Jane Eyre—Part Two

In the second part of this Masterpiece Theater presentation, Jane's abandonment of Thornfield Hall for Moor House allows for some lovely scenery and fantastic cinematography. At first, her trip to the moors seems arbitrary and unexplained, but a flashback later in the show gives us more details of her decision, as well as a strongly affecting, very sensual scene between her and Rochester. Her "romance" with St. John (here a "half-cousin" instead of a cousin) is underplayed, which is a bit of a pity, since his righteous but incredibly annoying self (if you don't marry me, you'll totally go to hell) plays strongly against Rochester's not all that righteous but completely accepting of Jane stance in the novel. The script adds some extrapolation about the final fate of Thornfield, making Bertha Rochester the explicit perpetrator. And in the end, Rochester still has his hand, but doesn't seem to partially regain his sight, as he does in the book's coda. So, a few liberties taken, but overall I felt this was a satisfying adaptation.

However, I found it annoying that the episode descriptions and the trailers for this part gave away the plot twist regarding Rochester's previous wife. Yeah, I know, just about everybody knows the story, but still. It seemed like a cheap spoiler, and if you didn't know the story, the promos would have taken a lot away from it. Maybe I'm just extra annoyed because it seems like spoiling shows in the promos has become a network hobby.

And I'm still struggling with Rochester. I like the way the character is written, and I even like the way Toby Stephens plays him, but he just doesn't look right. Maybe that's shallow of me, but I still think they needed somebody more imposing. With really big shoulders. Hey. it's in the book. "Considerable breadth of chest," it says. Go read it.

Masterpiece Theater—Jane Eyre

In a convenient coincidence, PBS decided to show this production of Jane Eyre only a few weeks after I finally got around to reading the book for the first time. Having greatly enjoyed the novel, I was happy to tune in, though Sunday night was so crowded (with The Dresden Files and Battlestar Galactica) I had to record it. It's definitely well worth a watch. The adaptation by Sandy Welch is a strongly scripted and faithful adaptation of the book, from the dour Jane (Ruth Wilson) to the snooty Blanche (Christina Cole--Hex) to the dark and sinister Thornfield Hall, as much a character in the story as any of the humans. My only real quibble is the casting of Toby Stephens as Rochester. He just doesn't look the part to me. Rochester is described in the book as a large, imposing, dark and craggy man, and Stephens is none of those things. Plus when he turns his head the right way, he looks just like Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) on Scrubs. I kept expecting him to call Jane "Barbie." They should have cast a really big guy with huge shoulders. Yes, I know this is my personal fetish but it's in the book.

In any case, the interplay between Wilson and Stephens is still good, and the adaptation is solid, so I'll definitely be tuning in for part two.

The DVD of this production is available for preorder at amazon.com, with a release date of February 20. In the meantime, read the book if you haven't already.