Jane Eyre vs. Pride and Prejudice #DIY MFA 7

I planned a DIY MFA review like I did for Pride & Prejudice, but I thought it might be more helpful to see how we consider books in the MFA when trying to improve writing. If you're a romance writer, comparing these two books will be very helpful for you because they are "romance classics." If you're not a romance writer, look at the comparison and imitate it using books in your genre. So here is what I think of the two books when compared.

I saw Jane and Lizzy both as strong heroines. Still, Lizzy is the stronger of the two. I don’t think she would have tolerated her aunt and cousins the way Jane did. And she would have put Rochester in check a whole lot sooner. But there is a real difference in the heroes. Darcy is good looking, at times rude but still decently mannered. Darcy is a redeemable bad boy. I found nothing redeemable in Rochester. He’s not attractive. (This could have been overcome—who doesn’t love a good Beauty and the Beast story)? He’s twenty years older than her and has a wife he forgot to mention. I understand the wife is insane and the marriage a sham, but he could have been honest about it. Especially since he has his new girlfriend living in the same house as the psycho. And the psycho has at one point tried to set him—and the house—on fire with Jane in it, and at another point came into Jane’s room in a manic rage. He ignored Jane’s interest in anything but him. (He didn’t want her to be Adele’s governess anymore; Adele has to be sent away. Jane needs to dress a certain way). There is a structural difference here too. In P&P we got snippets of Darcy’s point of view and then with the letter we are given a broad scope of his mind. We never get any of Rochester’s point of few. (A poor choice because he may have been more relatable if we had seen his point of view). As I was reading this parts of it felt more like YA than romance.

The books also differ in tone and mood as other people have pointed out. P&P is light contemporary romance (for Austen’s time). Jane Eyre has a darker tone. I didn’t particularly enjoy either book, but prefer P&P to Jane Eyre. That being said, there is one thing I think JE does better: romantic tension. P&P didn’t have enough romance for me to really love it. Mary said that by today’s standard there was “not a kiss to be had.” True enough, but when I said I felt P&P lacked romance I didn’t even mean physically. I didn’t feel enough longing. I didn’t feel Darcy tried hard enough or that Lizzy pushed him to do so. I didn’t feel the emotional tug-of-war that is romance. During the 40% of the book Rochester is around, you feel the tug of war. These characters want each other desperately—for reasons beyond my comprehension at least on her part—but still they do.

Which  brings us to the last question. What does JE add to the romance genre? This is tough, because while JE might satisfy Regis’ standards, I really don’t think it would sell as a romance today. In considering the influence it has had on later romances, what immediately came to mind was Twilight, a YA. While JE does is not romance by the Beth test, it can probably be credited to adding the intense emotional angst to the genre. And it may be the beginning of paranormal romance. His wife’s situation was never quite clear, but Jane did compare her to a vampire. And the ending undeniably had paranormal elements. 

Pride & Prejudice DIY MFA Review#1

"In a remote Hertfordshire village, far off the good coach roads of George III's England, a country squire of no great means must marry off his five vivacious daughters. At the heart of this all-consuming enterprise are his headstrong second daughter Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy — two lovers whose pride must be humbled and prejudices dissolved before the novel can come to its splendid conclusion.
A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative."

This is a classic required for my MFA program, and I'm a writer. You're expecting me to say I loved it. I can't. I won't.  Ironically, I read this in 2010 and apparently didn't review it--probably because I was embarrassed to admit that I didn't like it--but I did rate it. I gave it the same 3 stars then that I will give it today. 

Last week, when I started reading it, I found it an easier read than when I read it in 2010. I thought for this reason the extra years of writing and reviewing would make me view it more favorably, but I still think it was just okay.

You see in the synopsis that Elizabeth and Darcy are at the center of this story about five daughters needing to be married off. Lots of the story follows Elizabeth's older sister Jane and her suitor, who for at least half the book have more chemistry than Elizabeth and Darcy. The subtext shows attraction on Darcy's side but Elizabeth's oblivious to it and hates him. Some of these encounters were humorous, so I can overlook that. Two things made this a hard book for me to like. The first is the massive amount of author intrusion. She literally tells the reader what to think, which is telling not showing. But more than that it's invasive. The author voice is distinct from Elizabeth's voice and jolting. In fairness, this was a common technique at this time. And I haven't seen a book yet I liked it in. But I also found this book to suffer from a sagging middle. This time I read this on a Kindle. I was bored until about 50%. From 50%-58% it was absolutely captivating, a page turner. Then it got dull again until about 94% where it kept my attention until the end. Except that the last chapter was entirely authorial intrusion. 

But it's a classic. It's "stood the test of time," and part of me can't help but wonder if that is because people keep assigning, thus other people have to keep reading it. Still, since it is a class and so many people do seem to enjoy it, I feel compelled to link to a five star review.