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Do you think this would work set in the present day?

posted 9 years ago by Maddyclassicfilms
7 replies | jump to latest

I started thinking the other day about how this story would work just as well on screen if set today.

Jane could still be sent to the school and Brocklehurst could still be cruel(perhaps in a modern day version the school is inspected and he is fired for being abusive). Jane could leave, go to university and get a teaching qualification.

Rochester could still be rich and have Thornfield Hall and Jane could go there as private tutor rather than governess. Rochester could still keep Bertha at home choosing to look after her there rather than send her to a mental hospital.

Grace could be a live in nurse instead of Thornfield servant. Bertha's situation would still be secret and Jane could still hear the strange noises. Today it's much more difficult for someone to disappear completely as Jane does when she leaves Thornfield, so perhaps show the police looking for her or private detectives hired by Rochester.

Many in the audience might not see a problem today with Jane being with Rochester after learning about Bertha. However since Jane's principles would not be any different to the book then morally she would still feel like she couldn't stay with him, plus bigamy is still illegal today here in Britain so that problem could still remain.

Anyone else think this could work as a modern day version if adapted well? I love the novel and really love the period setting but I just think it would be interesting if it was set today.

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] Julie-30 9 years ago

If you go to Youtube and search for Autobiography of Jane Eyre, you'll find what I think is an excellent modernization of this story.

My only real quibble was the ending, but that was because the actor playing Rochester quit the production. But for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it highly.

http://currentscene.wordpress.com

[–] Maddyclassicfilms 9 years ago

If you go to Youtube and search for Autobiography of Jane Eyre, you'll find what I think is an excellent modernization of this story.

Hi Julie-30. That sounds interesting many thanks for letting me know about that. I'll have a look for it.

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] Julie-30 9 years ago

I'd love to know what you think of it!

http://currentscene.wordpress.com

[–] supergran 9 years ago

I'd love to know what you think of it!

So would I! 

SPOILERS
I loved The Autobiography of Jane Eyre. It was so cleverly done. Thanks for putting me on to it. Do you remember when "Bertha" crept into Jane's room? That was genuinely creepy! But I HATED the ending. There was so little resolution. They should have got a different actor to play Rochester, rather than just relegate him to the sidelines. Such a disappointment which then cast a pall over what went before.

If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.

[–] Julie-30 9 years ago

I agree -- that's why I said I was just not thrilled with the ending.

But the rest of it was just so well done that I did want to recommend it.

http://currentscene.wordpress.com

[–] Maddyclassicfilms 9 years ago

Hi Julie-30. I watched that on YouTube and although it was well done I didn't enjoy it. I thought it was going to be a dramatic film not a video diary. Thanks for the recommendation though it just sadly wasn't my cup of tea.

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] maggieameanderings 9 years ago

I've thought about this in the past.

And what I've thought is that it wouldn't work today. I'm not sure about in the UK, but here in the US you can divorce a mentally ill person now. So Rochester would have just divorced Bertha. As a decent guy who's rich, I expect he'd still be responsible enough to pay for her to be institutionalized somewhere nice.........and far away.

So there goes the driving force of the whole storyline.

my website -- http://maggieameanderings.com/Archive.htm