Jane Eyre BBC Podcast

There were multiple things I enjoyed during this podcast. I liked how the speakers talked about many of the characters and, when possible, related them back to Charlotte Bronte's life in order to make the connections. For example, the school Bronte went to as an adolescent and Lowood school in the novel were connected and also the professor Bronte fell in love with and Mr. Rochester were compared. The speakers also give a helpful overview of the book, which was a nice refresher to the brain. I also liked how they noted how aware Jane's narration was to objects and items other than characters throughout the entire book. They noted how Bronte would always make sure to note the weather, scenery, and even what Jane or other characters were wearing.

Despite all of it's positive aspects, there were still many things that I did not like about the podcast. I didn't like how the speakers would talk over each other or how they would say "umm" and pause for an abnormally long time as they tried to form an answer. Their accents are also difficult to understand at times, specifically when they mumble or don't speak clearly. They would also move on from one topic without fully answering the question that would asked, which bothered me. Also, they claimed that the book was Protestant based, but it was more Catholic and Christian than Protestant-the weight of religion in their livelihood was to big to be Protestant, and also if it was a Protestant book, Mr. Rochester would've been able to divorce Bertha Mason. The only part of this book that was actually Protestant is that they never declared a one true church

Even through its goods and bads, I was still able to find some interesting topics in the podcast. I thought it was pretty remarkable that Charlotte Bronte's dad started quite low in his social status and that he was able to move up the social ladder through hard work and education in order to found a school by the age of sixteen. I also thought it was interesting how the speakers said that every character got what they deserved in the end because, while true, I probably never would have seen it that way-I would have merely seen it as a plain ending. A final interesting topic was the irony of this book, how Mr. Rochester fills the character of the dark and brooding figure with a mysterious past and how Jane, while plain and mysterious herself, can't help but be intrigued by him.