Jane Eyre is feisty and not very pretty, so we are told. But we fall in love with a little girl who has a sensitive heart willing to forgive and pray for those who torment her. The plot quickly turns away from the wit and misfortune of a Jane Austen type story and we see a foreshadowing of all the dark, sordid things ahead when Jane is locked in a room where she believes she sees a red demon.
Anna Karenina makes quite the first impression. She is beautiful, elegant, but above all she sees those around her and all feel known and loved by her. In her first scene, we witness Anna missing her son, but she is here to save her brother’s marriage. She exhorts her sister-in-law to forgive. It is a touching dialogue, and despite all that will follow, I believe this to be Anna’s greatest work. The brother’s marriage is saved. The wife forgives her husband of adultery. Then Anna proceeds to do what her brother did. She betrays a young girl’s confidence and allures away the girl’s suitor. Anna returns home to her husband and son, feeling no remorse when the young man follows her.
Jane and Anna appear to have similar upbringings. Both are raised out of destitution. Both are spirited and feel a deeper need to be intellectually satisfied than many young women of their day. They both serve as governesses. Despite Jane’s plain disposition, both young women are unforgettable to men (and even to women).
Jane cares for a small girl, the godchild of the man she loves. Anna has a son with a husband she despises. Jane cares for the girl as if she were her own. Anna loves her son. Yet in some ways, Jane’s love for the little French girl is more wholesome than Anna’s maternal devotion. Jane befriends this little girl and worries over her future. Anna is incapable of sacrificing lust for her son’s sake. Later we see an even more sinister side of Anna’s motherly side when she bears a daughter to her lover. She can’t stand this daughter born of supposed love, and yearns for the son she voluntarily abandoned. How the two women love the children in their lives gives a subtle testimony, perhaps the greatest testimony, of their characters. Jane gives of herself, and loves because love is pure. Anna doesn’t understand love unless it is in relation to hate. Her husband never fully accepted their son: therefore, she loves their son. Anna’s husband would have taken the bastard child as his own: therefore, Anna hates her own daughter.
The women are protective and jealous over what they love. Anna hates anything that takes attention away from her. She despises her husband’s magnanimity. She can’t bear his goodness and work. She complains of his coldness, yet the few times he tries to open up, she cuts him down with her own coldness. She envies the good in him that she refuses to allow inside her own soul. When she runs away with her lover, she is never satisfied. She is afraid of losing her beauty. She wants her lover to be always with her to make certain he is not falling in love with anyone else. She does not trust either man. Anna’s jealousy rules her.
Jane is tempted by jealousy, too. But her thoughts are not only on herself but of the injustice committed against another. Mr. Rochester uses another young woman to arouse Jane’s jealousy, forcing Jane to bear witness to his games. Jane is outraged because of how he taunts her heart, but also because he is unjustly using the other young woman. Jane protests. She makes ready to leave if she must. She confronts Mr. Rochester and the game ends (or so she believes). Jane is not ruled by her jealousy and does all in her power to make certain that each person is treated honorably. Anna never thinks of anyone save herself outside her jealousy, and is willing to let others be hurt and violated (including her own son) to satisfy her lusts. Jane is willing to sacrifice her own desire to be loved for what is righteous.
There are crucial character moments in both books (several for Anna). Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester has a wife in his attic. She does something Anna would be incapable of doing, because Anna never truly knew what it meant to love: Jane removes herself from her situation.
Here the plots are very similar.
Jane is awakened and nearly killed by the until now unknown wife. Everything was going so smoothly and now… now Jane must do what is right. Mr. Rochester has betrayed her trust countless times. Still Jane loves and forgives this man who has played with her and tricked her with repulsive measures. Yet, because of her love, she leaves.
Anna is on her deathbed after delivering a daughter born out of adultery. Up to this point she has given into lust. But she repents and her husband grants forgiveness. She is content until she regains her health and begins to hate her husband again. He offers her everything she wants, including divorce. Yet, because of her lust, she leaves.
