#add a cut

[phireads]

Why the Ending of Jane Eyre is Perfect

Quick disclaimer: I am not a qualified academic (which will become increasingly evident if you decide to read this) and I also wrote this at 2AM, meaning there likely will be a lot of errors. I am also aware that parts of this are simply restating facts or well-known analysis of the novel but I feel they help to bridge my thoughts together. I’d love to hear anyone else’s opinions on the ending, or on what I’ve written, just please be kind and respectful.

I often see people talking about how Jane gives up all her freedom to be with Edward, how she’s chained to an unworthy manipulator for the rest of her life. And look, I understand this take.

If Jane had married Mr Rochester the first time around - whether Bertha had existed or not - she would be a victim. She would have very little power in her marriage (though she did foresee this issue when she wrote to her uncle in Madeira) and there wouldn’t be much she could do to rectify her situation. Rochester was her superior in age and in status. She had no connections and it would have been extremely easy for him to cut her off from the world and make her into his pretty housewife (if he so wanted to).

Had the book ended on a successful first wedding, it would be a tragedy. A loss of freedom and a loss of Jane herself. But it doesn’t. That’s why the second part of the book is so compelling because whilst the mystery and romance of Jane’s time at Thornfield is captivating, Jane becomes the heroine we love when she’s free and freezing on the moors.

After these trials, Jane is elevated, in both the world and in her opinion of herself. She is a little older, has family and connections and she has experienced the favour of another man. She found herself in a position of total desperation and has emerged all the better for it. She is not deeply happy while she’s with the Rivers, but she is independent.

She recognises that she is not only “made for labour” as St John attests. But nor is she only a vessel for Rochester’s passion either. She is completely capable of making her own choices concerning her future. Had she chosen to marry St John and travel with him to India, she would have been sacrificing her freedom in another way, and her heart in favour of duty. Instead, she chooses a love which will flourish on her terms, not those of a husband and captor. She decides that she deserves a great love story. Her faith is of the utmost importance to her, but she must also place belief in her own desires.

Mr Rochester absolutely was unworthy of her. I say “was” because by, the end of the novel, I would argue that he is as much changed as Jane. He has lost his reputation, much of his fortune, and a great deal of his physical ability. He has had to learn what it’s like to be forsaken by all those around him - as Jane was in her childhood. He has also lost his greatest purpose, Bertha.

Now, I hear you say “but Phi, Rochester hated Bertha!” and you are correct however…

Bertha had become such an intrinsic part of Edward Rochester’s life over their fifteen years of marriage. He sees her as his burden but also as an outlet for blame. He needs Bertha because then he never has to take accountability. While Bertha lives, each of Rochester’s actions can, arguably, be rationalised by her existence.

I regularly hear people talk about how both Bertha and Jane are reduced to being “just wives”. However, whilst I like to believe that Mr Rochester tries to save Bertha from the fire because he finally sees the humanity in her, I think part of the reason he goes up there, to the roof and to near certain death, is because he doesn’t know what he will be if not the tortured husband of Bertha Antonietta Mason. No, his marriage is not a public one but we see how it consumes him. In Edward’s mind, his marriage absolves him of his moral duty to his god and to his fellow man.

Bertha’s death is not just a convenient plot device which allows Jane to return to Mr Rochester without compromising her values. As heartbroken as it makes me, Bertha must die.

Mr Rochester must be able to let her go entirely, along with all the excuses her life and dependency gives him, for him to truly address his faults and finally be deserving of Jane.

How we know definitively that he has changed, though, is because he isolates himself once more. He reduces his staff. He lives a solitary existence. He does not try to better his circumstances nor does he try to travel to Europe in search of his former comforts. He is not the man he once was.

He is ashamed, rightfully of his actions, wrongfully of his disabilities. He is miserable without Jane.

He has nothing, he even admits that he believed Jane to be dead.

Yet still, he lives. I think he stays alive because he’s trying to find, within himself, the faith which Jane encouraged him to seek when they parted. If Jane is dead, as he thinks, he must honour her in living as she wanted him to.

This is why Brontë’s ending is perfect. Jane doesn’t have to sacrifice all for love. She retains her money and her new-found family and most importantly, her spirit.

If she wanted to, she could make Edward her Bertha. She could lock him away and live as a single, or widowed, young woman. But she won’t. We know she won’t, because redemption and forgiveness are so vital to Jane’s belief system. She forgives Aunt Reed for her cruelty, and St John for his callousness. She says it herself, when she tells Mr Rochester that she must leave him: “I forgave him all, yet not in words”.

