Autobiography of Jane Eyre Episode 22 “Charades”
This video episode established the timelessness of the parlor game “charades” and displayed some differences in the hypertextuality of the game played in both media types.
Charades was essentially a “riddle” game popularized in France in the 18th century. In its earliest form, players solicited syllables for player response, rather than whole words. It gradually became accompanied by dramatic performances by the players. It was brought over to Britain by the English aristocracy.
William Thackeray asserted that charades were enjoyed for "enabling the many ladies amongst us who had beauty to display their charms, and the fewer number who had cleverness, to exhibit their wit". We observed this both in Jane Eyre and the video blog The Autobiography of Jane Eyre. In both instances, the playing of charades revealed more about Rochester’s relationship with Blanche and Jane Eyre when compared to casual observation.
In both instances, Blanche was dressed in white and Rochester and she acted out a wedding ceremony. What varied was both the choice of charade words and how those words were selected. In Jane Eyre, Rochester and Blanche teamed up and arrived at two words Bridewell, which was the name of a notorious prison at the time. Was Rochester telegraphing his feelings? In the video blog, Rochester reached in a cup and arbitrarily retrieves a slip of paper with the word “bride” printed on it. In both cases, Jane witnesses the contrived ceremonies and suffers emotional pain.