Essential #10

Rewrite a 5-10 sentence passage from Jane Eyre in third person. How does this change the characters, the plot, and your interpretation of the novel?



"I now ventured to descend ... she brought my coffee and bread"(65).

Jane climbed down from her disgraced seat upon the stool. Her fleeting sense of support and triumph gained from classmates' glances was gone. Jane was overwhelmed; she burst into tears and sank to the floor. She felt alone and hopeless. Her grief consumed her. Jane felt like she had always tried her hardest to accomplish so much, but after this public embarrassment all of her hard work once again would be dismissed. Jane was immensely distressed, and wished to die. Suddenly, Helen Burns approached her sobbing friend bringing coffee and bread.



Analysis:

Rewriting Jane Eyre in the third person showed the large effect that Jane's narration plays throughout the novel. Many of Jane's thoughts and statements are very passionate and emotional. Seeing the novel written in third person takes a lot of the emotion out of the reading. Jane's narration definitely makes the reader grow emotionally attached to her. However, when written in third person, Jane Eyre becomes much less personal. The feelings for Jane are much more distant because we are opened to different perspectives other than just her own.