Goth Governess

There is a new graphic novel version of Jane Eyre and, judging by its cover, it was created for the Goth crowd. Underground comic-book artist Dame Darcy, whose distinctly feminine, heavily inked, neo-Victorian creations have won her a cult following, created the forty illustrations.

Ah, but should a book be judged by its cover? Brontë’s most famous character, the “Quakerish governess” Jane, is a prime case of deceptive packaging herself. A mistreated orphan at the beginning, she refuses to be treated as a marginal figure and goes on to script her own dramatic fate. Let's hope Darcy’s Goth-girl fan base will discover Brontë’s subversive message.