#do not assume I condone his wrongdoings!!!! pls

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Can you talk more about the heavily distorted tropes derived from Jane Eyre pls Miss Flycatcher 👀

XD

There isn't that much more to it than what I summarized in that previous post, really.

I think the most common one is the "Jane Eyre is I can fix him", which is a pretty common romance trope in JE inspired novels, but that isn't really featured in the novel. When Jane discovers Rochester is married, she leaves him, despite all his begging and pleading and excusing himself and promising she wouldn't be just another mistress. She owes it to her principles and respect of self to do so. And she only returns when she is supernaturally prompted to return, and marries him not only because he's now free to marry, but because he's had a change of heart through Divine punishment.

I think also Rochester is a huge source of inspiration for the suave asshole with a heart of gold and a sad backstory. The problem is that Rochester isn't really any of those things. He's ugly and weird in his manners and speech -his sexual history is mainly about paying women to be with him, and his marriage 95% arranged- most of his bad behavior stems from his being an insecure idiot, and the sad backstory is sad-ish, because in the end he has means to escape and dull his heart and senses that most other people don't.

I think that a lot of the "girl, he has his wife in the attic" sentiment comes from romance novels taking this transformed type and making the hero's sins non-sins. Like, in a contemporary sense, his having had mistresses and such is a *wink* sin *wink*, something the reader is asked to pretend to delightfully clutch their pearls about while the character is made more attractive by sex appeal and the expectation that he'll know how to please in bed. So, with that perspective we come to JE and are shocked that the guy has... actual sins, things that are ugly and not "naughty" in terms of "naughty Halloween costume", and assume the narrative is taking that same perspective -that Rochester's sins are meant to be winked and dismissed by the reader- but I don't think it is? Jane understands Rochester's motivations, has sympathy for his pain, and loves him for it, but cannot condone his wrongdoings or accept his worldview as accurate and right.

Ultimately at the heart of this is the reality that religion and faith are heavily featured and baked into the plot and themes of Jane Eyre, and the novel cannot be fully understood and reproduced in its mechanics without it (at least not in a form that completely makes sense in terms of why it ends the way it ends), because so much of it hinges on Divine Providence, forgiveness, and mercy.

[upthehillask]

James is the LOML I hate how you are more forgiving towards Sirius than him. It ain’t fair but you do you I could never hate you your art is the light of my life (if only there was more James *slides over $100*)

See, I'd love to hear this NOT from a James stan :D Because that's the thing, just like you like James, I like Snape's character, so of course I'm not going to suddenly hate it?? (and when I say character I mean fictional character in a story, not him as a human being) And you ain't gonna back down about James because you adore him! So at the end of the day it's just about preferences and yeah, for sure not worth arguing abou️t! :) You do you, too!! I wholeheartedly understand this kind of "me angy😠" feeling that comes when others talk shit about your fave, like I know that feeling so well hahah So I don't blame you!!

You mentioned Sirius so I wanted to be a bit more clear: My feelings about Sirius ARE very conflicted too, believe me. I just never got a chance to actually delve into it 🤔 But again, I'm more lenient with him not for no reason. Partly it's because we know MUCH more about Sirius than we know about James, which inevitably results in extra bias. And what we DO know about James is like.. the absolute best things AND the absolute worst, and since that's all we've got, both things go hand in hand. I just can't overlook it, I wish I could.

Secondly, I've mentioned it before, and this again somewhat relates to preferences, but I have a thing for trauma. It's THE thing that often helps me understand and relate to a character. James comes from a happy, rich family. Sirius, on the other hand... :') Rich and privileged? Sure. But Blacks are fckin freaky and messed up. Sirius did NOT have an easy childhood, and in my head that explains his behavior of getting triggered by certain things and recklessly acting out when it's not necessary. Also he's just such a hypocrite too, I will never get over him saying "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals" and then treating Kreacher like shit, lol :'D (At least Snape never pretended to be better than he is) So Sirius' character just makes sense in my head. It that doesn't mean that his upbringing excuses his wrongdoings, nor it does for Snape, BUT it still at least partly explains it? Meanwhile, I can't explain James' that same way...

But again, I also just simply don't connect with characters of his temperament (James, Ginny, twins, who else.. well, you get it). It's like... rationally, I LOVE these characters. Truly! I love them in the books, love them as people, they're great, I've drawn them before... But they're just not MY people, that's literally all it is at the end of the day! It's just that with James, unlike with the others, there is one weakspot (his bullying) that I can pick on when I'm forced to defend my preferences. But that's just me being defensive haha like I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's irrational hahah and I just like Snape's character and the stinky shit that comes with it, so of course I will stand up for my interests when I can! :D