Jane Eyre 1973 (Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston)

[Lcplsexiiiking]

These two flirt the moment they meet :P love it! Oh and love the seventies attire hehe. Thanks for posting :)

[Jennytheshipper]

I know it is the seventies and they had no choice for television, but the lighting is rather like my office at work.

[mendoncacorreia]

@Jennytheshipper - I don't think this is fair. Compared to the whole "Jane Eyre" (1983) and more than a few scenes of "Jane Eyre" (2006) (just to name the other BBC TV adaptations of the novel...), the lighting of "Jane Eyre" (1973) is quite good.

[mendoncacorreia]

It is an Irishwolfhound, indeed!

[2hopskipjump2]

Now that's some bling he's wearing on his pinky! Where can I watch the whole thing? Looks really good;)

[domramalaja]

Although this adaptation sometimes suffers from low budget, they have paid attention to small details in the novel which makes this miniseries so great.. One example is that ring which is, as you probably know, mentioned by Jane when the gipsy reveals the disguise: '[...] a broad ring flashed on the little finger, and stooping forward, I looked at it, and saw a gem I had seen a hundred times before.' (Ch. XIX)

[domramalaja]

I truly recommend you to buy the DVD if you like the excerpts here on YT and if you want to see all five episodes. In my opinion the DVD is worth every coin spent on it.

[VolkgartenBySquirrel]

Hi again: re dowry and estates - and marriages made for connection - do Bertha's interests rely on British law or Spanish law? Re the attic - what would be the nature of the relationship which would cause one to assume such an awful responsibility? (Blood debt or marriage debt?) Re glittering gold - with it's centuries of social and material acquisitions, Thornfield must seem grand, and the attn's of its master glamorous, but gold has been charmed before - ie, Rochester has been impetuous.

[mendoncacorreia]

Not being an English native speaker myself, I have to confess that I find it quite hard to understand the full meaning of this comment of yours.

Anyway, about the dowry and the estates, since Jamaica became a British colony in 1670 and "Jane Eyre" is supposed to have happened in the 1820s or the 1830s, I can't imagine how could Bertha Mason's interests rely on other than the British Law...

[VolkgartenBySquirrel]

The younger son was impaired already, and Richard, was unfit for business, being unable to manage the estates. He'd lose it faster than John Reed. If the daughter married and inherited, the estate would go to her husband, resulting in an estate holding which could reenter the family later. See the Count of Monte Cristo (Madam Villeforte), and James Michner's Hawaii- that sort of thing went on a lot in the colonies, especially where non-European (non-traceable!) herblore was available.

[domramalaja]

Richard Mason DID inherit, at least that is what I always had presumed relating to the chat between him, Mr. Briggs and Jane after they had left Mr. Rochester with Bertha. How do you know he "was unfit for business" and "being unable to manage the estates"?

(BTW: What does "herblore" mean?)

[mendoncacorreia]

I don't think Richard Mason "was unfit for business, being unable to manage the estates".

True, in chapter 27 of the novel he is described by Rochester as a feeble minded man "who will probably be in the same state one day" as his mother.

But in chapter 26 Jane was told by Briggs that he knows her uncle because "Mr. Eyre has been the Funchal correspondent of his house [= Richard Mason's business firm] for some years."

He surely wasn't "unable" or "unfit" at the time of the aborted marriage...

[mendoncacorreia]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say: "If the daughter married and inherited, the estate would go to her husband, resulting in an estate holding which could reenter the family later."

According to chapter 27 of the novel, when she married Rochester, Bertha Mason received £ 30.000 as a dowry from her father; and, as far as I know, in Great-Britain, during the XIX century, only daughters who had not received their dowry were entitled to a part of the estate when their parents died.

[VolkgartenBySquirrel]

Certainly Mrs. Fairfax knows about the mad lady, and the book also makes it clear that she at least knows that this woman is Rochesters wife. It was an open family secret, since the father and brother knew, in fact, had schemed accordingly knowing that the whole of old Mr. Masons estate would eventually fall to whomever Bertha married (the wifes estate becomes the husbands property) - sorry my apostrophy doesnt work. But its not a servants place to apostrophise the masters matrimonial planning

[domramalaja]

VolkgartenBySquirrel,

Why would "old Mr. Masons estate would eventually fall to whomever Bertha married" when she had two brothers?

[mendoncacorreia]

About Mrs. Fairfax, that's not exactly so. From chapter XXVII of the novel:

[Rochester to Jane] - "I had some trouble in finding an attendant for her [...]; for her ravings would inevitably betray my secret: besides, she had lucid intervals [...] I hired Grace Poole [...]. She and the surgeon, Carter [...] are THE ONLY TWO I have ever admitted to my confidence. Mrs. Fairfax may indeed have SUSPECTED something, but she could have gained NO PRECISE KNOWLEDGE as to facts."

[ksotikoula]

Mrs Fairfax knew only that there was a family misunderstanding between Edward and his brother and father, but did not know what exactly was it. Since the Rochesters kept it a general secret it is unlikely that Fairfax married to a second cousin of the mother's side would know about it.

Fairfax also knew that a mad woman was kept in Thornfield and that it was forbidden for anyone to tell that to the new governess, but she did not know who the mad woman was.

[ksotikoula]

Her phrase about "not everything that glitters is gold" can be read as a moral judgment on Rochester and his lifestyle. Fairfax may not be particularly shrewd but she understood that Adele did not grow out of nothing. And he makes it worse for her to understand him with his jokes and his enjoyment of her confusion. And after all she severely disapproves such an unconventional marriage and would never let a girl like Jane be seduced in a false marriage.

