Jane Eyre (2011)

The story of Jane Eyre was a heart-wrenching tale originally published by Charlotte Bronte in 1847. It tells the story of a young girl who flees home to become the governess of Thornfield house, only to be faced by the cold and abrupt master of the house - Mr. Rochester. Throughout the novel the pair become closer and Jane breaks through her masters icy exterior, however his troublesome past comes back to haunt them.

The novel is set in the earlier Victorian era and the 2011 adaptation directed by Cary Fukunaga depicts the early Victorian hairstyles perfectly.

   

The first image is of  actress Mia Wasikowska in her role as Jane Eyre. Her character is a young woman in the early Victorian era and her hair throughout the film is representative of this. He hair is perfectly parted down the middle with the front of her hair brought round to the back, covering her ears and then plaited into a low bun at the nape of her neck - all elements described in my post about early victorian hairstyles. Her role as a governess meant that she had to look after and educate her masters children, therefore her hair had to be in a practical style that prevented it from getting in the way when she was working. This style helps to represent her as sophisticated and respectable as well as being efficient for her job.

 

 The second image is of Tazmin Merchant playing the role of Mary Rivers, Jane's cousin and also working as a governess. She is seen as a role model for Jane - young, independent and confident. Her hair throughout the film is, like Jane, a portrayal of how young women wore their hair in the early victorian era - away from the face, neat, professional but also representative of her class and age. The hair is parted in the middle then plaited and then wrapped into two buns either side of her head.

The third image is a completely different take on the woman of the early Victorian era. This is the character of Mrs. Reed, played by Sally Hawkins, who is Jane's 'evil' Aunt. She always despised Jane bringing her up as she felt her husband showed more love for Jane than their own children. Her appearance throughout the film is an obvious representative of both her wealth as well as her age. The character wears her hair up in extravagant styles with various accessories to go with her extravagant outfits. This was common in older Victorian women as they attended many dinners and court dances where they would all compete to be the best and most beautiful. The use of the middle parting, plaits and buns as well as having her ears covered were all common in early Victorian hairstyling.

I included this image of Jane Eyre and Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench), the housekeeper of Thornfield House, as it is representative of how different head wear represented different parts of the life of a Victorian woman in the early era.  Mrs. Fairfax's lace headpiece was commonly worn by married women to cover the back of their hair. It could be worn out under a bonnet and often the upper class wore various colours to match their outfits. Jane's bonnet with a frilled edge was often worn out to keep the hair in place when out and about. The detail of the bonnets differed between classes but often Mistresses would pass down old bonnets to their workers to help them appear more presentable when representing their family.

The last two images are of male characters from the 2011 film adaptation of 'Jane Eyre'. The first is of Mr. Rochester himself  (played by Michael Fassbender). His character is that of a wealthy, middle aged Victorian man. The second image is of  actor Jamie Bell who plays the role of St. John Rivers, another of Jane's cousins but also her benefactor, providing her with food and shelter. John acts as the Minister of Morton making him too, reasonably wealthy. Both men are well dressed throughout the film and sport the same hair that most men across all social classes in the early Victorian era had, short back and sides with the hair on top combed over and oiled. The men also often had long sideburns that merged into facial hair that went around the jaw of the mans face. The males hair throughout the early Victorian era is no where near as complex as the women's, it remained very simplistic but evidently effective in attracting women and wealth.

I like the hairstyles seen throughout this remake of Jane Eyre as they are a precise and realistic representative of those that would have been found in the early Victorian era. I feel that the film makes you feel like your in the era when watching it as they carry off the style and looks so effectively.

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-figure-of-the-governess

http://www.katetattersall.com/early-victorian-womens-hats-part-1-concerning-bonnets/

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm417839616/tt1229822?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_2