Jane Eyre

[Traditionallyruralmom]

Does anyone read this work, or watch a screen adaption (BBC, 1983 is by far the very best...free on Prime) and find yourself screaming at the book or screen
"ITS NOT EVEN A VALID MARRIAGE!!!!"
You can't marry someone you don't know, and who's mental insanity is being covered over by their family...not valid!

Rochester mentions when he is pleading his case to Jane after the attempted wedding and his "wife" is discovered, that by the time he wanted to go for a divorce, the doctors had declared his wife insane, so it was no longer an option....?????  Huh?  All Catholic truth aside about what is needed for a valid marriage, what kind of law existed that made divorcing an insane husband or wife not possible?

I also thought the church of England was built on divorce?   

I really love this story, but when I use my traddy Catholic brain, its just so upsetting and so wrong.

[The Harlequin King]

I also thought the church of England was built on divorce?

It's a "yes, but no" kind of answer. Henry VIII's schism allowed him to get an annulment from Katharine of Aragon issued by the state church (and then once more to Anne of Cleves), but he's pretty much the only person to have actually "benefited" from it. No other English king since Henry sought an annulment, not even Charles II (who had the same problem Henry did of begetting legitimate heirs). Annulments remained extremely difficult to obtain even for the gentry, and divorce through civil court wasn't legal in England until 1858. This is why extra-marital affairs were a lot more socially acceptable back then (sort of).

[Prayerful]

Famously enough Luther and Tyndale (whose work Henry and James I purloined with no shame) scorned Henry's understanding of scripture, seeing it as either pretext or naivety. At least the CoE mostly kept away from that much-abused instrument.

[Maximilian]

All Catholic truth aside about what is needed for a valid marriage, what kind of law existed that made divorcing an insane husband or wife not possible?

Presumably, the divorce would require her consent. If she were declared insane, then she would be incapable of consenting to the divorce. Just like an insane person would lack the capacity to consent to a marriage, they would also lack the capacity to consent to a divorce.

I also thought the church of England was built on divorce?   

Divorce laws in England were not liberalized until the 1960's. Previously divorce was possible, but it was very difficult and rare, like Catholic annulments used to be. [See HK's answer for more details.]

[Heinrich]

The Anglican "church" was "built" on the theft of Church property and then the ensuing vacuum of legitimate theology and philosophy.

[Non Nobis]

I loved Jayne Eyre in high school (and for some years later). Although it certainly isn't Catholic, I wasn't thinking about that then, but just enjoying the drama and emotion. I read the book several times, and saw a number of the dramatizations. I even wrote a high school term paper school comparing Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen (or maybe it was Jayne Eyre and Pride and Prejudice). (It was a masterpiece  paper, but the teacher gave me a D- because it was late and she wouldn't even glance at it   )

I haven't had the urge to watch or read it for again a long time - not because of that term paper, but just the passage of time, and decreased interest in that sort of thing.

[Josephine87]

This is an interesting thought exercise.  Bertha wasn't insane when she married Mr. Rochester but became so soon after their marriage.  I think her mother was a lunatic too.  But the father never disclosed any of this to Rochester.  One wonders, if this were a Catholic marriage, whether that would be grounds for annulment.  I don't think so though.  That one detail of the wife burning down the house and killing herself seemed too pat to me, allowing everything to end "happily ever after" for Jane and Rochester, even though he ends up blinded.  I remember enjoying the book otherwise.

[martin88nyc]

I really like 1970 version
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065911/

[Traditionallyruralmom]

I really like 1970 version
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065911/

we rewatched this one a few weeks ago, and I thought it was my favorite too...until I saw the '83 BBC miniseries.  It was so true to the book, and added in many things the 70's version left out. 

[Traditionallyruralmom]

This is an interesting thought exercise.  Bertha wasn't insane when she married Mr. Rochester but became so soon after their marriage.  I think her mother was a lunatic too.  But the father never disclosed any of this to Rochester.  One wonders, if this were a Catholic marriage, whether that would be grounds for annulment.  I don't think so though.

I believe she was insane, it was hidden from him.  They were rarely alone, little conversation, his marriage was arranged before he even got to the West Indies.  That is how I understood it.