Beautiful people

I had a lovely Spring break last week. I did a lot of absolutely nothing. Stayed up late every night and slept in every day. I also started planning a television show, which I will begin writing in April. It's a detective show.

Here is my entry for the Beautiful People monthly writing event. Georgianna of Before My Penn Has Gleaned started this event with a friend as a way of getting to know each other's fictional characters. I have written it on my detective character.



What is your characters full name?

Jenna Sparks.

Does his/her name of a special meaning?

No, not really. I just liked it.


Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality?

Her life is disorganized but her mind is methodical. Her office is a mess and she forgets things all the time, but she never, ever forgets the details of the case.


Does he/she think inside themselves more than they talk out loud to their friends? (more importantly, does he/she actually have friends?)

She seems to have lots of friends, but it is not apparent why. She is nice when she's with them, but otherwise she forgets about them. She never remembers birthdays.

She is also not much of a conversationalist. She talks to people, but she is always awkward and she doesn't know how to be smooth and tactful. She also has no moral issue with telling lies, but she is terrible at it. Everyone can tell she is lying to them.

 Is there something he/she is afraid of?

She is currently in hiding from an angry former client. She is afraid that he will find her.

Because of what happened with that client, she is also petrified of being wrong. She has become obsessed with double and triple-checking her facts.

 Does he/she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph?

I think she is secretly a very good singer, but she would never sing in public.

 What is his/her favorite book? (or genre of book)

Despite (or because of) the fact that mystery is the nature of her life, she has no interest in reading mystery stories in her free time. She sometimes reads chick lit, but she always feels silly after she does.

 Who is his/her favorite author and/or someone that inspires him/her?

I don't think she's ever really thought about it. She is very focused on herself and what she's doing; she doesn't look to the outside world for inspiration.

 Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mango. (I have no idea if this is a real thing or not. It sounds yummy, though.)

 Favorite season of the year?

Spring.

~Jane~

In conclusion

The winner of the giveaway is...

Elizabeth of The Endless Road!
Congratulations Elizabeth, and thanks for participating this week! Just email me with your address and I will get it to you as soon as possible.


Here are the results of the poll:

Which is the best recent adaption of Jane Eyre?
Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton 1 (20%)
Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Hurt 0 (0%)
Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds 0 (0%)
Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens 4 (80%)


It seems that most of you preferred the most recent version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. I have seen part of that movie but I never finished it (because it was due back at the library). Now I feel like I should get it and finish it.


Here is a round-up of all of the wonderful posts this week:

The Endless Road- Jane Eyre Intro

Something Fun- Day One

Picklehopper Centre- Jane Eyre Brownies

Something Fun- Chapter Two

All That is Gold- Jane 

Something Fun- The Best and Worst of Jane Eyre

The Endless Road- Jane Eyre Religion

The Endless Road- Movie Review

The Endless Road- Characters and Places

The Endless Road- Book Review

Something Fun- Jane Eyre Tag

The Endless Road- Charlotte Bronte

Thanks to everyone who participated! Some of you posted more than I did! This was my first blog event ever, and I had so much fun hosting it. I wish I could have done more.

A confession:
I decided to do this at the last minute because I thought that the new Jane Eyre was coming out this week and I could review it at the end. That's the reason I didn't have as many posts prepared as I would have liked. Unfortunately, Jane Eyre only came to limited theaters this week, so I still haven't seen it. As soon as it comes out in my area I will post a review.

Thanks again everybody for making this a good first blog event!

~Jane~

Giveaway

There are still two days to enter the giveaway!

Movie theater frustrations

There may not be a Jane Eyre review at the end of the week after all. I've been frantically trying to find a theater that's showing the movie and having no luck.

Apparently the March 11th release date is a limited release. It's not going to be in all theaters until April 8th.

Well, I will keep trying to find somewhere that's playing it in my area on Friday.

Sorry I didn't post today. I had a really long day. I actually wasn't home from 9:15 this morning until 8:15pm. Tomorrow is another long day but I will probably have a little more time to post.

