The first episode of The Autobiography of Jane Eyre aired on February 28, 2013. In this introduction, parallels are immediately drawn between the Jane Eyre hypotext, as well as establishing differences. For similarities, she drinks a lot of tea (earl grey, chamomile, North African mint), is educated (just graduated with a degree in nursing), and knows French (which is represented in the French book sitting on her floor at 1:27). As far as differences go, she informs viewers she is 21 (which places Jane older than the original novel), which will become impactful later when viewers realize that Rochester is also closer in age to her, making it less "scandalous" for modern-day viewers. Modern-day interests are also mentioned, such as the blogging site Tumblr, which firmly puts this version of Jane Eyre in a modern epoch (This is me). It allows for the transmedia side of this rendition to weave throughout the episodes in a way that is intuitive and creative: viewers can follow along with Jane’s story outside of the videos (such as in the Q & A sessions), which is a possibility that was not available when Jane Eyre was written.

As discussed, Jane uses the first episode to create a framework for how she wants to be known. Since the episode is less than three minutes long, Jane is selective in what she chooses to introduce. Choosing her age and nursing degree as two of the traits to introduce portrays her as educated and pushes the age gap between her and Rochester closer (although viewers do not know this yet, as referenced above). To read more on how age has a complex relationship with gender identity, power, and economics, consider reading, “Jane Eyre: Governess to Girl Bride” by Esther Godfrey. Although this article reflects on Jane Eyre rather than the web series, the argument can be applied to the web series. Godfrey writes, “Furthermore, the class differences between Jane and Rochester combine with the gap between their ages to exaggerate the already extreme binary logic of Victorian gender relations and create what Judith Butler calls ‘psychic excess,’ a feature of ‘psychic mimesis’ that structures performance and potentially undermines gender identities. Reading Jane Eyre to uncover how class and age influence gender offers more insight into the text's subtle shifts in power and potentially reconciles disparate critical readings” (Godfrey 854).

 Bibliography: Godfrey, Esther. “Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, vol. 45, no. 4, Oct. 2005, pp. 853–871. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hus&AN=509817697&site=eds-live.

“This is me (an introduction) – Ep: 1” YouTube, uploaded by Jane Eyre, 28 Feb. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK8HqCXybok&t=1s.