NAXOS

jane eyre – a study guide by francis gilbert

Charlotte Brontë

Jane
YOUNG

Eyre
A D U LT

A
CLASSICS

S T U D Y
G U I D E
by Francis Gilbert page 1
Contents
introduction ............................................... 5
contexts ....................................................... 7
Understanding Contexts ................................................... 7
Contexts of Writing: Brontë’s Life ................................... 8
Selected Reading on Brontë’s Life .................................... 11
Contexts of Reading .......................................................... 11

structure and theme .................................. 15

Narrative Summary ......................................................... 15
The Influence of Genre – the Gothic Novel ..................... 17

critical perspectives .................................. 19

Is Jane Eyre a Subversive Novel? ....................................... 19
Selected Reading on Jane Eyre .......................................... 21

notes, quotes and discussion .................... 23

glossary ....................................................... 57
study guide author: francis gilbert ......... 59

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Introduction
This study guide takes a different approach from most
study guides. It does not simply tell you more about the
story and characters, which isn’t actually that useful.
Instead, it attempts to show how the author’s techniques
and interests inform every single facet of this classic
novel. Most study guides simply tell you what is going
on, then tack on bits at the end which tell you how the
author creates suspense and drama at certain points in the
book, informing you a little about why the author might
have done this.
This study guide begins with the how and the why,
showing you right from the start how and why the author
shaped the key elements of the book.

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Contexts
Understanding Contexts
In order to fully appreciate a text, you need to appreciate
the contexts in which it was written – known as its
contexts of writing – and the contexts in which you
read the book, or the contexts of reading.
This is a potentially huge area to explore, because
‘contexts’ essentially means the ‘worlds’ from which the
book has arisen. For the best books, these are many and
various. The most obvious starting point is the writer’s
own life: it is worth thinking about how and why the
events in a writer’s life might have influenced his or her
fiction. However, you do have to be careful not to assume
too much. For example, many critics think that the
angelic, other-worldly character of Helen Burns in Jane
Eyre is a representation of Charlotte Brontë’s ethereal
sister Emily. This may be true, but you must remember
that Helen is a character in her own right in the novel – a
vital cog in the narrative wheel, a literary construct and
not a real person!
As a result, it is particularly fruitful to explore other contexts
of writing. We can look at the broader world from which
Charlotte Brontë arose (Victorian society and its particular set
of values), and consider carefully how, in her writing, she both
adopted and rejected the morals of her time. Other contexts
might be the influence of the literary world that Brontë
inhabited (what other authors were writing at the time), how
religion shaped her views, and so on.
Just as important as the contexts of writing are the
contexts of reading: how we read the novel today. Most of

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us, before we read a classic novel by Charlotte Brontë, have intelligent woman living in Victorian England should have
a lot of preconceived ideas about it. Many of us will have been scared stiff when contemplating the consequences of
seen one or more of the many film versions of the book, having sex: there were no effective contraceptives at that
and/or been influenced by what we have already heard time, and a huge number of women died giving birth.
about the Brontës. Your own personal context is Second, getting married – the only way for a ‘respectable’
important, too. I think female and male readers may woman to have sex – entailed losing the few rights women
absorb this novel differently – female readers perhaps had at that time: wives were expected to hand over all
falling a little in love with Rochester themselves, and male their property entirely to their husbands, until the
readers perhaps considering carefully whether they would Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 and 1882. And, as a
marry Jane. In order for you to fully consider the contexts married woman, Brontë had very little time to write,
of reading, rather than my telling you what to think, I have because she was too busy being a dutiful wife.
posed open-ended questions that I believe to be important Any careful examination of Brontë’s life makes it clear
when considering this issue. that there were many other factors, other than sexual
repression, which motivated her to write. It is often
overlooked that the most significant spur for all the
Contexts of Writing: Brontë’s Life Brontë sisters’ mature writing was a desperate need for
money. In September 1845, when Charlotte discovered
Some eminent literary critics have argued that Charlotte some of Emily’s poems and tried to get them published,
Brontë was a sexually repressed woman whose only outlet life was precarious at the Haworth parsonage. The Brontë
for all her passion was through writing. sisters were the daughters of an ageing cleric from whom
Surprisingly, this argument is not as absurd as it sounds. they would inherit very little money; their brother
Brontë really does seem to have had a strong aversion to Branwell, on whom they had pinned great hopes of
sex. She refused three offers of marriage, fell in love with a making the family fortune, had become an unemployed
married man whom she knew she could never sleep with, alcoholic and drug addict; and their other money-making
and when she did eventually marry the Reverend Arthur ventures – such as engraving, being governesses and
Bell Nicholls (near the end of her life, when she was 38) it setting up a school at the parsonage – had all failed. As the
was more out of pity than love. The dangers of having sex eldest and most responsible child, Charlotte took it upon
are amply illustrated in Jane Eyre (her most famous novel): herself to promote all their writing as a way of securing an
Rochester and Bertha Mason’s sexual appetites get them income. The sisters had always been writers: as children
into no end of trouble. It has been argued that the illness of they had all invented fantastical, imaginary kingdoms, and
which Brontë died was largely imaginary and that Brontë written long and brilliant sagas about them. But Charlotte,
preferred the idea of death to that of a ‘normal’ married life. a keen reader of fiction, was sharp enough to know that
But before we start suggesting that Brontë’s novels are these private fantasies wouldn’t sell. So she set about
the product of a sexually repressed, neurotic woman, a few writing a more commercial novel, called The Professor,
points need to be taken into account. First, any sensible, which, although rejected by a notable London publisher,

