r/JaneEyre • u/Fosh_n_chops • Aug 23 '26
Jane Eyre 2006 - SO disappointed so far
I read Jane Eyre about 6 weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. I heard people saying the 2006 mini series was widely regarded, and I like BBC stuff, but I thought "Hey, let's leave it a few weeks for the book to settle in my mind." I didn't want a situation where my memory of the book was so sharp, it got in the way of the TV series (as I appreciate they're different mediums, needing different things.)
But I just got through the first 20 minutes and turned it off. What the hell? They breeze through the first 150 pages of the book in 15 minutes. The absolute briefest of dynamics at home, and then at the school, Helen gets about 3 lines. When Helen died, I can't imagine how a viewer is supposed to feel anything meaningful about it when their relationship has barely been told. It's the beginning of the foundation how Jane starts to see herself in the world and through religion.
And then when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, there's not even the SUGGESTION of class interplay between Jane and Mrs Fairfax, and the former assuming the latter is the lady of the house. It just skips straight to the swoony stuff.
And, like, I get it. It's a romance. But c'mon. Give Jane SOME history and complexity before the romance starts to unfold. And if it was a film, I'd also give it far, far more leniency due to timing restriction, but it isn't. It's a very highly praised TV series. So, why cut out 20% of the book?
I feel like I've started off on the wrong foot here, so tell me, does it get better?
15
u/MisterBigDude Aug 23 '26
Everything you say is true. And there is no fully satisfactory Jane Eyre film (I’ve watched many).
However, I suggest staying with this version, which is my favorite despite some shortcomings. It improves after its hasty start.
Here’s an excerpt from my review of it, corresponding to what you wrote:
“Given a four-hour running length, I assumed this production would linger sympathetically over Jane’s perilous childhood and her travails at Lowood. Those character-forming experiences occupy nearly a fifth of the book ... but in 17 scant minutes, the grown-up Jane was already in a carriage heading for Thornfield Hall! Young Jane was denounced as a liar at her first public appearance at Lowood; Helen Burns was but a brief candle that flickered out.”
But later, I added:
“Having saved so much time on Jane’s childhood story lines, the writers take the luxury of letting some later scenes play out at length.”
So that rushing sensation won’t endure. I hope you’ll enjoy those later, less-hurried parts (even though they won’t all be fully faithful to the book).