It almost looks professional, doesn't it? I have no shame in saying I'm proud of my fruit, cheese and cracker tray put together for a time with my fellow female staff yesterday. My mom, who taught me everything I know (especially when it comes to food platters), drove down from Gilbert to join us at my grandmother's house for a little movie night and dinner. Actually, it was more of a movie afternoon, as we started early to watch the four hour movie Jane Eyre. We all get together every-so-often to watch a good chick flick, and they're usually movies that are over four hours long. It's always a great time to enjoy each other, and as we all share a love for the Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte/ Elizabeth Gaskell genre, we always take delight in talking through the movie at dinner.
If you've never read or seen Jane Eyre, and hate it when someone spoils a plot for you, now is a good time to stop reading. I read the book when I was in high school, and I remember thinking something didn't quite set right with me. So, we started the movie, and I began to vaguely remember some things, but I basically watched not remembering what was going to happen. Finally, at the end, I remembered what it was that bothered me. Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and he falls in love with her. This is not the problem. The problem is that he leads her on and plays games with her for the first half of the movie, and lies to her until the day of their wedding, when she discovers that he's already married to an insane woman. He then tries to manipulate her into staying with him, which she rightfully does not, and not once does he apologize for lying and leading her into a sinful relationship. She leaves him and after several other circumstances change, returns to find his estate had burned down, his wife had died, and he had gone blind. Of course, she still loves him, and he her, and so they end up together. Still, there is no repentance for his deceit and manipulation. I don't doubt that he loves her, but I think a huge part of loving someone is admitting when you've wronged them, and asking for their forgiveness. Jane would gladly give it, but he doesn't even give her a chance. Now, I don't remember exactly how it goes down in the book, so maybe Charlotte Bronte added in an apology that the movie cut out. I just feel a little sad for Jane, as a woman of integrity, that she ends up with a man who doesn't seem to live with the same.
1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Was Jane's deep love for Mr. Rochester able to cover over the multitude of sins he had committed against her, so that they could move forward without having to address it? Am I willing to forgive those who have wronged me, even without an expression of remorse from them? When Paul says love keeps no record of wrongs - is this the sort of situation he's talking about? Jane is able to move past Mr. Rochester's wrongs, keeping no record of them in her heart. Am I the sort of woman who could do the same?
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