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Unpopular take: Jane Eyre isn't a romance, it's a survival story
Everyone in my book club keeps calling it a love story, but I read it three times now and the part that hits me hardest is how she scrapes by on 30 pounds a year teaching at Lowood. She doesn't pick Rochester because of passion, she picks him because he's the first safe option she ever had. Anyone else read it that way?
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ray35626d ago
Didn't she make 20 pounds a year at Lowood, not 30?
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hugoj1226d ago
20 pounds a year at Lowood is right. That's what she got as a teacher. It's just like how people always round up their salaries or hours at work. I've noticed folks do that all the time with wages and bills.
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hannah40026d ago
20 pounds a year at Lowood was actually a decent salary for a single woman back then but here is the thing nobody talks about. @hugoj12 you mentioned rounding up but the real issue is that Jane also got free room and board plus her meals at Lowood. So that 20 pounds was basically all take home pay. A teacher today might get 20k a year but after rent and food theyre lucky to have half of that left. So Jane was actually living better than people think on paper.
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