Topic 28 of 84: Favorite Characters
Tue, Aug 26, 1997 (17:39) |
R.l. (classic)
i was wondering what everyone's favorite characters are in each book.
In jane Eyre, Jane and Mr. Rochester are without doubt, my favorites. I liked
helen Burns, but i think she was more helpful than likeable. Did anyone else
really dislike St. john Rivers? He really bothered me. i like lucy Snowe and M.paul in Villette, though not as much as the Jane/Mr. Rochester pair. And John Bretton, i did not like that well. He was a good person, but much too interested in the exterior, something Charlotte continually tryed to fight against. He thought he was in love with Ginevra Fanshawe? ugh. And Hareton was my favorite in
WH. Heathcliff was so mean, Edgar linton dull, Catherine (older) i didn't like either. I did like young Catherine, though not as much as hareton. i felt bad for him, so the ending was happy for me. And that last paragraph.....
4 responses total.
Topic 28 of 84 [bronte]: Favorite Characters
Response 1 of 4: Elena Sheehan (Rochelle) * Tue, Aug 26, 1997 (19:37) * 16 lines
Jane Eyre is a character with whom it is very easy to identify, particularly
for many women. First as the truth telling child, then as a character who
is divided between insecurity and knowing her own worth. Like some of
Charlotte's letters, indignation and need seem to pour from her pen and leap
from the page, and she articulates what so many of us feel.
In WH, it's almost as difficult to identify a favourite character as it is to
identify a hero - if there is one. Emily seems a little ambiguous about
Hareton and Linton. Heathcliff and Cathy haunt the reader, much as they are
supposed to walk the earth. Lines they speak come back to mind at the oddest
times. Like them? Yes, even in spite of conventional morality. They die for
each other, we can forgive them for living for each other. And who doesn't
like and respond to the older Cathy, with all her capriciousness, over her
daughter? I'm a romanticist at heart, and like them I find Healthcliff akin
to Milton's Satan - even in spite of his pettiness, he is Byronically,
majestically, dark.
Topic 28 of 84 [bronte]: Favorite Characters
Response 2 of 4: R.l. (classic) * Tue, Aug 26, 1997 (20:23) * 2 lines
I can see that there is a lot to WH, it is a dark book. I liked Heathcliff as a child;
especially after the Earnshaw's father died. I guess I like some characters because i feel sorry for them (though not Linton, he complains way too much). I know that Heathcliff was in love with Catherine, but that doesn't mean that he has to torment his family, and himself too. But Hareton was mistreated as a child also, but he still had some good left in him, though maybe he wasn't as interesting as Heathcliff and Catherine. But Emily was a great writer; the poetic descriptions were great.
Topic 28 of 84 [bronte]: Favorite Characters
Response 3 of 4: Sarah (saranha77) * Fri, Dec 31, 2004 (23:08) * 3 lines
Is liking and supporting actions of the characters required? Because then I don't think I have one. As it stands, I like both Cathys in WH, I love Haerton, and Isabella, Hindley, and Nelly are so interesting just because they are so stubborn (I really did like Isabella's description midbook of Hindley's misguided attempt to murder Heathcliff...).
In Jane Eyre, I think I would have to go with Jane, but I also liked Helen Burns a lot too. Not sure why, but she's always stuck in my mind. And St. John's sisters (Diana and Mary, right?)
Topic 28 of 84 [bronte]: Favorite Characters
Response 4 of 4: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Jan 1, 2005 (07:33) * 1 lines
What role does Helen Burns play?
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