Can you be manly in pearls?

[elettaria]

I'm listening to audiobooks a lot at the moment, and I find that I pick up on things I didn't notice when reading the novel. Jane Eyre is the one I've just finished, noting that St John is even more of a bastard than I remembered, and that Rochester may be a Strong Rugged Man type, but Jane is constantly rescuing him. The bit that really made me sit up is when Rochester says, in the penultimate chapter, "...and since you left your pearl necklace behind I've been wearing it under my clothes ever since you left." I know that Bronte has a penchant for gender-bending and cross-dressing, seen a little with Rochester's gypsy outfit and even more in Villette, but Rochester wearing pearls? What do you make of this? You can get all symbolic about gender and power being represented in jewellery, Jane starts wearing Rochester's watch at this point for example, but I just end up giggling at the idea of Rochester secretly wearing pearls. It also made me want to rewrite a scene as follows. (Paraphrasing from memory.)

"Jane, have you a glittering ornament around your neck?"
I was wearing a gold-watch-chain, and I replied that I had.
"And have you a pale blue dress on?"
Yep.
(shyly) "And do you think it would suit me?"
"No," I said decisively. "Pale colours are no good for a strong character such as yours. A brilliant crimson gown would serve you far better."


In other news, I'm having quite a relapse here, and am getting very bored with being conked out in bed all day and having to feel I've accomplished something if I've managed to crawl into the shower. I won't be online much for a bit, I think, I'm rarely able to manage it, let alone able to talk on the phone, but TLC in whatever form will be much appreciated.

Comments

[nrgms.livejournal.com]

i didn't interpret that as gender-bending, but as him missing her and finding anyway to be close to her. hmmm... must re-read!

i hope you get better soon, and wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy New Year, etc.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

It's just rather an odd way of doing it, considering how strongly charged a pearl necklace is with gendered associations. And as per usual with Rochester, he picks something that isn't even that close to her to begin with: she was steadfastly refusing those pearls, and the silks and satins (and succeeded with the bridal veil, although for rather different reasons), as far as she could. This is the man who got the colour of her eyes wrong during a tender (and irritatingly soppy) love scene, used pretty dire excuses to try to talk her into becoming his mistress after attempting to trick her into an invalid marriage, and spent the run up to that attempted marriage pushing her to go against her nature and wallow in wealth, though, so it's not entirely surprising that he misses the point that the pearls were something of his own which she was reluctant to accept (and it's not like she's left him much else to cherish, one assumes). Poor Jane, she does have dreadful taste in men.

There was that strange business when he disguised himself as the gypsy woman, and he certainly liked getting all dressed up for the charades, however. Plus a fair bit of gender-bending in Villette (the chap who disguises himself as a nun; Lucy in semi-drag playing Ginevra's lover on stage and flirting wildly with her, as far as Lucy Snowe does wild anyway); I can't remember The Professor that well, though I remember that it was rather weird, and I've not read Shirley yet.

Happy Xmas/New Year to you as well, me dear.