The Autobiography of Jane Eyre

[osprey_archer]

I haven’t given up on Welcome to Sanditon, exactly, but I think the show is designed to demand multimedia interaction in a way that the Lizzie Bennet Diaries didn’t, which has sapped a lot of my interest. I still watch the videos when I remember to, but I’m not waiting for them like I did for LBD.

But in a way this is a good thing! Because otherwise I might never have remembered to check out The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, a vlog adaptation of Jane Eyre that was, as Jane confesses in an early episode, inspired by the Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

This means that it almost demands comparison to LBD, which is in a way unfortunate. The Autobiography of Jane Eyre seems comparatively amateur: Jane isn’t as rehearsed and funny as Lizzie, and the camera work is often odd and shaky, because Jane is holding the camera herself and thus can’t see if she’s in frame.

But therein lies some of the charm: Jane’s down-at-the-heels operation really captures her social marginality and loneliness. In both P&P and LBD, while the Bennet family is in financially precarious position, they’re nonetheless enmeshed in local society: Lizzie has her sisters and her friends to help her with her videos. She has enough social support that when her not-quite-a-thing with Wickham falls through early in the series, she can more or less shrug it off.

Jane Eyre, on the other hand, is a nobody, an orphan cast off by her next of kin, and no friends except poor dead Helen Burns. The amateurishness reflects her isolation, and I think it amplifies the sense of her loneliness: she’s reaching out, imperfectly as she can, to try to connect with the world.

That said, I suspect The Autobiography of Jane Eyre will appeal most to people who like the book and are curious to see a modern adaptation. It doesn’t have the same effortless appeal that LBD did, and I’m still not as invested in it as I was in, say, Lydia and Mary’s friendship. (But it is still only early days, after all.)

A lot depends on the depiction of Jane’s relationship with Mr. Rochester, because that will carry a lot of the emotional weight of the show. Because of Jane’s isolation, The Autobiography of Jane Eyre doesn’t have the cushion in this department that LBD did: if Rochester’s jackass tendencies are not properly balanced by his growing respect for Jane and their verbal duels/dances, there’s no Charlotte or Lydia or anyone to distract us.

Rochester showed up in the last episode - or at least his feet did - so I guess we’ll soon find out how it’s going to go...

At least we know he has interesting taste in socks.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

*goes and takes a look*

It really does seem remarkably like the other in terms of production values and the style of presentation. Are the directors the same?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think so. *checks* Here's the Autobiography of Jane Eyre website (http://theautobiographyofja.wix.com/jane-eyre); they say they're not affiliated with the LBD people.

I think it just looks similar (except with more shaky-cam) because they were inspired by LBD.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I think they've got the *tenor* wrong for Jane Eyre. Pride and Prejudice could do the translation to this format because of the nature of the story, but Jane Eyre has more broodingness, more repression, more mad wives in the attic... It's interesting in its own way, but it seems much less connected to the original story (if I can say that after only dipping into a few episodes).

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think you're right, though I'm not sure how much it is a problem with this particular adaptation and how much it is that Jane Eyre is just not very suitable for any vlog adaptation.

I rejected Jane Eyre when I (brainstormed classics that could be adapted to vlogs (http://osprey-archer.livejournal.com/286390.html), because as you say, the book is so much about secrets and repression and so the opposite of sharing all one's secrets on the internet. How will they be able to vlog that without Jane hugely invading everyone's privacy?

But I find Jane so charming that I'm going to continue watching, at least for a while. It may not ultimately be a successful adaptation, but at least for the moment it's an interesting experiment.

Anyway, an Austen vlog adaptation probably made a Bronte vlog adaptation all but inevitable. Their books seem always to be paired as the most id-tastic (in opposite ways) of nineteenth-century classics.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

She is a very sweet Jane. I'll be interested to read your further thoughts on the series, as it continues.

[ladyherenya]

I really like the amateurish feel, because it makes Jane seem like a real person and I admire her bravery. (Have I said this before?) I didn't want a modern Jane Eyre vlog, I was convinced it wouldn't work, and am rather delighted to be proven wrong.

You're definitely right when you say a lot of this will come down to Jane and Rochester's relationship, and whether the balance and the equality are there. It is a relationship dynamic which could be very easy to get wrong.

I suspect that depends on how much we see of Rochester on camera, or how much Jane talks about him. Jane doesn't seem to be very comfortable talking about others - not if they inspire strong emotions in her. I doubt she'd criticise her employer to the internet, but to his face, yes.
So I'm hoping we get Jane refusing to be intimidated - and Rochester's delight that she isn't (as opposed to Rochester just being grumpy and overbearing).

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think we'll have to see Rochester on camera, because Jane is so circumspect when she's talking about other people - particularly her employer, but also for instance her aunt. Also, part of the charm of Jane & Rochester's relationship is the way they talk to each other, both the exact words and the manner; given that Jane has no one to do costume theater with, I think we'll have to see the real thing.

Maybe he'll accidentally walk in on her filming? Obviously they couldn't use that for every interaction, but for the first one they could, so he would know that she does film things. I suppose technically he already drove into her filming, but I expect he didn't notice, what with everything else going on.

I'm curious to see what they do! Jane Eyre does present some difficulties for a vlog format, but they've done a good job so far, so I suspect they must have some clever workarounds in mind.

Also super curious how they'll adapt the mad-wife-in-the-attic. I love how much anticipation the vlog format creates: there are mysteries to ponder for months.

[ladyherenya]

Belated response, but I was wondering what you've thought about Rochester's more recent on-camera appearances?


I'm a bit nervous about the whole mad-wife-in-the-attic, because that could be where it all comes unstuck - mental illness is such a sensitive subject.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I had a lot of trouble hearing what he and Jane were saying in the latest video, so I haven't formed a strong opinion of his character yet.

But I agree that the mad-wife-in-the-attic is going to be a hurdle for any modern Jane Eyre adaptation. However they deal with it, I'm assuming that she won't be literally in the attic...but we'll see. Maybe he'll have a secret that has nothing to do with marriage at all?