Victorians! discussion

If you could jump into any book and alter events to fit your view of how it should have ended, which book would you choose and what changes would you make?

Jane Eyre. Both she and Rochester should have perished in the fire.

Lol! And Berthe could have celebrated with marshmallows!

Everyman wrote: "Jane Eyre. Both she and Rochester should have perished in the fire."

That's incendiary, and you know that, Eman! [g]

What will always bother me about that story was power was never balanced between the two -- originally Rochester had it, then, after he was crippled, it rather fell to Jane. Too much like too many male-female relationships that are abusive for my comfort as a novel that so often is seemingly viewed as demonstrating feminine strength -- and in many ways it does. Jane still got caught in the culture's persistent romantic attraction of "dark and handsome."

But then, maybe an issue for my reading of the story is that I read Wide Sargasso Sea concurrently, perhaps warping my perceptions of Rochester as a worthy suitor for Jane. Other critics have pointed out that housing Bertha with a caretaker was probably far more humane in that day than an alternative like sending her to Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam) and they reflect more gently on the character of Rochester.

Renee wrote: "Lol! And Berthe could have celebrated with marshmallows!"

Interesting! and little Adèle would grow old to a mad 'coquette' and become the next Berthe

I would have Jane scorned both St-John and Rochester and become a sucessful School mistress.

Lady Audley's Secret - I would have Lucy as victorious after she got into so much trouble to keep her identity a secret!

North and South - I'd like to see some glimpse of Thornton and Margaret's domestic life!

Jude the Obscure - I'd have Sue returning to Jude's arms in order to soothe him in his final breath...

Villette - M. Paul had to come back alive, filthy rich and marry Lucy Snowe as in a fairytale...

Agnes Grey - Instead of a romantic happy ending, I'd have Agnes as a governess of an idyllic family and deciding against marriage & kids after all she witnessed in the two homes she served.

The Tenant of Widefell Hall - Helen should have learn not to trust her instincts, if she's fallen in love so quickly with Mr Markham he must be no better than Huntington. I'd like to see how/if their union found common ground after the two years of romantic endorphins have passed. I strongly suspect there would be 'The Tenant of Somewhere Else', after she found out Markham had a tendency to overprotect and control his wife, forcing her to run away and start all over again.

Interestingly in the very heavy-handed movie version of Lady Audley's Secret, Lucy totally gets away because her stepdaughter, incensed by what the men have done to secure the family name, springs her from the sanitarium. We last see her blonde, remarried, and headed for America. :D

Carolina wrote: "Jude the Obscure - I'd have Sue returning to Jude's arms in order to soothe him in his final breath..."

It would be a very Hollywood ending, yes. But wouldn't that take away a big part of the tragedy and pathos that make the novel powerful?

Renee wrote: "Interestingly in the very heavy-handed movie version of Lady Audley's Secret, Lucy totally gets away because her stepdaughter, incensed by what the men have done to secure the family name, springs ..."

I'd give my approval!

Everyman wrote: "Carolina wrote: "Jude the Obscure - I'd have Sue returning to Jude's arms in order to soothe him in his final breath..."

It would be a very Hollywood ending, yes. But wouldn't that take away a big..."


Hadn't them all suffered long enough? I would like Jude not to die alone, that's all. But I agree 'pathos' is the main concept in all Hardy's novels. I grieved for Michael in The Mayor of Casterbridge too - I suppose the ultimate implied metaphor is we all must face death all by ourselves .

Carolina wrote: "Hadn't they all suffered long enough?."

Well, not for Hardy. He's not known for happy endings! Though there are a few here and there; Under a Greenwood Tree, for example. And one could consider the ending of Tess to be a promise of happiness at least for her sister (shades of "The House of the Rising Sun"; in Tess the baby sister does indeed seem to avoid the house of the rising sun.)

Carolina wrote: " I grieved for Michael in The Mayor of Casterbridge too - I suppose the ultimate implied metaphor is we all must face death all by ourselves."

Nice point. Though there are many exceptions in literature, aren't there? Many main or important characters die surrounded by their loved ones. But don't they really have to face death by themselves despite that?

Everyman wrote: "Jane Eyre. Both she and Rochester should have perished in the fire."

Excellent! Or, on second thought, maybe not Jane. After the life she had, surely she should have lived to find happiness.

Middlemarch - Casaubon's spiteful will should have been contested on principle. And Lydgate should have ditched Rosamond.

Kerstin wrote: "Middlemarch - Casaubon's spiteful will should have been contested on principle. And Lydgate should have ditched Rosamond."

I always thought that about Casubon's will. Nowadays, at least in the US, wills can be contested if there are unreasonable strings attached such as must marry or must remain single etc.
Lydate, well not ditch Rosamund but maybe she could have died and he found someone who shared his principles at last. He always reminded me of the old saying about falling in love with a dimple and then finding out too late that the whole person goes with it.

Diane wrote: " He always reminded me of the old saying about falling in love with a dimple and then finding out too late that the whole person goes with it.
."

I love that. And you're right, it perfectly describes Lydgate's infatuation with Rosamund.

Carolina wrote: "I would have Jane scorned both St-John and Rochester and become a sucessful School mistress."

Yes! That's exactly the ending I wanted as well. In fact, I set out a few alternatives in my review:

-Jane marries St. John and dies shortly after from exhaustion and bad health in India. Horrible ending showing that having to choose between passionate, illicit love and dispassionate, loveless marriage will kill you.

-Jane never gets involved with her relatives, but is instead picked up under the vagrancy laws and ends her days in a workhouse. Horrible ending showing that women should stay put where they are placed and that trying to have adventures or make choices for themselves will lead to destitute death.

-Jane gets the money from her dead uncle, turns down St.John because she knows God has a different purpose in mind for her, and starts up her own school for bright girls without means, and ends up being a precursor to the suffragette movement. Becomes an “old maid”, but does in fact have a life-long, loving relationship with one of her fellow teachers. I kind of like that ending. Go Jane! Mr Rochester can find some new mistress to obsess over, or his wife can die without injury to himself but he can never repair his relationship with Jane. Sorry Ed.

I should not have laughed as hard as I did. Those are brilliant!

Thank you. I was feeling somewhat irate throughout Jane Eyre. lol
I wanted to throttle most of the male characters. Maybe all of them, actually.

I would have changed the ending of Trollope's An Old Man's Love. I would have made myself happy and said too bad to John. And as it is, the ending is too sappy sweet and predictable. Hardy would have done better with the same dilemma!