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received some favourable feedback. Encouraged, Charlotte very narrow-minded critic would claim that the sole
wrote Jane Eyre, an even more commercial book, reason for the existence of Brontë’s great novels was
combining as it did all the Gothic, fairytale and realist sexual neurosis.
elements which were popular at the time. She also took
the wise step of publishing her novels and those of her Selected Reading on Brontë’s Life
sisters under genderless pseudonyms, so that they wouldn’t
be dismissed by the male critics as ‘women’s novels’. Elizabeth C. Gaskell
All the great Brontë novels – Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering The Life of Charlotte Brontë
Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey – appeared within a few Two Volumes (Penguin Classics; first published 1857)
months of each other and caused an immense stir. The A controversial book and the first indispensable account of
critics were convinced that they were all written by the Brontë’s life; it remains indispensable today.

same person. In 1848, Charlotte, despite being chronically Juliet Barker

shy and reluctant to leave her possessive father, travelled The Brontës
with Anne to London and created huge excitement in the (Phoenix; 1994)
press by revealing the true identity of the authors. A landmark book on the family, brilliantly researched.
But the next two years were horrific for Charlotte: her
wayward brother Branwell died of alcoholism and her Lyndall Gordon
stoical and introverted sister Emily died of tuberculosis, Charlotte Brontë: A Passionate Life
(Vintage; 1995)
which also claimed the life of Anne a year later.
A biography which sets out to overturn the conventional view
Devastated by these losses, Charlotte persevered and of the suffering heroine. It paints the portrait of a passionate,
articulated her sense of pain and loneliness in her most complex woman and novelist.
mature and difficult novel, Villette. This novel draws upon
her experiences in Brussels where she had stayed a couple
of times during 1842–3 while training to be a teacher. The
culture and romance of the city had awakened her mind,
while her unspoken obsession with her instructor,
Monsieur Heger, a married man with children, had nearly Contexts of Reading
broken her spirit. However, like Jane Eyre, Charlotte
Today we read Jane Eyre very differently from the way in
gained control of her feelings (unlike her brother Branwell,
which the Victorians would have read it. First, our
who had been rejected by a married woman to whom he attitudes towards marriage mean that the plot is
had declared his love). The tale of her unrequited feelings undeniably set in the past. Unlike some Victorian novels,
was poured into a great deal of her fiction, Villette being Jane Eyre could not be updated to a modern day narrative
the most obvious example, although fragments of her
without losing the central dilemma of the book: today
obsession with Heger can also be found in Jane Eyre.
Rochester could easily obtain a divorce and would not have
So we are back to the issue of frustrated love, but only a hidden his wife in the attic unless he was psychotic –

