Jane Eyre analysis

Jane Eyre 1943

Overview 

Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

The film opens with a close shot of the famous book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

The credits are cleverly integrated with the pages of the book and the title sequence consists of the names of the actors and actresses on each turning page.

A characteristic I have noticed about period dramas is that they have very long title sequences and usually address the story at the beginning, for example, after the credits in Jane Eyre the book begins and is accompanied by a voiceover by a woman who introduces herself as Jane Eyre.

The voiceover gives the audience insight into the context of the film as Jane talks about the religious bigotry at the time. The opening two minutes of this film, although very uneventful, I feel that they are effective in setting the tone for a period drama. When the book turns to the first chapter it zooms in, this tells the audience that this is where their focus should lie.

The fact that the voice over is read directly from the book makes me, as a first time viewer think that maybe the rest of the film will be maybe read by someone as a memory or just as a story?

This film conforms to the codes and conventions of period dramas in the way that period dramas are often literary adaptions, therefore this being a film based on an infamous book means that this falls under the codes and conventions of a period drama. 

The target audience for this film would be someone who was interested in literature or someone who was interested in history, This film would appeal to them as it follows the book Jane Eyre which is a very well known piece of literature. Someone who was very interested in film would be interested in this film as the famous director and actor Orson Welles plays one of the main characters, Edward Rochester.