Dana Walsh October 21, 2010 Barbara Heritage Essay 2B

Defining a Classic

The story of Jane Eyre is sometimes perceived as a trash novel because of its shocking turn of events and its romantic elements. The aspects of sensationalism used in the novel are to blame for this skewed interpretation. Sensationalism is defined as subject matter, language, or style producing or designed to produce startling or thrilling impressions or to excite and please vulgar tastes (Dictionary). Charlotte Bronte does employ some forms of sensationalism in her novel to capture and maintain her readers attention, but it is used so skillfully that it does not support the claim that Brontes novel is trash literature. Quite on the contrary, Brontes novel can be characterized as one of the classic literary works of all time. Jane Eyre has been the inspiration for many other pieces of work, including childrens editions, prequels and sequels, and film adaptations. Although it is difficult to specifically describe what defines a classic piece of literature, Jane Eyre possesses a canonical status, which would most definitely be a part of this definition. The adaptations inspired by Jane Eyre do not detract from the novels status as a classic piece of literature and only help us to further understand the everlasting effect of Brontes story. Canonical literature is defined as work that is authorized, recognized, and accepted (Dictionary). For a novel to be considered a classic it must be all three of the aforementioned things. Charlotte Brontes novel, Jane Eyre, easily fits into this definition. The work is authorized by the fact that educated scholars continue to study and refer back to its content. Jane Eyre is recognized because the demand for this popular novel remains constant even after over 150 years of being in print. And finally the work is

accepted because of the inspiration other authors and novelists have gathered from Brontes work. There are many adaptations of Jane Eyre, some that stick very close to the original story, and others that choose to go off in an entirely separate direction. Through my research, I have found that some of these adaptations prominently display blurbs stating that Brontes work is a classic. I surveyed three different adaptations that choose to do this: Jane Slayre, Jane Eyres Daughter, and Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel. . Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin, has a very large blurb under the title that states the literary classic with a bloodsucking twist. Jane Eyres Daughter written by Elizabeth Newark, has a large description on the front cover which claims that this novel is a superb tale for lovers of the Bronte classic. Finally, Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel claims on its back cover that this new form of Jane Eyre is making the classics accessible to all learners. These novels blatantly exploit Jane Eyres status as a classic to gain readers attention and to add weight to their own credibility. Although my research was limited, these few examples demonstrate that Jane Eyre is not only an accepted piece of literature, but that it is an accepted piece of classic literature. The study of Jane Eyre adaptations poses an interesting question: whether or not these new works detract from the legitimacy of the original novel. Through research, it becomes apparent that Jane Eyre has been adapted many different times with many different target audiences in mind. With very few exceptions, most of these adaptations focus mainly on the sensationalist aspects of Jane Eyre, such as the mystery, the romance, or the horror. Just like an academic paper, each adaptation presents its own unique perspective on and insights into the story of Jane Eyre. These should be taken into account and not lightly brushed aside as literary impostors that lure readers away from real

books (Harris). Whether the adaptations are literary impostors or not, it is important to study what they have to say because the story of Jane Eyre is reaching audiences through the medium of adaptations everyday. And for us to fully understand how Jane Eyre is affecting modern audiences we must take into account the presence of these adaptations. Now, more often than not, readers will already be acquainted with the story of Jane Eyre before reading Brontes original work because of different adaptations they have previously come across. Jane Slayre is an adaptation of Jane Eyre that was written with the interests of a younger audience in mind. The language of the novel does not present as large of an obstacle for a modern reader than that of Bronte, and for many young readers this novel could be the first piece of work to introduce them to the world of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. This adaptation emphasizes the presence of horror in Brontes novel and blatantly exaggerates it to a comical degree. Granted I was not able to read Jane Slayre in depth, but it appeared that even though Jane was a vampire slayer and Bertha a werewolf, the core of Brontes argument remained intact. This novel is an example of an adaptation that takes a very large step away from the original novel, and yet remains loyal to some of the original message that Bronte was trying to convey, such as independence and autonomy. It is important to note that other adaptations, although influenced by Jane Eyre, take huge leaps away from the original story and continue to create something entirely separate from Brontes work. This however does not diminish their importance because no matter how much they may stray from Brontes original work, they are still influenced and inspired by the original Jane Eyre and serve as important pieces of evidence. For example, there are many novels of the sadomasochistic variety that focus on Jane as a purely sexual

being. These books are complete diversions from Jane Eyre and bare very little resemblance to the original novel. Whether the adaptation sticks close to the original plot or not, it is important to view them as pieces of evidence interpreting Brontes novel in unique and different ways. As stated above, these adaptations only help to support Jane Eyres status as a classic and do not diminish it in anyway. It is important to make the distinction that adapted versions of Jane Eyre are not automatically considered classics simply based on their connection with the original work. In many adaptations Brontes original message is twisted and, in some cases, skewed, but no matter what, the influence that Jane Eyre had on these novels speaks volumes for the quality of Jane Eyre as a classic. One might argue that no adaptation can be considered a true substitute for the original work, and this and be considered a true statement, but adaptations serve an important purpose in the survey of Jane Eyre as a classic piece of literature. Jane Eyre is a novel of canonical status that has withstood the test of time and continues to be an important literary work to this day. It would be impossible to compile a comprehensive study of Jane Eyre and fail to mention the adaptations that have resulted from this famous novel. Many critics claim that these adaptations completely distort the story of Jane Eyre and that this leads to their overall illegitimacy. On the contrary, each adaptation offers a new insight into the way readers are interpreting this 150-year-old book, and serve to help us further understand the effect and influence it has on the modern audience.

Works Cited Bront, Charlotte, and Richard J. Dunn. Jane Eyre, an Authoritative Text, Backgrounds, Criticism,. New York: Norton, 1971. Print. Erwin, Sherri Browning., and Charlotte Bronte. Jane Slayre. New York: Gallery, 2010. Print. Harris, Marla. Reader She Married Him: Abridging and Adapting Jane Eyre for Children and Young Adults: A Breath of Fresh Eyre, Margarete Rubix, 2001, New York Lowes, Melissa. "Charlotte Bront: A Modern Woman." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 04 Oct. 2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/lowes1.html>. Newark, Elizabeth, and Charlotte Bront. Jane Eyre's Daughter. Naperville, IL: Source Landmark, 2008. Print. Sanders, Joe Sutliff., Charlotte Bront, Amy Corzine, John M. Burns, and Terry Wiley. Jane Eyre: the Graphic Novel. Towcester: Classical Comics, 2008. Print.