skygiants

I'm very sorry to hear that! I've always been sorry that Clarke's success with this role didn't lead to other good ones - I knew she had vanished from TV acting, just from looking her up on IMDb - and it's especially sad to hear that it was specifically Jane Eyre that for some reason caused acting offers to dry up for her; I would have loved to see more of her work. I agree with her own assessment in that article: the 1983 series nowadays feels old-fashioned in its style and pacing, but her performance absolutely holds up (as does Dalton's.) ETA: Although I should also add, that adaptation doesn't critique problematic aspects of the novel at all -- its Bertha Mason is presented as no more than a low-budget gothic goul.

I think it's also true that Rochester is a flashier part than Jane, and that if an actress approaches that role with subtlety, she runs the risk of being judged bland, or simply not the most memorable part of the story in which she stars. It reminds me a little bit of what happened with the part of Eliza in Hamilton's original run -- everyone appreciated Phillipa Soo's performance and much of the audience viewed Eliza as both the primary female character and the heart of the show in the end, but it was one of the only performances that was repeatedly left out of award nominations.