It is such an interesting juxtaposition. Anna and Jane do exactly the same thing. They leave a situation and the men to whom they were attached. As a result, the rest of their lives are changed. The juxtaposition prompts a question: when and how do we know when we must stay or leave? I’ve spent much time comparing these two characters’ situations, but it’s overly simple. In all things we must be led by love. We can’t know the solution by what is hardest or gives us the most peace. Leaving was hard for Anna: she left behind her son. But it also gave her peace: she was at last away from her magnanimous husband. Meanwhile Jane nearly died when she left. She had no relations, no friends to turn toward. She had a measure of peace, but also felt much anxiety over how Mr. Rochester fared. Jane knew she had done right, but didn’t always feel at peace.
For a moment, I’d like to compare a few other characters, who contribute to the characters Anna and Jane are shown to be. In many ways John (the pastor who proposes to Jane) and Levin (the man who marries Kitty and makes Anna Karenina worth reading) are the same person. Both men feel great callings and believe a woman’s love to be unnecessary yet perhaps a help in moving forward with their great works. I feel John wasn’t fully and fairly portrayed. However, Levin’s story made up for John’s lack. I really loved these two men.
Levin of course earned my love. Still, it is John I think of most often because of a scene where Jane says she would do anything for John no matter how strenuous because of her great love and respect for him, but could never be his wife. When I first read the scene, I found it such a strange thought. But over the course of this last winter, I have learnt what this means; I’ve become acquainted with a man who has earned the same sort of sentiments from me. I love to serve this person and would do anything I could to help him in his life calling, and yet could never be his wife. I do not think this has anything to do with any specific person. It has to do with a loyalty we feel toward the people we are with, and because of the desire put into a woman’s heart to serve and give. When Jane meets John, she serves him, acts honorably toward him, and reserves her heart. When Anna meets Levin, she turns on her charms, once more violating Kitty in her attempts to capture this man’s affections. Jane was content to serve unseen. Anna demanded that all men be enchanted by her.
Together these two women are really inseparable. Unfortunately, Jane is not a relatable character most of the time. We all understand Anna; she is real. This is why Kitty is such a necessary addition to Anna Karenina. It is possible to be as wholesome and sacrificing as Jane and also as real and jealous and passionate as Anna. It is Kitty whom I wish to be most like. In many ways, Levin is the better example of man. Mr. Rochester is manipulative and abusive. Anna’s husband is boring and distant. Anna’s lover is stupid and despicable. John lacks gusto. But it is Levin who haphazardly humbles his high ideals to understand a woman, accept the ways she would change his life, and learns to see that it was good.
Even though Anna Karenina’s plot would be considered more degenerate, I found Jane Eyre harder to read. I disliked Mr. Rochester so much, especially when he pretended to be a gypsy woman, that I struggled to accept Jane’s love for him. At times, I wasn’t sure what to think of Jane. In many aspects, it would be hard to say she was any better than Anna. Both girls are quite driven by their desires. Even Anna had a few principles. Yet their souls are drastically different. Jane’s soul was the light of the plot. Anna’s soul was a black hole that sucked everything away. A few questions and Anna could have understood and learned to love her husband, and discovered that her husband was quite open to having her in his world. But Anna was incapable of loving—not because she desired to be seen, but because she refused to her soul’s darkness, the darkness most evident when she was with her husband and daughter.
Despite a few similarities, Jane and Anna are never truly alike. It is Jane and Anna’s husbands that share magnanimous souls. It is Anna and Mr. Rochester who threaten to kill themselves over lust, who abuse, manipulate, and play games to cause jealousy. Anna and Mr. Rochester are both offered forgiveness and sanctified hearts. Mr. Rochester nearly loses his life, sacrificing his sight but at last regaining his soul. Humbled, he finds love. Anna’s last act is to demand all attention: she takes her life and the bit of light left in her soul is snuffed out.