Comparison of two novels

¶ … Raney: No Jane Eyre, but a Southern belle in search of her true identity -- through marriage of course!

The story of Raney, by Clyde Edgerton, and the story of Jane Eyre, another tale of marriage romance, both chronicle what transpires when two opposite individuals are attracted to one another and whom attempt to connect through the institutions of marriage. Jane and Rochester are emotionally compatible but social opposites -- she is poor and he is rich, she is naive and he is worldly. Raney is innocent, unschooled, and comes from a different milieu than the academic Charles. Both tales illustrate the narrative arch of a courtship and a marriage of an innocent woman to a more sophisticated man. Both novels highlight the conflict of female independence and dependence with the institution of marriage, one from a male perspective, and the other from a female perspective. And thirdly, both books provide a resolution to the conflicts that arise through a deux ex machina type climax -- in the case of Edgerton's novel, through the intervention and effective use of a marriage counselor, and through Bronte's gothic text, through a surprise inheritance, the death of Rochester's mad wife in flames, and the male protagonists' surprise blindness. In other words, rather than providing a real answer to the vexing problem of the closeness of marriage, and the far ideological and personal differences of the protagonists, plot rather than social development becomes the key to the problem of the author posed by him or herself regarding the institution of marriage.

Firstly, to compare contrast the main protagonists in terms of characterization, Raney, in Edgerton's novel of the same name, is an innocent, Southern Baptist. Her husband Charles, who is considerably more liberal and sophisticated than his 'little woman.' In Charlotte Bronte's novel, the reader learns that Jane Eyre was reared in a religious school. Initially, upon meeting the new governess for his little ward Adelle, Mr. Rochester speculates that all the girls must have worshipped the leader of this institution. But Jane, defiantly for a new employee and despite her sexual and worldly innocence in the face of Rochester's dominance, answers her future husband with a resounding no, that Mr. Brocklehurst cut off his student's hair and was capricious about their health. Unlike the Southern manners of gentility that often cloak Raney's true feelings, Jane, despite her lack of experience, is always honest and forthright before the more defensive Rochester, even when she learns she is going to be the governess to a child that he admits is probably not his.

Raney takes the Bible literally, not believing that Jesus could have converted water into wine, unless the substance had time to ferment. Jane, in contrast, although religious, looks to the Bible for moral inspiration rather than a literal guide to life. When Jane questions her Biblical principles, it is only to say, "At my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth -- so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane -- quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.'" (http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-charlotte/jane-eyre/chapter-26.html) What is the use of principles, Jane asks, if one only keeps to them when it is easy and comfortable to do so?

Secondly in terms of plot structure, Raney begins the novel an emotional as well as a social and financial dependant. Ironically, although Jane begins her titular novel as a child, dependant upon the good and not so good will and promise of the Reeds to her father, Raney is utterly emotionally dependant upon her mother for her opinions, as well as financially and socially dependant, even as she is ready to be married to Charles. Marriage, at the beginning of the tale for Raney, thus is merely a continuation of her childlike life, moving from her parental to a patriarchal home. Jane, in contrast, fears losing her sense of self through marriage, a sense of self she has had since she was a child. Before Jane nearly enters into a bigamous marriage, Jane notes her guise in the mirror. "I saw a robed and veiled figure, so unlike my usual self that it seemed almost the image of a stranger. 'Jane!' called a voice, and I hastened down." (http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-charlotte/jane-eyre/chapter-26.html) This foreshadows how the first marriage to Rochester would be a loss, rather than a gain of status for Jane.

In contrast, Raney is so childish in her beliefs, she says, "I never thought of anyone as becoming" a vegetarian, as in "changing over," but rather that vegetarians were born, in other words, that people were born into their lives and belief systems and never altered their modalities of living. (6) but the other women around her are not so naive. "I hope your journey is as happy and fulfilling as ours," says one woman to Raney, regarding marriage. (7) Marriage in both texts is indeed a journey, and a fulfilling journey for the central, titular protagonists. However, in the case of Raney, Raney must give up her old assumptions and comforts to be fully fulfilled as Charles' wife. By going to a marriage counselor, the two of them reconcile their differences in a humorous way, but not ultimately in a fashion that satisfies the reader that the equation is equitable -- Raney must give up a great deal of her past to become the match of Charles, as his companion, as well as an independent person.