The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-12-15
THE DOMESTIC NOVEL
Miss Farrant Compares Emma
and Jane Eyre-Roehester
Exaggerated.

~ liz oS1 tNs IA AK
ment Of the Novel; yesterday afternoon
at the residence Of Mrs. A. j. Newbury,
No. 81 Clifton place. She said:-sIt seems
an obvious truth that in all realms of art
the objective precedes The subjective, the
presentation of the symbol. the compre-
hensipn Of the truth synabolized. The old
est Madonnas, for instance, have inexpres-
sive faces surrounded by a halo. Later,
We find the symbol of holiness giving
place to the light which Eliminates from
within. In the novel we notice that the
subjective is long In appearing. The early
attempts at fiction deal with external life
only and do not record the influence of
character upon character, or of soul upon
soul. 1t is not until we reach Shakes
peare that true personality appears. In
the development Of the novel there is first
that of external life, then that of domes-
tic relations. and finally that of the inter
nal relations. The Mysteries of Udolpho
is an example OF the first, the Vicar of
Wakefield OF the second and lane Eyre
of the third. Today we are to consider the
domestic novel, taking as types Of it the
Vicar of Wakefield, Emma, Jane Eyre,
Scarlet Letter and Silas Mariner.
Goldsmith says of the Vicar of Wake
field, There are one hundred faults in this
thing Most Of US would charge him with
but on-e-incoherency of plot. The Wears
character is drawn most carefully. There
Is no development, however, in the Vicar.
He is substantially the same at the end
as at the beginning of the novel.
Miss Burney in her Evelina portrays
the world as it might appear to a very
young lady, s-eIf-conscious and awfully
observant of the proprieties. 1t marks
table, a d~isrespectful term for the works
of Miss Burney, Miss Edgeworth Miss
Austen and their school. Miss Austen
gave TO the world a series of novels Which
IN their remarkable power to make inter-
esting the commonplace things and char
acters must ever be appreciated and cared
Tor by those possessed of true literary
judgment. In all her novels Jane Austen
holds up the mirror of her time. And we
must remember in reading them that the
time was more than two generations be-
tore US. Tn novel we have for considera-
ton is Emma. Emma is considered by
many to be the best of Jane Austen's
works, and the heroine Is not inferior In
charm to Elizabeth Bennett, who evident
y was the favorite character Of the au-
thoress. In this novel, as in all of Miss
Austen's,- there is an acceptance of the
family idea, of marriage, as the proper
end OF women. There is no element of
PdSSlUH. Emma ana Elizabeth do not show
characters influenced from within as does
Jane Eyre. They consider what is proper.
While she has an absorbing interest in ma
ture and in her soul, in emotion as emo
ton, in love as in love. In Emma, as in
her other novels, one can see that the
characters came fully developed from
Miss Austen's mind to the books pages.
In many people the taste for her novels
has TO be cultivated. Her art may not be
the highest, but certainly it is perfection
of it's kind.
"In Charlotte Bronte the greatest of
woman romancers came to the world. By
her passion as felt by a woman was de-
picted for the first time. There could
hardly be a greater contrast than that be-
tween Jane Austen's and Charlotte
Brente's novels. All literature, it is said.
is produced by some clash. Jane Eyre is
the product of the clash of races, the Irish
and the English. lane Eyre is an epoch
making novel. Its whole motive differs
from any preceding work in that its char
acters develop and the emotions proceed
from within instead Of being influenced
by external causes as in the Vicar of
Wakefield and in Emma. Again external
nature is portrayed for it's own sake and
not simply as a background. Then, too,
and most important of all, a new element
OF passion is introduced. Contrast Emma
and Jane Eyre. Is there in Jane an ac-
ceptance of duh respectabilfty, of pro-
priety for propriety's sake? No; rather
she will Work out the problems for her
self. She will analyze her WI soul. And
hA&1t AA%A6 tJ ~ A-lC& III L4tS
morality or immortality of Jane Eyre.
"The question arises, What is an inn
moral novel? An immoral move is one
whose philosophy of life is incoherent.
Naturally the representative of any new
principle of life is bound to be immoral,
because 1t puts out OF joint a well-defined
philosophy. 1t is just in this way that
Jane Eyre is immoral, because it puts
things out of balance. The equality of
the sexes for instance is assumed in Jane
Eyre. In the next place the novel is i'm
moral because of the element of revolt.
Also some of the religious propositions
were immoral. The right of the Individual
to search for itself was especially repug-
nan at that time. Again, Jane Eyre is
immoral in the tremendous emphasis laid
upon the individual. Tame Is ready to de-
fly all con-ventionalities, principles and
its idea of hero. Rochester is exaggerated
inwardly and outwardly for artistic treat
ment. 1t was contrary to all principle that
both hero and heroine should be ugly. And
not only is there an exaggeration in Roch- !
esters character, but also in that of his
insane wife While we are under the spell
of this writer'5 genius we do not perceive
that there are several passages bordering
dangerously on melodrama, but away
from that fascination our eyes are opened
to the truth. Whatever may be its faults
Jane Eyre is a classic. 1t IS a book that
will live because 1t contains the hint of
a permanent idea (the equality of woman),
because It is a prophecy of the liberty
of the individual
At the conclusion of the lecture there
was a slight discussion of the authors
spoken OF. Mrs. Newbury served refresh