In the continuing saga of my return to grad school, I’m finding at least one part of the experience nice and easy: part of my homework this week involves watching an old movie. 

It’s the 1943 rendition of “Jane Eyre,” the version of this oft-filmed classic that Jean Rhys, author of the Jane Eyre prequel Wide Sargasso Sea, would have known. I’m watching the film before reading Part One of the book, which we will discuss at the next class.

Compared with hacking my way through Postmodernism, New Historicism and various other critical theories, viewing a film seems … positively dreamy.

Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine. Homework: bring it on!

(Seeing as today is April 1, I must add this disclaimer: no fooling!)