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which, for all his passionate ways, he is not! This means we Remarkably for such an interpreted text, it remains
view the novel ‘historically’, appreciating that it makes fresh. What leaps out most is the living, vibrant
sense within the context of its time, but that it depicts an relationship between Rochester and Jane, which must be
era that has, mercifully, passed in the western world. the key reason why it remains such an enduringly popular
Nevertheless, it continues to inspire film-makers book. How hard many authors have struggled since then
because, while its central plot device is outmoded, its to capture such a vivid romance! The power of Jane Eyre
theme of one woman’s search for love and justice is remains undimmed more than 160 years later because of
perhaps even more relevant now than it was in Victorian Brontë’s characterisations of hero and heroine: their
times. A well-educated, high-achieving, feisty woman like flirtatious, quick-witted banter, their ability to build upon
Jane Eyre would have been an exception in Victorian each other’s thoughts, their genuine love for each other. At
England, whereas today these characteristics are perhaps the heart of the novel is the power of their love; in this
more common. The sort of problems that Jane has to sense, the novel is timeless.
confront – dealing with difficult men, soothing distressed
friends, fighting against the prevalent sexism of the
culture – are just as pertinent now as they were then.
Moreover, the central dilemma of the book – whether to
choose a passionate, difficult partner who promises her an
insecure but romantic life, or someone sensible but cold,
who offers a secure but dull life – is very much an issue for
men and women today. The binary opposites that Brontë
sets up of insecurity/security, of passion/conformity, of
male desire/female desire are all opposites that we try to
juggle in our own minds.
Our knowledge of the Brontës colours much of what is
in the text; before most of us read it, we are aware that the
story comes shrouded in the misty Yorkshire moors,
cloaked in the tragic story of the dying sisters and their
alcoholic brother, and suffused with the mystery of the
sisters’ brilliant, romantic imaginations. Many of us will
have seen one of the numerous film versions, with our
minds already coloured by Hollywood images of brooding
passion and Gothic romance. In this sense, reading the
text is like searching for the ‘real story’, an act of
‘unearthing the mystery’ of Charlotte Brontë’s mind as
much as enjoying the narrative.

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Structure and
Theme
Narrative Summary
There are many ways of summarising this novel because it
is so long and contains many sub-plots, all involving the
main protagonist, Jane Eyre. However, at its heart is the
notion that it is an edited ‘autobiography’ – the story of
Jane’s life. This is fascinating, because an autobiography
is, by its very nature, ‘non-fictional’ and ‘truthful’, a
chronological personal account of a life; but clearly this is a
fictional narrative. This element of autobiography enables
Brontë to step aside from some of the problems that
novelists encounter, e.g. that of generating a story in
which all the events ‘interconnect’. For all its Gothic
flights of fancy, there is a realism about Jane Eyre –
particularly in its descriptions of the squalid conditions at
Lowood school, which link it with the socially campaigning
novels of Mrs Gaskell.
However, many of the settings and events are basically
‘Gothic’ in conception: lonely, desolate mansions;
terrifying dreams; ghostly laughs in the night; troubled,
charismatic, Byronic men; mad women in attics; and
improbable coincidences. What makes the novel so
enticing is the fact that there is realism in its psychology:
Brontë creates a set of believable emotional responses in
Jane Eyre that hook the reader from the first page. This is
because the overwhelming emphasis of the book is its
‘autobiographical’ impulse: Brontë’s repeated insistence on

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describing, in depth, Jane Eyre’s feelings and thoughts. • Jane’s refusal to marry her newly discovered cousin, the curate
So Brontë shapes her narrative around Jane’s ongoing St John Rivers, and become a missionary wife in a loveless but
‘just’ marriage
struggle to find love and justice in the world. Sometimes
these two themes are quite distinct. At the beginning of the • Her hearing of Rochester’s cry in her head, and her return to
Thornfield to learn of the death of Rochester’s wife and the
book there is no real sense that the young Jane is in desperate
destruction of Thornfield itself
need of parental love (although this is hinted at); it is more
that she is furious with the injustice of her treatment at the resolution
hands of the horrid, spoilt child John Reed and his mother,
the despicable Mrs Reed. However, the two themes come
• Her marriage to Rochester
together when the adult Jane learns of Rochester’s bigamy:
she has to weigh up her need for just treatment against her
craving for Rochester’s love. Her desire for justice wins out The Influence of Genre – the Gothic Novel
and she leaves Rochester. Similarly, the themes converge Having been stung by the rejection of her novel The
again when St John Rivers proposes to her: he suggests that Professor, Brontë very consciously shaped the narrative of
they live married life as missionaries and bring justice to poor Jane Eyre around events that might typically be found in
parts of the world, but he offers no real love. This time Jane’s Gothic novels. This was a hugely popular genre which had
need for love triumphs and she rejects him. developed in the late eighteenth century. It usually
We could break down the novel into the following involved a long and complicated narrative of a damsel in
structure: distress, trapped in some ghastly castle or mansion,
besieged by a sexually rapacious and devious aristocrat,
opening haunted by ghosts and ghouls, chased by innumerable
• Orphan Jane Eyre’s childhood and schooling nasties throughout the story, before being rescued by a
• Her battles for justice and survival against her adopted family knight in shining armour, a morally upright man.
Much of what happens at Thornfield, the home of Mr
development of the narrative Rochester, follows this pattern. In many ways, Rochester
• Jane’s arrival at Thornfield and her growing love for its owner lives up to the stereotype of the morally suspect, sexually
Mr Rochester rapacious aristocrat: he attempts to lure Jane falsely into
• Her acceptance of his proposal of marriage marriage, and then, when he is discovered to have a wife,
still persists, claiming that she could live as his mistress.
crisis His motivations are undoubtedly sexual. He is presented
• Jane’s discovery of Rochester’s mad wife in the attic, and her as a bad-tempered, tempestuous, passionate man who has
refusal, despite her love for him, to become his mistress because scant regard for the strict moral codes of the day.
it would be morally unacceptable
Moreover, he inhabits a classic Gothic domain: the
• Her running away and finding sanctuary at Moor House mysterious and wonderful Thornfield Hall. It is a place
climax haunted by strange ghostly laughs in the night,