~Jane~

Jane Eyre t-shirts

Team Edward (Rochester) shirt- $25

Visit Thornfield shirt- $22

Close up:

visit

THORNFIELD HALL

A TOTALLY NORMAL country house!

warm hospitality~lavish gardens~bumps in the night "for atmosphere"

OWNER NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PERSONAL INJURY

"I am no bird" shirt- $25

Future Bronte Fan onesie- $15

Awwww. It's so cute!

"I am no bird" colorful shirt~ $24

Close up:

~Jane~

Jane Eyre trailer

Elise of Ribbons of Light already did a detailed review of this trailer a few months ago which was really excellent. I won't try to analyse every part of it, but just give my opinion on a few points.

1. It seems from the trailer that they have captured the mood of the novel really well. It is dark and mysterious before it is romantic. I like that the focus is not on their relationship, but on Jane herself.

Some people might think that Jane's character has been changed so that a modern audience can relate to it. From what it's showing here, that is not the case. Jane Eyre was an unusual heroine for her time, much more "modern" than you would think. At the time that it came out, people criticized the author for creating such a flawed character. Jane Eyre is strong in herself and she doesn't allow the other people in her life to rule her, which was not what heroines were usually like, especially in so-called gothic novels. (I will talk about this idea more later this week.)

2. As far as looks go, I think Jane is perfect. She is not exactly pretty, yet there is something about her that makes you look twice. Her character shines through and makes her seem pretty.

Mr. Rochester is perhaps too handsome. However, "handsome" is a matter of opinion, and he is rugged-looking. It also looks like his teeth may be slightly crooked. He seems to have the attitude of Mr. Rochester down, and that's the most important thing. I think he will do well.

St. John Rivers is only shown briefly in this clip, but with him I am disappointed. St. John is supposed to look perfect. He is supposed to have a chiseled face and blond hair and look similar to a classic Greek god. Why did they choose to make him unattractive?

Perhaps it is too hard to show Jane's reasons for refusing him through film. If he were too good-looking, the audience would care about him a little more (sad but probably true.) I still think they could have gotten away with it though if they had made him handsome but cold, the complete opposite of Mr. Rochester. (I always imagined St. John looking like Orlando Bloom.)

All this being said, I love Jamie Bell as an actor and I'm happy he is in the film. I just don't personally think he was right for the part.

3. Not one shot of Pilot, not even when she first meets Mr. Rochester in the lane. I sure hope he is in this movie. No glimpses of Adele either.

What do you think of this trailer? Will you be seeing the movie?

~Jane~

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

Welcome to a week of celebrating one of the best novels ever written in the English language. Jane Eyre is a romance, a gothic novel, a mystery and (most importantly) the chronicle of one woman's journey through life.

A few announcements:

• Please vote in the poll on my sidebar.The results will be announced at the end of the week.

• I have put a linky in the sidebar so you can share your own Jane Eyre inspired posts! It is just under the poll.
   

• Giveaway!

You could win this painting of Jane Eyre.

This is an 8x11" acrylic on a board (thin) canvas. Jane is wearing a blue dress with black buttons and a white lacy collar, on a light blue background. Jane's hair is a reddish tint.

 

Enter to win this portrait (painted by me) by doing the following:

1 entry
Comment on this post. Be sure to leave me some way of contacting you, preferably an email address. (If you're not comfortable leaving an email address, leave your blog address and I will find you there.)

Unfortunately, I can only ship to the US at this time.

I'm only allowing one entry each. Note that this post is for the giveaway only. Please don't leave your links for the event here. There is a linky on the sidebar for that.

The winner will be chosen and announced after 12:00pm (central) on Saturday, when the event officially ends. I am ending the event at noon so that I can wrap everything up on Saturday evening after it's over.

Enter to win and stay tuned for a Jane Eyre themed post this afternoon!

~Jane~

Re-review: Pride and Prejudice 2005

I have already covered the bad parts of this movie pretty extensively last summer, so today I am going to focus on the good.