Jane is not weak. She forgives those who she deems worthy. She would not return to Mr Rochester, would not marry him and be his loving wife, if she wasn’t certain he had at least begun to redeem himself. No, he is not perfect (and far from it) but he doesn’t have to be. Thanks to Charlotte Brontë’s skilful prose, Jane and Edward feel like real human beings and human beings have deep flaws, fissures which run deep through each and every one of us. To expect Edward to be a perfect man, is akin to Mr Rochester affirming that Jane is an “angel” following the proposal. Jane rejects this idea because she does not require divinity or perfection from herself or anyone else, so why should we?

Of course, given the book’s socio-historical context, many of Jane’s views on her autonomy were controversial, progressive, and empowering for the women who read her story.

Naturally, this message doesn’t hold the same weight today, as we live in the fourth-wave of feminism. However, I’ve always found it exceptional that Jane still chooses Edward, in spite of his disability.

Even today, disabled people are often regarded as inferior romantic partners. I’ve seen this in the way self-proclaimed feminists online claim that Jane is forced to be Mr Rochester’s nurse now that he is disabled (as if Edward is evil for not turning her away - and he does give Jane that heart-wrenching option). I don’t quite know how to articulate just how awful and ableist it is to say things like that.

So, in conclusion, I believe that the end of Jane Eyre is perfect because it draws the novel to a close in a manner which is cohesive with what Jane has always longed for - love, freedom and a sense of belonging. She is able to attain all of this without hurting others unnecessarily. She has been broken down and so has Edward.

Together, with care and tenderness, they can build up their home, and their lives anew.

[babyjakes]

add a cut babygirls 👍

i am BEGGING fanfic writers to start using the "keep reading" button when they post their fics on tumblr. It's not always necessary for short stuff like drabbles/blurbs/headcannons but if you post a full-fledged one-shot or fic chapter PLEASE slap a keep reading on that shit. If I do a search for fics and don't want to read yours please don't make me scroll past all 3000+ words of your story in order to get to the next post. for the love of god

[saracastically]

midnight ramblers (for loopdeloop - cowboy)

[vaxxman]

Could I request Medic having The Mom Grip on Scout’s shoulder after the speedy moron almost let a mercenary secret slip while they weee getting groceries?

Three Europeans and two Americans walk into a grocery store in New Mexico.

I hope this is the right meme.

More silliness below.

This comic is the antithesis of the "wtf is a kilometre" joke.

The faces they make when they can't quite identify the type of brown bread in the bread aisle.

You don't know how [insert nationality here] you are until you go overseas and things are different.

Spy obviously has no problems with pretending to know how much a gallon of milk is, he just peeks into his conversion chart notes, pretending it's his shopping list.

I want to think Heavy is completely fine with having to readjust to a new unit system, he just eyeballs most practical things anyways by holding them up and mumbling about how they approximately weigh like a chicken or his kettle bell etc. He's always been living in practical ignorant bliss.

Medic has a peer reviewed meltdown the first time he realises there's no uniformity in "a cup of ____" because every object has different densities. He's diligent about memorising the conversion rates for ounces, pounds, the most common things etc., and recovers ok. He goes through the same stages of grief rage when he finds out about distances and lengths.

Just remember four inches are 10.16 cm and pray no one asks you to specify anything bigger than inches.

Everyone does a mental victory lap when they manage to guess how much Celsius the weather is because they keep forgetting it's Celsius*5/9+32=Fahrenheit, Engineer reminds them patiently.

The true victories are the correct temperature guesses we've made along the way.

One time, a friend asked me if I actually knew how much a tablespoon of flour was in gramms to convince me that metric users also make use of volume based units without thinking about them. But little did she know a heaped spoonful of 405 flour is about 15g and a level tablespoon is 10g.

They claim Oolong just tastes better when it's boiled to 80°C exactly with a Bunsen burner.

You only asked for one scene but somehow I came up with a bunch of other things. This post was drawn across 2 months so the artstyle is all over the place. Thanks for your ask!

[heritageposts]

Updates from Al Jazeera's live feed (24 May 2024):

[waddei]

fun night out at las nevadas

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[babyjakes]

the purpose of this post is to explain the importance of cuts to fanfic writers (and readers!) and provide step-by-step instructions on how to add cuts to posts across various posting methods. interact with the cut below (by pressing “keep reading”) to find out more!

what is a cut?

also referred to as a "keep reading" or "read more," a "cut" is a cutoff in a tumblr post that hides anything below it. (you saw/interacted with a cut to open this post!) cuts make posts expandable, making them an essential tool when writing and posting fanfiction that can reach up to several thousand (or more) words long.

why should fic writers use cuts?