[Sinnick88]

No, that's not it. Mrs Fairfax didn't know that. In the book is said she suspects something about something being in the roof, but it seems she didn't know she's Rochester's wife.

[EDM9121]

I love how Mrs Fairfax is looking very confused at R and J conversation around 3:28.

[mendoncacorreia]

For those who might not know it, that was inspired in the following line of chapter XIII of the novel:

"Mrs. Fairfax had dropped her knitting, and, with raised eyebrows, seemed wondering what sort of talk this was."

[domramalaja]

I just love Sorcha Cusack's expression in her face when she says "For whom, sir?" (3:11). Both in this first interview and in the second one she depictures the line "You are enigmatical, sir, your words bewildered me. But I am not afraid." (from the 2nd interview) very well. In these interviews, she is never sure if Mr. Rochester is in jest or earnest. It is such a pity that the piercing glance in Michael Jayston's eyes does not show very well here on the YT-clips. The DVD is much clearer.

[mendoncacorreia]

[Rochester (5'30)] - "A point difficult to fix in your case. Such freshness of feature allied to so decisive a spirit."

This intriguing line is inspired in chapter XIII of the novel. Is Rochester in jest or in earnest? Is he calling Jane "young and resolute" or "too young to be so resolute"?

Sorcha absorbs it as a sting: Rochester could have been teasing Jane. Michael delivers it with ambiguity: he could have been praising her - and why not, after the horse scene? Great acting by both!

[domramalaja]

I agree, it looks like Sorcha (or the director) choose to let Jane be slightly offended by his tone both around 5:39 and at 6:05.

[mendoncacorreia]

[Rochester (5'44)] - "The established answer. [...]"

The anxious look Sorcha displays when she hears these words is brilliant. It is as if Jane was thinking to herself: "Oh, no! He is going to make me play it!..."

(In passing, I'm not sure it isn't really Sorcha who plays the piano afterwards.)

[rubytuesday17]

did you notice this ring on his little finger?this shows an incredible faithfulness to the book(in my poor opinion at least)since jane does mention a ring during the gypsy's scene...the more i see it, the more i'm astonished!

[domramalaja]

Yes, this is very obvious in the gipsy scene in this adapation which, by the way, is slightly altered from the novel because Jane - by seeing the ring - discovers the disguise before Mr. Rochester reveals himself. I love it when he bursts out in "You, witch!".

[rubytuesday17]

yes..but as you already know, i unfortunately didn't see the whole, so...

[mendoncacorreia]

Comment? "I [...] didn't see the whole [...]"?! En 1789, on perdait la tête pour beaucoup moins!!!

[rubytuesday17]

je ne crois pas qu'aujourd'hui je courre le risque d'une décapitation, car très peu de français connaissent l'existence d'un livre appelé Jane Eyre, alors une série...

[domramalaja]

Now, tell me, rubytuesday17, did you get the DVD for Christmas? :-D

[rubytuesday17]

unfortunately, i didn't, since i had already asked TOO MUCH for christmas;P but i'll find a way, anyway, when i'll go to the US, i'll buy a good bunch of DVD's, i guess:D

[mendoncacorreia]

What? Parents depriving a daughter of "Jane Eyre (1973)" DVD?! Isn't that a crime in France?...

[domramalaja]

Time truly flies. Have you noticed that the first interview takes three hours?

Mr. Rochester takes his tea at six. And it is nine when he asks Jane why she lets Adèle sit up so long. (Both in this adapation and in the novel.)

[mendoncacorreia]

And Leah brought in the tea tray just 30 seconds (!) after Mrs. Fairfax rang for it!...

[domramalaja]

But if "six o'clock" was Mr. Rochester's usual tea-time, one could expect that Leah was just outside, waiting for the bell to ring. I did not find her sudden appearance unlogical.

[mendoncacorreia]

The bell we are talking about is a "wall bell": it would ring (not in the corridor but) in the kitchen - far away from the drawing room. I gather it would have taken Leah at least a couple of minutes to get there - not that it really matters, though...

[domramalaja]

Oh, you are right as usual. I should have connected my brain before I wrote that about the tea. My excuse is that it has been a long day ...  ;-)

[mendoncacorreia]

Not "as usual". Our good friend Elena is giving me new data about Charlotte and Arthur: it seems I was mistaken about much of the matter. It's never too late to learn the truth!

[jajaeeyore93]

"Promptly spoken. Do I believe you?" I love Rochester!

[BelovedCaptain]

Man, now I want to see this version!

[audreyhepburn256]

I have to go find it now too, but in Spain isn't this version. I hope that it come soon. Please!!!! T.T

I love M. Jayston. He is the perfect Mr. Rochester ^.^

[domramalaja]

If you can manage without subtitles you can order it from play dot com. If you select to pay in Euro they deliver outside the UK.

[audreyhepburn256]

Thank you very much!!!

[Tambourines]

This piques my interest. I've never seen this version.

^_^

I have to go find it now.

[domramalaja]

Hope you did find it! The rest of this scene is very good. I always hold my breath when Mr. Rochester gazes so intensively at Jane when he asks her where she saw "Latmos".

[mendoncacorreia]

For those who have never seen this particular version of "Jane Eyre": it's simply PERFECT!

[brushgang4]

Thank you for this version, makes the whole story plausible somehow and Jayston's Rochester is playful and less saturnine than in any other version,really like his interpretation, Brushgang4.

[booklover181]

I really want to see this version! Thanks for uploading it! Do you know what Jane was playing on the piano?