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unexplained fires, terrifying and inexplicable acts of

violence, vast, misty grounds and, perhaps most
importantly, forbidden realms: corridors and floors and
Critical
rooms that are out of bounds. It is, as Jane Eyre herself
notes, a true Bluebeard’s castle.
This texturing of Thornfield Hall is deliberate upon
Perspectives
Brontë’s part, and it is one of the reasons why the novel is
so popular now. There is perhaps no better Gothic novel in
English. It is marvellously, wonderfully, brilliantly well Is Jane Eyre a Subversive Novel?
written because it is so convincing. As we noted before, it
is the psychological realism that Brontë brings to the Is Jane Eyre a subversive novel? One contemporary critic,
character of Jane Eyre – her feisty, earthy, indomitable Mrs Oliphant, was quick to argue that it was. In May of
reactions to the events and characters of Thornfield – 1855, eight years after the book was published, she wrote
which make the Gothic elements so plausible. in Blackwood’s Magazine: ‘What would happen if social and
At the heart of this plausibility is Brontë’s refusal to sexual inferiors asserted that they were the equals of their
allow her main protagonist to be painted as a stereotypical superiors? ...here is your true revolution.’ Mrs Oliphant,
Gothic heroine. Parodied by Jane Austen in her take-off of along with numerous feminist critics, was convinced that
the Gothic novel Northanger Abbey, your average Gothic Jane Eyre’s demand to be treated as Mr Rochester’s equal,
heroine is forever frightened, forever terrified, always despite her lowly social circumstances and her gender,
passively running away, avoiding calumny and destruction. made the novel truly radical.
Brontë makes a conscious choice for her Gothic heroine to During the Victorian age, women were considered inferior
be ‘active’. Rather contrary to the stereotype, Jane is to men: they were not entitled to vote or study at university
forever rescuing the man. This starts with the very first and there were few occupations open to them. Once they
scene in which she encounters Rochester: she helps him up were married, all their wealth became their husband’s and
after he has fallen from his horse. Later on, she saves him they had no rights over their children or property. Within
from being burnt to death in his own bed by his first wife. this context, Jane’s comment, ‘but women feel as men feel...
She even ignores his attempts to persuade her to stay at they suffer from too rigid a restraint’, is a very radical one:
the house when she learns that her aunt, Mrs Reed, is most people considered that women did not have the
dying, deciding of her own accord to leave the Gothic sensibilities of men. Likewise, Rochester’s insistence that
realm (a very unusual event in novels of this type). Jane was his equal was definitely shocking for
She is, throughout, the decider of her own destiny. She contemporary readers: very few ‘respectable’ husbands of
rejects Rochester’s offer of living in sin and leaves; but the time ever seriously entertained the notion that their
then she more or less engineers her own proposal of wives were as intelligent as they were.
marriage at the end of the novel, happy to be dominant But there are aspects to the novel which are deeply
over the ‘crippled, blind’ Rochester. conservative and seem to endorse an inequality between

