A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Bronte
Narrated by Lucy Scott

“Jane Eyre” replays the tautology of “life is not fair; i.e., it just is”.

Charlotte Bronte’s story comes alive with the voice of Lucy Scott. Lucy Scott becomes Jane Eyre in this audio book presentation.

The author, Charlotte Bronte, captures life’s joy and hardship. The story emphasizes the importance of having an inner moral compass to guide one to choose between right and wrong. By making right choices, fulfillment comes from working through good and bad things in life.

Jane is an orphaned girl raised by an uncaring Aunt that feels burdened by her filial obligation. The orphaned girl directly confronts her Aunt’s resentment. To escape further confrontation and embarrassment, the Aunt boards Jane Eyre in an indigent’s school.

Jane Eyre is formally educated.  She becomes a teacher at the school. Later, she is hired by a wealthy landowner to tutor a young girl that is alleged to be the landowner’s illegitimate daughter. The wealthy landowner is revealed as a man with too many secrets. Jane Eyre, driven by her inner compass, flees to endure new hardship and temptation.

At the end, Jane Eyre returns to marry the wealthy landowner. She finds him blind, chastened, and older, but still in love with the Jane Eyre he had hired as his daughter’s tutor.

One might surmise a future hardship that remains to be revealed; i.e. when Eyre’s husband is ravaged by the inevitable infirmities of old age, Jane will be in the bloom and health of life. Considering the tenor of the story, Jane will deal with her husband’s infirmities and grow into her new role as caregiver with the strength of her convictions.

An ever-present refrain in “Jane Eyre” is that all life decisions and actions have consequences. The many themes that run through Charlotte Bronte’s book are what make it a classic. Every listener will identify with some part of Charlotte Bronte’s story.

Audiobook’s version of “Jane Eyre” is a tribute to Charlotte Bronte’s story telling skill.

Author: chet8757

Graduate Oregon State University and Northern Illinois University, Former City Manager, Corporate Vice President, General Contractor, Non-Profit Project Manager, occasional free lance writer and photographer for the Las Vegas Review Journal. View all posts by chet8757