Inside Out:Jane Eyreon the Victorian Stage

Abstract

AbstractCharlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is now valued as a subtle retrospective narrative of its heroine's inner life, but its melodramatic elements proved enticing for the Victorian popular stage. This paper describes the eight stage versions of Jane Eyre which appeared on the British and American stage between 1848 and 1882, and argues that the conventions of stage melodrama turn Jane's story 'inside out', translating it from inward analysis to soliloquy and dialogue, from a private 'autobiography' shared with the discerning reader to a public declaration of grievance delivered in a voice, as Dickens put it, 'audible half a mile off'.Keywords: JANE EYRETHEATREMELODRAMAADAPTATION