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the sexes and classes. Most troubling is the depiction of Bertha fearing woman who, despite arguing that women should
Mason. Rochester informs Jane that it is Bertha’s sexual enjoy more rights, did not want to question the
appetites, together with a madness which runs in her family, fundamental tenets of the patriarchal society in which she
that has destroyed her sanity. And yet Rochester himself has lived. However, her genius as a writer forced her to subvert
confessed to a promiscuous past. Whereas Jane’s marriage to many of the literary conventions of the time: no romantic
Rochester indicates that he is forgiven for his past sins, novels of the period contain such a strong, wilful heroine
Bertha’s imprisonment shows that she is punished for hers. as Jane, while no Gothic novels depict a character as
The psychoanalytic feminist critics S.M. Gilbert and disturbing as Bertha Mason or a protagonist as complex as
S.!Gubar are of the opinion that Bertha represents the truly Rochester. Even today, very few romantic novels would
subversive element in the novel. In their celebrated book have the heroine rescuing the hero even once, let alone twice.
The Madwoman in the Attic (London, 1979) they argue that The brilliance and complexity of Jane Eyre are derived
Bertha breaks all the conventions to which women were from its being simultaneously a very subversive novel and
expected to conform: she is strong, violent and a deeply conservative one, a novel which radically
promiscuous, and from a totally different culture compared questions the patriarchal status quo of society and yet
to everyone else in the book. The ultimate conservatism of ultimately argues for a benevolent male authority.
the book is underlined by the way in which Bertha’s spirit
and culture are either crushed or ignored.
Other critics, such as Hermione Lee, have countered this Selected Reading on Jane Eyre
theory, suggesting that Jane is constantly rebelling against
the male-dominated culture of the time and carving her Felicia Gordon
own ‘feminist’ path. Her initial outcry against John Reed’s A Preface to the Brontës
(Longman; 1989)
bullying, her rebuke to Mr Brocklehurst, her abandonment
Part of the Longman Preface series. An excellent short
of Rochester, and her rejection of St John Rivers are all introduction to the Brontës: Gordon’s concise grasp of the
indications that she won’t be bullied, cajoled or persuaded historical and literary context makes this my favourite Preface
book of this superb series.
into accepting a status quo with which she is not content.
But, as Felicia Gordon points out in her excellent book A Penny Boumelha
Preface to the Brontës (Longman 1989), for all her rebellious Charlotte Brontë
spirit, Jane does yearn for a benevolent man to take her under (Key Women Writers; 1990)
his wing. At the beginning of the novel Jane wishes that her A feminist critique of the book.
uncle, Mr Reed, were alive so that she wouldn’t be subjected to
the tyranny of Aunt Reed’s rule. At the end, once Rochester is Pauline Nestor
Charlotte Brontë
relieved of his mad wife and the question of breaking one of
(Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 1987)
the Lord’s commandments has been dismissed, Jane finally
This provides a more traditional critique of the novel and
does submit to the authority of her husband. Brontë’s work.
Charlotte Brontë herself was a deeply conservative, God-

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Notes, Quotes
and Discussion
Important extracts and quotations from
the novel with commentary and
discussion points.
The discussion points below are deliberately questions with no
right or wrong answers given. They are there to help you think
in more depth about particular aspects of the book.

n.b. All the following quotations are from the complete,

unabridged text.

From Chapter I
‘Wicked and cruel boy!’ I said. ‘You are like a murderer –
you are like a slave-driver – you are like the Roman
emperors!’

Here, Brontë introduces the key theme of the novel:

injustice. And she creates in the reader huge sympathy for
her character by showing the young Jane Eyre battling
against her oppressors without any signs of self-pity.

! discussion point
Where else in the book do we see the writer presenting
tyrants in a harsh light?

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 charlotte brontë – jane eyre a study guide by francis gilbert

From Chapter II From Chapter IV

I thought it like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half ‘Psalms are not interesting,’ I remarked.
imp... ‘That proves you have a wicked heart; and you must pray
to God to change it: to give you a new and clean one: to
Imprisoned for being disobedient, Jane Eyre is locked in a take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of
Red Room and sees herself in the mirror, believing herself flesh.’
to be ‘half fairy, half imp’, almost a ‘real spirit’. Thus,
Brontë introduces a heavy Gothic element into the novel, Mr Brocklehurst’s visit to the Reeds to prepare Jane for
but also subverts the Gothic by making the heroine a Lowood School leads to Jane’s negative judgement of the
‘phantom’ herself. Later on, Rochester’s key way of flirting Psalms and Brocklehurst’s response. It sets the tone for
with Jane will be to call her an ‘elfin fairy’. the book’s continued attack on religious fundamentalism.

