Maidens of Virtue: Did We Read The Same Book?

The last appendix in "Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald sets out an elaborate tea luncheon for girls to enjoy with their buddies.   There's an implication that this tea luncheon is totally like what British ladies do - but to me it feels more like a church potluck combined with an etiquette class.

Anyways, teenage girls can't be trusted to talk about whatever topic comes into their head; that leads to the dreaded "peer-dependence" feared by every CP/QF parent.  Instead, Stacy McDonald included a list of approved books for the girls to read ahead of time and discuss at lunch.    I was seriously thrown by the fact that the second book on the list was "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.   I love that book; it was one of those books that I stayed up all night to finish when I first read it in high school.  The reasons I love the book, though, should cause the book to be banned in most CP/QF families.   The luncheon information included a whopping ten questions to discuss about a classic of the English language.  When we read it in high school as part of our British Literature class in my junior year, we were lucky if we only got ten questions per chapter.

I'd like to look at the ten original questions in-depth and propose additional questions that are far more interesting - and potentially life-changing - for young adherents of CP/QF.

1. Read a short biography of Charlotte Bronte (You might even print a sheet from an online source to share). Do you feel the author brought her own experiences to bear upon writing? Does Jane reflect Charlotte Bronte's own struggles and dreams?

I hate dumb leading questions.  These questions are pushing really hard in one direction and I find that deeply annoying.   I would end up writing a dead-serious essay that describes every substantive difference between Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte - mostly revolving around the fact that the wife of married man that Charlotte Bronte was emotionally attached to didn't have the decency to kill herself so that Bronte could marry him.

The questions are also daft.  No writer can completely separate their life experiences from their writing so, yeah, Bronte's experiences live through Eyre.  Duh.

Better Questions:

A.  Research the social issues that governesses struggled with during this time period.  Compare and contrast the issues faced by governesses with stay-at-home daughters.

B. Both Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte formed a deep emotional relationship with a man that they wished to marry - but whom was already married to another woman.  What circumstances make those relationships more likely to occur?  What circumstances make those relationships less likely to occur?  What are the benefits and drawbacks for women in those relationships.

2. How do we get to know the characters through Jane's eyes? Notice how her perspective matures from childhood to adulthood.

Moving from the two word answers from the first set of questions, explaining how characterization occurs in Jane Eyre is a potential thesis level question.  Oh, I know you can adapt it to the level of the teens - but even teenagers should get that this is a huge question.... The second question, though, accidently narrows the question far too much.  There are five characters that Jane knows as an adult and a child: Mrs. Reed, Bessie (Lee) Leaven, Eliza Reed, Georgiana Reed, and Maria Temple.  Of those characters, Jane only perceives Bessie Leaven differently as an adult than as a child.   Jane interacts much differently with Mrs. Reed (and to a lesser extent the Reed daughters) as an adult - but I would argue that the difference in her interaction is due to Jane's deeper understanding of herself than any change in perspective on Mrs. Reed per se.

Better questions:
A. You arrive at college and find out you can choose either Georgiana or Eliza Reed as your roommate.  Which would you pick and why?

B.  Jane idolizes women some women like Maria Temple and Diana Rivers while having more balanced relationships with others like Bessie Leaven and Mrs. Fairfax.  What characteristics in women make Jane more likely to idolize them?  If Helen Burns had lived, would Jane have idolized her?  Why or why not?

3.How does Jane treat Mr. Rochester? Compare this with how other women in the story treat him.

I find this question strangely offensive.  One of the things I liked the most about "Jane Eyre" is that Jane lives in a predominantly female society and has very complex relationships with the other women in her life.    Instead of focusing on those relationships - or even on the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester - the girls are told to focus on the difference between Jane Eyre and Blanche Ingram.  (Added bonus points, though, if the woman the girls discuss is his first wife...)

Better questions:
A.  Defend Bertha (Mason) Rochester's  and Blanche Ingram's courtships of Mr. Rochester in light of the economic conditions facing gentlewomen during this time periods.  How does Jane's experiences after her flight from Thornfield Hall support or detract from the defense of the two other women who courted Rochester?

B.  Jane and Rochester's relationship prior to her flight from Thornfield contained warning signs of potential abuse in the future.  Discuss these signs.

C.  At critical points in her relationships with Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers, Jane receives counsel from Mrs. Fairfax and Diana Rivers respectively.  What information did Jane receive from these women?  Why did these women share this information with Jane?  How did the counsel affect Jane's course of action?

4. How do Jane's spiritual beliefs affect her relationships with others ( Mrs. Reed, her cousins, friends at school, the headmistress, Mr. Rochester, St. John Rivers, etc.)?

Here we have another 15-20 page essay question to be discussed over lunch!  Although - now that I think about it - the effect of Jane's spiritual beliefs on her relationships with Georgiana Reed, Eliza Reed, Maria Temple and Helen Burns can be summed up as "not much, really." 

Let me see if I can work out a better set of questions - but the first one might be a memory from a choice of essays from high school so if you like it, thank Sr. Irene Mary:

A. Discuss how Helen Burns' religious beliefs affected Jane Eyre.  Which beliefs did she adopt?  Did she reject any of her beliefs?

B. How did Jane's spiritual beliefs affect her interactions with Mrs. Reed as a child and as an adult?

C.  Bronte faces a difficult transition when Eyre rejects Rivers to return to Rochester.  Discuss how Bronte uses mysticism to smooth this transition.

