Love is so common a topic. Yet, not everyone fully understands the true meaning of it. Depending on the time and place, it can take varied appearances. The love depicted in Jane Eyre, a book written roughly two centuries ago, is different from what is observed these days. No surprise, huh? The core of love, nevertheless, has been always the same—sacrifice and devotion. The modern version of love, sadly, seems to fail to meet this basic requirement of love.

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Recently, a story about “cigarette girl” heated up the whole Internet. This story goes like this. A male student attending Seoul National University (SNU) stood with a burning cigarette. With his face filled with the angst of breaking up with his girlfriend, he kept spewing out thick smoke, informing his girlfriend of his decision to break up. This heartrending story, up to this point, adhered to a predictable scenario. Yet, there was a twist at the end of this story.  The painful memory of being dumped turned this pathetic girl into something of a nemesis, firmly determined to destroy her former lover. She accused him of sexual harassment, saying that she was mortified by his macho-style smoking that had marked their break-up. Her accusation was declined by the chair of the student council. It instantly brought up a huge controversy, as this spiteful girl even sued the head of student council who did not accept her accusation to punish him. Her lingering grudge to her former lover, albeit uncommon, is a sad facet of modern love in Korea. Love can take different appearances depending on time and place. This might partly explain this ugly grudging between lovers. Still, it is hard to understand how such self-centered bickering can be classified as a part of “love.” Humans form many different relationships with people throughout life. The love between man and woman, among them, is the most long-lasting relation. Considering that humans have different desires and preferences, it is evident that there will be most frequent quarrels in that relation. Thus, it is no wonder to see young lovers often row, break up, and then reunite shortly afterward. Through this painful process, they slowly learn about each other and can embrace the differences of their partner. For Jane Eyre, it took quite a long time for her to reach that state—more than 300 pages, if chronicled. Surely, it would have been a demanding task for Jane to understand Mr. Rochester, a quirky, reserved, and enormously rich man. In sum, the gap between them seemed almost insurmountable. Jane was nothing more than an orphaned, poor tutor. Her lover, on the contrary, was the super rich bourgeois who hired her. For most modern young people who struggle to understand even the minor foible of their partner, it comes as a grave lesson on love; do not fear to adjust yourself to your lover’s taste.

Stepping further, she talks about the nature of love at the last chapter. When an unknown fire breaks out in Mr. Rochester’s house and all of his properties go into ashes, it seems her love for him will face an end. He is flat broke. He is also blind as he jumps into the burning house to save his ex-wife. Who would love a broke man with blind eyes? To Jane, however, it does not matter at all. She finds him, goes back to him, and then finally succeeds in being with him. The reason of Jane Eyre’s everlasting popularity might have something to do with this devotion that is rarely found in real-life love. And to young lovers, in particular, this should come as another lesson on love; is your love like that of Jane?