! discussion point
Where else in the book do we see Brontë attacking
! religious fundamentalism in her presentation of the
characters? For example, Brontë’s presentation of
Brocklehurst is highly satirical, suggesting a mockery of
I thought the swift darting beam was a herald of some his ridiculously rigid thinking about the Bible; how and
coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick, why does she do this here, and elsewhere in the book?
my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears, which I What points arise from her implicit criticisms?
deemed the rushing of wings; something seemed near
me; I was oppressed, suffocated: endurance broke down;
I uttered a wild, involuntary cry; I rushed to the door
and shook the lock in desperate effort. From Chapter V
Ravenous, and now very faint, I devoured a spoonful or
The Gothic atmosphere intensifies when Jane thinks she
two of my portion without thinking of its taste; but the
sees the ghost of the deceased Mr Reed in the room. Brontë
first edge of hunger blunted, I perceived I had got in
sets the tone for the novel in this chapter, always making
hand a nauseous mess; burnt porridge is almost as bad
the reader anxious to question whether the ‘Gothic’ horrors as rotten potatoes; famine itself soon sickens over it. The
Jane is encountering are real or supernatural. spoons were moved slowly: I saw each girl taste her food
and try to swallow it; but in most cases the effort was
! discussion point soon relinquished.
Where else in the novel are we uncertain whether an event
is real or supernatural? What are the genuine supernatural Brontë’s portrayal of Lowood School was based on the
events of the novel? Or are there any? What do you think author’s own experience of attending a school for
the author’s attitude is towards the supernatural? daughters of clergymen. The most persuasive presentation

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of the horrors of the school is in the description of the gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me
food – its vile tastes and textures. Notice the novel’s shift much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and
in tone here, moving from the high Gothic melodrama will not miss me. By dying young, I shall escape great
that was generated at Gateshead to the realistic sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way
very well in the world: I should have been continually at
descriptions of a nightmarish girls’ school.
fault.’
‘But where are you going to, Helen? Can you see? Do you
! know?’
‘I believe; I have faith: I am going to God.’
‘It is partly a charity-school: you and I, and all the rest of ‘Where is God? What is God?’
us, are charity-children. I suppose you are an orphan: are ‘My Maker and yours, who will never destroy what He
not either your father or your mother dead?’ created. I rely implicitly on His power, and confide
wholly in His goodness: I count the hours till that
Here, the young Jane, mystified about why she is eventful one arrives which shall restore me to Him,
attending the school, asks another pupil about it. This reveal Him to me.’
leads to a long conversation in which aspects of the ‘You are sure, then, Helen, that there is such a place as
school’s set-up and history are explained to her. Notice heaven, and that our souls can get to it when we die?’
how Brontë decides to deliver much of this important ‘I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good; I
information through dialogue, conveying implicitly Jane can resign my immortal part to Him without any
Eyre’s bewilderment at being at the school and providing a misgiving. God is my father; God is my friend: I love
convincing child’s eye view of the world. Unusually for a Him; I believe He loves me.’
writer of her time, she doesn’t smother the narrative in ‘And shall I see you again, Helen, when I die?’
adult explanation. ‘You will come to the same region of happiness: be
received by the same mighty, universal Parent, no doubt,
dear Jane.’
! discussion point
When and why does Brontë use dialogue at this point in
The death of the saintly Helen Burns, who together with
the novel?
the aptly named Miss Temple has guided Jane through the
horrors of Lowood, marks the end of this section of the
book. Once again, the theme of justice is implicitly raised.
From Chapter IX Underlying much of the dialogue that Jane has with the
I did so: she put her arm over me, and I nestled close to dying Helen is the question: would a fair God do this?
her. After a long silence, she resumed, still whispering – Helen’s answer, like Brontë’s sister Emily’s, is emphatic:
‘I am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am there is a better place. But notice the ambivalence in
dead, you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing Jane’s tone. It is one of the best of the many Victorian
to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness death scenes in literature because of its relative lack of
which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and sentimentality, which makes it all the more moving.

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! discussion point ! discussion point

How does the death of Helen contrast with the death of Why do you think Brontë takes so long before introducing
Mrs Reed? What point do you think Brontë is trying to Rochester, her main male protagonist, into the novel?
make about the way death reveals people’s true natures?