First of all, I really like the actress they chose for Jane Bennet. She was gorgeous (as she is supposed to be) but she still came across as innocent and good-natured. I think she is the best Jane Bennet yet.

I also thought they picked a good Charlotte Lucas. She was believable and they made her character sympathetic. I liked what she said to Lizzy after she gets engaged to Mr. Collins. No, that speech is not in the book, but it fit with the attitude of the character and it explained her actions to the modern audience.

I love the one long sweeping shot through the Netherfield ball where it's showing her family's humiliating behavior. It was a cool shot, and I like how it was able to connect the events into one view of how the night was going. However, I'm not sure that this movie highlighted the humiliation enough. You see Mrs. Bennet talking loudly to her friends, but there isn't anyone else listening and everyone else around is being loud too. It's not as bad as the other movie, where they're at dinner and everyone can hear what she's saying, including Mr. Darcy. I think it could have emphasized the impropriety of her family's actions a little more.

This movie is pretty to look at and it has fantastic music. It is filmed well, in an artistic way. Something about the way they lit the scenes makes it feel unrealistic, but they did it on purpose and I think it works if you like that sort of fairy-tale look.

There are two camps of Pride and Prejudice fans: those who believe Mr. Darcy is prideful and arrogant at the beginning and learns his lesson at the end, and those who believe that Darcy was just shy all along. This movie is made for those who believe in shy-Darcy theory.

That is a genuine part of the Pride and Prejudice fan-base, so I guess they deserve a movie that follows their version of the story. It's interesting to see the different groups discussing this movie. Pemberley.com has a lot of good threads on the subject.

(Now I will go off-subject and talk about my theory. Sorry.)

I don't believe that Mr. Darcy was shy. The word "shy" implies "insecure," and Darcy is definitely secure and confident. He is a very strong character because (until Lizzy comes along) he doesn't really care what people think about him.

I also don't take the other extreme and say that he was horrible at the beginning. He was in a bad mood and didn't feel like dancing and making small talk. He didn't care about impressing these people. It's suggested later that he is usually a pleasant enough person in social situations. Lizzy just happened to meet him for the first time when he was having an off night.

The pride issue is interesting. He is prideful at the beginning of the story, but I don't think it's the type of pride most people think of. He says at Netherfield, "...where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation."

Consider that his only major objection to the Bennet family is their impropriety. Mr. Darcy is a good landlord and master to his servants, he is an excellent brother, he has made sure to educate Georgiana and take care of her. He has managed his estate well and built a huge library. What he cares the most about is upholding his family's good name. He is proud of the things his father accomplished and he is continuing that legacy.

Contrast that with the Bennet family. Mr. Bennet couldn't care less about how society views his family. He lets his daughters run wild and doesn't say a word. He never educated any of them. He wasn't smart with money; he spent his whole income for years instead of setting anything aside for his family to live on after his death, even though he knew about the entail and there were no guarantees that he would have a son.

Really, Mr. Darcy's main objection to the Bennet family is their lack of pride. Family pride and personal pride.

What do you think? Was Darcy arrogant, shy, or something else?

~Jane~

P.S.
If you plan on participating in Jane Eyre week, please take a button (on the right) and spread the word!

New design

I've been thinking about getting a three column layout for awhile, and now I've finally done it.

What do you think? Is it too cluttered, or does it look more professional?

Announcing... Jane Eyre

Next week I will be holding an event to celebrate the new Jane Eyre movie!

Monday, March 7 - Saturday, March 12

I will post something related to Jane Eyre every day, with a linky at the bottom so that you can write your own posts and link up. On the last day I will be posting a review of the new Jane Eyre movie!

There will not be categories for this event, but you can link anything related to Jane Eyre:

Movie reviews
Historical details
Religion in Jane Eyre
Favorite parts of the story
Inspired by Jane Eyre (photo shoots, costumes, drawings, stories, etc.)

These are just a few ideas of topics you could use. I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on one of my favorite novels!

There may be a giveaway as well. I'm still working out the details on that, and I will announce it at the beginning of the week, March 7th.