5. Do you think Jane makes the right choice when she runs away from Mr. Rochester after discovering his secret?

Depends.  Does that include her accidentally forgetting all of her worldly goods on the coach?  That bit always felt forced to me. 

More broadly, I'm concerned that the CP/QF crowd will defend her flight based on morality - "Jane was right to flee from temptation" instead of as an act of self-defense.  From my point of view, running away was her safest option - even if she ended up sleeping in the moors.  Rochester's behavior from the time after his bigamy was discovered until she leaves his was frightening and violent.

Better questions:

A. Discuss the ways in which Rochester separated and threatened Jane between when Jane discovered his bigamy and when she fled Thornfield Hall.

B.  What options are available for people who are fleeing abusive situations today that were not available to Jane?

C.  How was Jane's flight from Thornfield Hall complicated by her lack of career choices?  How would her flight have been more difficult if she had discovered his bigamy after she had given birth Rochester's son?

6. Do you think St. John's offer to Jane is a good one? Why or why not?

From whose point of view?  It's a great offer from St. John's point of view; he gets the perfect subserviant wife to bring on his Indian missionary work.  It's not so great from Jane's POV - she gets a husband who views her as an interesting tool as she works herself to death.

Interestingly, my feelings about the relationship between St. John and Jane changed the most greatly of any of the characters when I compare how I felt in high school compared to when I re-read the novel recently.  In high school, I viewed their potential marriage relationship much as Jane does in the book - as unacceptable due to the lack of romantic love on the side of St. John.  As a real adult, the lack of romantic love pales compared to St. John's narcissism and mind games.  RUN, JANE, RUN!

Better Questions:
A:  Over the course of one year Jane Eyre attracts two men with controlling personality issues.  What personality traits of Jane do you think are attractive to controlling men?  Why?

B.  During Jane's formative years, she was under the control of two capricious guardians: Mrs. Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst.   How could this childhood and adolescence lead Jane to be attracted to men like St. John Rivers and Rochester?

C.  List all the "tests" that Rochester and Rivers put Jane Eyre through during their "courtships".

7. How does Jane reconcile with Mr. Rochester, and how does this demonstrate her unwillingness to compromise her faith and her moral convictions?

*SNORTS WITH LAUGHTER*

Whew.  I needed that.   Making Jane's reconciliation fit within the CP/QF framework requires ignoring studiously the timeline between when St. John Rivers proposes to Jane and when she proposes to Rochester.  Based on my read, Jane takes off to see what has happened to Rochester long before she learns of his first wife's death.  Since Jane struggled through the entire book to stay the course of her chosen moral path when she was near Rochester, I suspect she would have been hard tried to leave again once she met with him.

Minor note: Rochester never asks Jane to compromise her faith - and only pushes at her moral convictions during that whole first-wife-is-alive-and-a-lunatic-but-hey-let's-get-"married"-anyways time period.  Bronte wrote the Bertha Mason backstory as overblown as it was both to point out the damages England's refusal to grant divorces once one spouse was insane did - and to create a situation where most period readers felt that Rochester's idea to live together in spite of a lack of a lawful marriage was moral.

Better Questions:
A.  Research the term "deus ex machina" and explain how it applies to the resolution of Mr. Rochester's first marriage.

B. Describe the changes in power between Jane and Rochester throughout the book. 

8. What do you think of the final paragraph in the book?

Hello?!?  Let's discuss the sacchanine ending for Jane and Rochester before we dive back into the hot mess that is St. John Rivers, ok? (Seriously - it's more than a bit disturbing that Stacy McDonald, writer of "MAIDENS of Virtue", wants to spend most of the luncheon talking about the men in the book.)   Jane marries Rochester who has magically become a much nicer, calmer and less aggressively violent dude after going through the trauma of losing his home to fire, watching his first wife commit suicide, and suffering two life-changing disabilities.   Remember, this is the guy who threatened to kill Jane when she wouldn't marry him; how are we supposed to believe he's become less impulsive and less unstable when he's suffered severe mental and physical trauma?  (Answer "he found Jesus!" at your own peril.)

Jane brings Adele who is now 7 or 8 years old back from a harsh school and tries to be her governess again - but Rochester's care takes up too much time so Adele is sent to a nicer nearby school. 

Cool.  I can deal with that. 

But how does Jane manage to care for a newborn baby while Rochester is still pretty helpless?  I know his eye has a magic recovery - but most of what Jane did for Rochester was more along the lines of being overly enmeshed in Rochester's daily life.  That's not going to work well with a small infant, fyi....

As for the last paragraph - St. John manages to work himself to death by age 40.  Whoo-hoo. 

Better - but mainly geeky - Questions:

A.  (Throwback) Research typhus and typhoid fever. Which disease better fits the Lowood Epidemic?  Why?

B.  Reseach sympathetic opthalmia and discuss how the course of Rochester's case of sympathetic opthalmia compares to the expected medical course.

C. Describe the issues surrounding not-planning pregnancies when a family is also providing care to members who need specialized care.

9. If you had to name one theme that ties all of Jane Eyre together, what would it be?

This is actually a pretty good question.  My take-away is that people have a right to make their own life choices. 

10. Which character is your favorite, and why?

Oooh!  This is a nice question, too.  Personally, I've always liked the character of Bessie (Lee) Leaven.   I like her because her life was so very normal.