!
From Chapter XI While I paced softly on, the last sound I expected to hear
I thought,’ I continued, ‘Thornfield belonged to you.’ in so still a region, a laugh, struck my ear. It was a
‘To me? Bless you, child; what an idea! To me! I am only curious laugh; distinct, formal, mirthless. I stopped: the
the housekeeper – the manager. To be sure I am distantly sound ceased, only for an instant; it began again, louder:
related to the Rochesters by the mother’s side, or at least for at first, though distinct, it was very low. It passed off
my husband was; he was a clergyman, incumbent of in a clamorous peal that seemed to wake an echo in every
Hay – that little village yonder on the hill – and that lonely chamber; though it originated but in one, and I
church near the gates was his. The present Mr could have pointed out the door whence the accents
Rochester’s mother was a Fairfax, and second cousin to issued.
my husband: but I never presume on the connection – in ‘Mrs Fairfax!’ I called out: for I now heard her
fact, it is nothing to me; I consider myself quite in the descending the garret stairs. ‘Did you hear that loud
light of an ordinary housekeeper: my employer is always laugh? Who is it?’
civil, and I expect nothing more.’ ‘Some of the servants, very likely,’ she answered:
‘And the little girl – my pupil!’ ‘perhaps Grace Poole.’
‘She is Mr Rochester’s ward; he commissioned me to find ‘Did you hear it?’ I again inquired.
a governess for her. He intends to have her brought up ‘Yes, plainly: I often hear her: she sews in one of these
here, I believe. Here she comes, with her ‘bonne,’ as she rooms. Sometimes Leah is with her; they are frequently
calls her nurse.’ The enigma then was explained: this noisy together.’
affable and kind little widow was no great dame; but a The laugh was repeated in its low, syllabic tone, and
dependant like myself. I did not like her the worse for terminated in an odd murmur.
that; on the contrary, I felt better pleased than ever. The ‘Grace!’ exclaimed Mrs Fairfax.
equality between her and me was real; not the mere
result of condescension on her part: so much the better – The description of the laugh here is chillingly effective,
my position was all the freer. creating mystery, suspense, a real sense of threat. Notice
how Mrs Fairfax’s bland response only serves to heighten
Brontë builds up a considerable degree of suspense before the mystery.
she introduces Rochester, at first making him a mysterious
and absent landlord. And she deliberately makes Mrs ! discussion point
Fairfax as bland as possible. When and why does the laugh surface again in the novel?

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From Chapter XII situation – even at the very end of the novel. Their major
interactions are focused around these discoveries.
He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy
brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful and ! discussion point
thwarted just now; he was past youth, but had not What is attractive and mysterious about this presentation
reached middle-age; perhaps he might be thirty-five. I of Rochester?
felt no fear of him, and but little shyness. Had he been a
handsome, heroic-looking young gentleman, I should not
have dared to stand thus questioning him against his !
will, and offering my services unasked. I had hardly ever
seen a handsome youth; never in my life spoken to one. I
had a theoretical reverence and homage for beauty, ‘I cannot commission you to fetch help,’ he said; ‘but you
elegance, gallantry, fascination; but had I met those may help me a little yourself, if you will be so kind.’
qualities incarnate in masculine shape, I should have ‘Yes, sir.’
known instinctively that they neither had nor could have ‘You have not an umbrella that I can use as a stick?’
sympathy with anything in me, and should have shunned ‘No.’
them as one would fire, lightning, or anything else that ‘Well try to get hold of my horse’s bridle and lead him to
is bright but antipathetic. me: you are not afraid?’
I should have been afraid to touch a horse when alone,
Brontë presents Rochester as ‘stern’, ‘ireful’ and ‘thwarted’ but when told to do it, I was disposed to obey. I put down
my muff on the stile, and went up to the tall steed; I
from the very start of her introduction to him. In many
endeavoured to catch the bridle, but it was a spirited
ways, the ensuing narrative between Jane and Rochester thing, and would not let me come near its head; I made
will be both a dramatisation and explanation of these very effort on effort, though in vain: meantime, I was
qualities, with ‘thwarted’ being the operative word. He is, mortally afraid of its trampling fore-feet. The traveller
above all, presented as discontented and accident-prone. waited and watched for some time, and at last he
This episode sets up the pattern for most of their laughed.
significant interactions: a discovery and a rescue on Jane’s
part, and some sort of tortured, flirtatious, elliptical Throughout the novel, Jane seems to be overcoming her
explanation on Rochester’s part, which never quite fears; she does so here with the horse and it provokes
satisfies Jane or the reader; each time a significant event Rochester’s laughter.
happens we tend to find that Jane ‘rescues’ Rochester –
namely from a fire, from a mad wife, from insupportable ! discussion point
immorality, from desolate loneliness – and discovers a What is endearing about the presentation of Jane in this
little more about him in the process. However, whenever passage? How is Brontë managing to generate the
she discovers something about him, the story is never fully sensation of the two characters becoming emotionally tied
unearthed. We are always asking questions about the together even at this early stage?

