Not including short story collections, poetry collections, anthologies, etc.
For me, I believe it’s Oroonoko by Aphra Behn because it was on the syllabus for three different classes that I took in college. Other than that, the most I’ve read a single book is twice, and that was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. I’ve read Dracula 1.5 times. Didn’t finish it the second time around.
I was in love with Rochester when I read it as a girl. I thought he was dark and romantic and believed he was wronged in a terrible way by his family. I raged at Jane for leaving him after finding out the truth. I remember thinking “why can’t she just stay? What does it matter about marriage and stuff?”
Then as a young woman it changed. Soured by own interactions with feckless men, I thought Rochester was a liar and a manipulator. I felt that Jane was too young and lonely and I believed it when my professors told me that Jane Eyre is tainted with racism and misogyny.
Now I am an old crone (30s lol), and I can no longer see people or stories as “good” and “bad.” I’m fascinated by Jane’s self possession, when inside she had such an inner fire. Her journey after she leaves Rochester is something I read when I need the strength to do a hard task. She is remarkable. I see Rochester as a complex man, not a romantic one, probably not even a good one, but interesting and realistic. I accept that there are unsavory and outdated elements in the story but I appreciate the parts that speak to me. And that’s the biggest change. I can now consume content in a nuanced way and still love it.
Through it all, one thing remained the same: the Reed family were a bunch of selfish assholes lol. 🤣
And St. John was always insufferable. Hot but insufferable, I know the type.
Oh that’s fascinating. I think I always saw Rochester as a “good for her, not for me” kind of figure. I never saw him as a particularly heroic or good character, he just seemed to be so caught in his way of thinking that he made it his reality which I think resonated as a teenager, and I still understand and see all the time. I also always felt that Jane was wrong when she thought Rochester would tire of her before she left, I never thought she should become his mistress but I believed him when he said she didn’t understand his love for her. I think I always saw the racism and possibly the misogyny - being from the commonwealth I associated British history and racism from pretty young! I never studied it academically though, maybe that’s part of why it’s not evolved in the same way it has for you. I agree wholeheartedly that St John and the Reeds were the worst though!! You just know St John would be one of those hard core internet celebs with strong opinions that if you disagree you’re just a part of the problem.