The Autobiography of Jane Eyre

Now that this webseries is over, I have the chance to write my thoughts about the whole show!  This was a modern vlog adaptation of Jane Eyre which I posted about back in November when the show was about halfway through.  I was really impressed by how close they stuck to the novel - adapting scenes that are often disregarded in other adaptations (granted they have a lot more time with this series) but also to make some scenes from the book modern must have been a great challenge.  And I was really mostly happy with how they managed to make everything fit in their world.

I think the only problem I had in general with this production was how some moments or videos seemed a little too filler.  There would be a couple nods to the novel and then a lot of random - it really didn't happen often though, but there were some videos that didn't make the most of the story to me.  And there were times when I thought it was weird that Jane would just have her camera running while she was doing mundane things - I suppose I don't really understand the point of just filming herself while sitting there even though the show sets up that having these vlogs was like therapy for Jane.  But then of course someone would just happen to come into the room and we'd have a story.

The actors were all really excellent in their parts.  Jane was so endearing and quirky - definitely different from Jane in the book, but believably the modern version.  The Rivers were also believable surprisingly - I mean especially when it came to the St. John character - now called Simon.  St. John in the book would be very difficult to modernize I think - because he's so zealous and religious, selfless but selfish.  They made Simon a little bit too dorky and cute, but he was also stubborn and unsympathetic to others which fit.  I thought it was a bit sad though that he is so quickly out of the picture in the end - it seems like he really wasn't very happy in the last mention of him, and at least St. John of the book seemed happy to be doing what he wanted.

The whole thing with Rochester was unfortunate though.  I really loved how they adapted him, and the actor brought a great sense of humor to the character.  Apparently the actor left towards the end due to some differences with the team, so the viewer gets a very unsatisfactory ending.  I think they did the best they could with what they had, but I wonder if it would have been better to just get some Rochester scenes on screen even if the actor had a different face?  Or just a voice-over from hoarse-voiced Rochester?   It would have been nice to get some of the dialogue from the last part of the book.  I don't think the resolution was what they had truly planned since it seemed rushed, and more like a footnote, instead of a proper farewell to the fans.  Like in the Lizzie Bennett Diaries.  Of course it was great that they showcased how far Jane had come, and how much she had accomplished because that is the most important point of Jane's story.  But I am a bit of a romantic, and more closure from the Jane/Rochester relationship would have been wonderful.

This adaptation had it's ups and downs for me, but I always felt there was a lot of love for this book in every episode, and the writing and the story planning were often exceptional in adapting the book.  I was always happy to get a new episode (okay, towards the end, I felt happy after I got over my disappointment that Rochester was not in it!) and it was such a great experience getting a little dose of Jane's story every week.