I remember being 12 and reading it under the covers, because I couldn't wait until the next day to finish it!

And as for Austen, well, someone (can't remember who) said that Austen books are like a well tended garden and that Bronte books are like a wild jungle. I think the comparison is apt.

My favorite Jane Austen is Emma, although Pride and Prejudice is also very good. I LOVE Emma. The heroine progresses from blunder to blunder and yet we can't help but forgive her and it ends well. Everyone is painted with such affectionate humor. Warms my heart.

Heathcliff is a mopey douche and Rochester is sadistic. Not so many good choices for the mid-century heroines!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Yes. It offers a chilling perspective on Mr. Rochester, doesn't it?

+1 for Darcy. I don't think I agree, but I've heard him described as a the only "manic pixie dream guy" ever written.

This is an old thread, but I got the recommendation for Wide Sargasso Sea from DCUM and finally read it and found this thread. MY GOODNESS. Mr Rochester is so terrible in this, I don't want to re-read Jane Eyre and have her fall in love with him. Of course this is a perspective of a different author, but it was very compelling and could Mr. Rochester be more of a slut shamer? And care more about what other people think? I do love these brooding men though. Would never marry one but these drama queens are fun to read about.

I'm glad you resurrected this thread, but if Wide Saragasso Sea hadn't ripped off Jane Eyre no one would have read it. Poor Rochester, vilified in abstentia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Yes. It offers a chilling perspective on Mr. Rochester, doesn't it?

+1 for Darcy. I don't think I agree, but I've heard him described as a the only "manic pixie dream guy" ever written.

This is an old thread, but I got the recommendation for Wide Sargasso Sea from DCUM and finally read it and found this thread. MY GOODNESS. Mr Rochester is so terrible in this, I don't want to re-read Jane Eyre and have her fall in love with him. Of course this is a perspective of a different author, but it was very compelling and could Mr. Rochester be more of a slut shamer? And care more about what other people think? I do love these brooding men though. Would never marry one but these drama queens are fun to read about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Edward Said had lots to say about this.

She is? I had no idea - I need to read it again from that perspective! Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I totally get why Miss No-Name marries de Winter. She's an orphan, she's never had any kind of means, no one has ever paid any attention to her, she's stuck taking care of a horrible old woman and probably will be forever. And then, Max. He takes her away from it all, he asks her questions about herself and listens to the answers, he elevates her in the eyes of the hotel staff. And she's like 20 or something. It's her first crush, and it's a doozy. All this, and money too. How could she say no? But... why did he ask? There was nothing about her to attract the attention of an older, wealthy man. Nothing except being the opposite of Rebecca in every way, which is a criterion that seems to exist only in novels where the female protagonist is plain and shy.

and the type of personality that he could control.

Oh I LOVE Jane Eyre! I read Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights in school but was never made to read Jane Eyre so I didn't get around to it until last year. I adored everything about that book. Such a fierce bitch, that Jane.

have to digress, as my all time favorite was Rebecca by du Maurier

Heathcliff is sadistic. Remember that bit about him finding the bird's nest and rigging up a screen so the bird mother couldn't get to her bird babies?

However, my husband, who has Ph.D. in Victorian Literature, maintains that WH must be read as a comic soap opera.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Edward Said had lots to say about this.

Anonymous wrote:Darcy all the way.

Team Darcy. I love that man so hard.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

+1


Healthcliff is Edward/Christian Grey without the sex. The only appeal is his obsessiveness, and Cathy is a big nothing. I hated Wuthering Heights at ten and it never got any better for me.

Jane Bennett is a fine woman, and Mr. Bennett is a perceptive and humorous man who sees and clearly adores Elizabeth as she is. Perhaps he was more involved with them as children, was outnumbered and outgunned and eventually withdrew? Elizabeth isn't a social climber, or she would never have withdrawn from Darcy over her perception of his character. Social climbers don't turn down passionate proposals from absurdly wealthy and handsome men with no other candidates on the horizon.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Yes. It offers a chilling perspective on Mr. Rochester, doesn't it?

+1 for Darcy. I don't think I agree, but I've heard him described as a the only "manic pixie dream guy" ever written.

Anyone read Wide Sargasso Sea? The main character is Mad Mrs. Rochester, when she was a young bride in the West Indies. I re-read Jane Eyre after that, and was much more sympathetic to her.

Anonymous wrote:Darcy all the way.

+1