generally speaking, it's common courtesy to add a cut to any longer written work/fic. no- you don't need to add a cut to your little headcanons or drabbles that only span a few hundred words, as these can easily be scrolled past and average about the same size as any image or other text post. but for works that range from a few to several thousand words long, a cut is usually warranted. here's why:

it's respectful toward other tumblr users. those who aren't interested can read your introduction, summary, etc. and decide to scroll past. no one wants to scroll through a several thousand-word fic they're uninterested in.

it allows readers to heed content and trigger warnings. you already (hopefully!) understand the importance of providing thorough warnings at the beginning of your works (ex: smut, dark themes, sensitive subjects, etc.) putting warnings for your fic above a cut and potentially sensitive content under a cut makes sure readers won't be exposed to content they don't want to see.

example of common cut placement.

here's an example of good cut placement. most writers place a cut below the general info about their fic (like its summary, the characters involved, and of course warnings!); some even place it a little lower, after the first paragraph or two of their work to provide a little teaser. either is fine!

how to add a cut on mobile.

in a new line (after pressing enter), type the following:

then press enter again. a cut will be inserted for you. in your text editor, it should look like this (this is not what it will look like once your post is published):

everything above your cut will be visible without expanding. everything below your cut will be hidden unless the viewer presses "keep reading." your cut will look like this when published, the blue indicating it can be interacted with/clicked:

how to add a cut on desktop.

in a new line (after pressing enter), a menu of icons will appear on the right side of your post. press the black set of three lines, which i've circled in red (if you hover your mouse over the icon, it'll say "add read-more link"):

a cut will be inserted for you. it should look like this (this is not what it will look like once your post is published):

the black circle with four dots on the left will allow you to move your cut up or down within your post. the red x on the right will allow you to delete it.

everything above your cut will be visible without expanding. everything below your cut will be hidden unless the viewer presses "keep reading." your cut will look like this when published, the blue indicating it can be interacted with/clicked:

writers, readers, and all others in the fandom, please spread this post to help others learn about the importance of cuts!

[stealingyourbones]

Debating on making Green Arrow’s chili recipe but looking at the ingredients that shit won’t be even remotely hot.

[the-gimmick-fbi]

The following are now under investigation.

@france-unofficial @its-target-official @leprechaun-stealerofgold @mouthless-inc

@the-principality-of-sealand @the-ghostly-fake-gimmick-blog @youraveragemagicalthief @shakespeare-official-account

The following information you are about to view is CLASSIFIED. View with caution.

Name: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED], [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED], [REDACTED] Raziel [REDACTED] Nickname(s) : Raz.

Current Job(s): Current Overseer of [REDACTED], [REDACTED] Agent. Languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Russian. Can also communicate through Morse Code, Binary and Sign Language.

Parents/Guardians/Known Relatives: [REDACTED] [REDACTED], mother, deceased. [REDACTED] [REDACTED], father, deceased. [REDACTED] [REDACTED], brother, deceased.

Additional Information: [REDACTED] WITSEC during childhood. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] was a witness and testified against a known crime organization. Now deceased. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] was an Agent, and current studies show that he may have been connected with the crime organization [REDACTED] testified against. Now deceased.

[doodlesaresketcheswithnoodles]

wasn't gonna post these, but since it will be a while before I can draw for myself again, here's the coloured sketches of the next SW illustrations I'd prepped up, this time random moments set during the Clone Wars

[onshrike]

A 5 panel comic featuring Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog. The comic has an overall blue-green hue.

Panel 1: Sonic, looking scuffed up, winks and salutes while saying "Not the assist I was expecting, but thanks Shadow!"

Panel 2: Shadow looks downwards.

Panel 3: A closeup of Sonic's hands. He's cradling one hand, unable to extend two of his fingers. Sonic says: "Cutting it close though. Heheh."

Panel 4: Shadow looks to the side, crossing his arms. Shadow says: "...You can't afford to get sloppy, hedgehog."

Panel 5: A faraway shot of Sonic and Shadow standing in front of a large busted Roller Badnik.

Sonic is still cradling his hand and says, "...You keep showing up lately. It almost makes me think you're worried about me!"

Shadow turns to walk away, saying "You're fine, so I'm leaving."

Aside dialogue reads: Shadow, "Ice that later." Sonic, "Pft."

[hoofpeet]

Sibling traditions

[gascreates]

emotional support frog

who will absolutely eat your hand.

[frumdyke]

happy thing on the thing day here's a wip of my tit fit

[time-slink]

goodtimeswithscar’s no good very bad day

etho: so, what’s gonna happen when cub shows up with his thorns armor? & kills all your guys here?

scar: …