A couple of days ago, I started watching Jane Eyre. I watched the first half alone, but Faithful Reader came in during the second half and insisted on watching it, so I caught him up on the story to that point and we watched the rest together.
I don’t know if I liked the movie or not. It didn’t seem very suspenseful to me, but Faithful Reader, who had not read the novel, assures me that it was. He actually seemed to like it, and I can’t resist telling you what he said about it, though I don’t remember his exact words. Here is the gist of it.
Jane Eyre is the best movie made from a girlie novel because it has fire and blindness. And pestilence. I didn’t see the pestilence, but I approve of it!
That’s what I remember him saying, but if he remembers it differently, he is welcome to set the record straight in the comments.
I watched the first half again with him later. This time through, one of the lines caught my attention. Mr. Rochester asked Jane if she was happy while she painted her pictures and she replied, “I was fully occupied. I was not unhappy.” Those words said a lot about Jane, of course, but they could also be taken as a lesson. If you cannot be happy (and let’s admit that it is sometimes hard to be happy) then at least keep yourself occupied. People who are busy don’t have time to think about how unhappy they are. I know that, and I ought to live that way, but I keep forgetting. Maybe this post will act as a reminder.