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From Chapter XIII ‘For whom, sir?’

‘For the men in green: it was a proper moonlight evening
‘Oh, don’t fall back on over-modesty! I have examined for them. Did I break through one of your rings, that you
Adèle, and find you have taken great pains with her: she spread that damned ice on the causeway?’
is not bright, she has no talents; yet in a short time she I shook my head. ‘The men in green all forsook England a
has made much improvement.’ hundred years ago,’ said I, speaking as seriously as he
‘Sir, you have now given me my “cadeau”; I am obliged to had done. ‘And not even in Hay Lane, or the fields about
you: it is the meed teachers most covet – praise of their it, could you find a trace of them. I don’t think either
pupils’ progress.’ summer or harvest, or winter moon, will ever shine on
‘Humph!’ said Mr Rochester, and he took his tea in their revels more.’
silence. Mrs Fairfax had dropped her knitting, and, with raised
‘Come to the fire,’ said the master, when the tray was eyebrows, seemed wondering what sort of talk this was.
taken away, and Mrs Fairfax had settled into a corner ‘Well,’ resumed Mr Rochester, ‘if you disown parents, you
with her knitting; while Adèle was leading me by the must have some sort of kinsfolk: uncles and aunts?’
hand round the room, showing me the beautiful books ‘No; none that I ever saw.’
and ornaments on the consoles and chiffonnières. We ‘And your home?’
obeyed, as in duty bound; Adèle wanted to take a seat on ‘I have none.’
my knee, but she was ordered to amuse herself with ‘Where do your brothers and sisters live?’
Pilot. ‘I have no brothers or sisters.’
‘You have been resident in my house three months?’ ‘Who recommended you to come here?’
‘Yes, sir.’ ‘I advertised, and Mrs Fairfax answered my advertisement.’
‘And you came from – ?’
‘From Lowood school, in –shire.’ It is worth quoting this first example of the flirtation
‘Ah! A charitable concern. How long were you there?’ between Jane and Rochester in full because it exemplifies
‘Eight years.’ the authorial techniques that Brontë employs to generate
‘Eight years! You must be tenacious of life. I thought half such a powerful connection between them. After all, it is
the time in such a place would have done up any
constitution! No wonder you have rather the look of their relationship which ultimately elevates the novel
another world. I marvelled where you had got that sort above Gothic melodrama. Brontë presents Rochester as an
of face. When you came on me in Hay Lane last night, I utterly confident conversationalist who, like a deft
thought unaccountably of fairy tales, and had half a swordsman, makes feints and asides that often bewilder
mind to demand whether you had bewitched my horse: I his social inferiors; but here Jane rises to his challenges.
am not sure yet. Who are your parents?’ His initial statements about her teaching are flattering,
‘I have none.’ but then he follows them with the discontented ‘Humph!’
‘Nor ever had, I suppose: do you remember them?’ and the barking order, ‘Come to the fire!’ Then he pursues
‘No.’ Jane with questions about her past, showing real interest,
‘I thought not. And so you were waiting for your people but peppers his rigorous interrogation with flirtatious
when you sat on that stile?’ comments about her bewitching him. Notice how Jane

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relishes the chance to adopt his metaphors, while trying to ! discussion point
negate his claim that she is a fairy: ‘The men in green all What is the effect of making the main protagonists plain,
forsook England a hundred years ago.’ perhaps even ugly? How do you see them in your eyes?

! discussion point
How does Brontë generate such a sense of sexual tension
between Jane and Rochester?

From Chapter XV
He then said that she was the daughter of a French
opera-dancer, Céline Varens, towards whom he had once
cherished what he called a ‘grande passion.’
From Chapter XIV
‘You examine me, Miss Eyre,’ said he: ‘do you think me Here, Rochester’s Byronic qualities are evident: it is clear
handsome?’ that he was the lover of a French opera-dancer. Jane’s lack
I should, if I had deliberated, have replied to this of moral judgement upon him is worth noting. While
question by something conventionally vague and polite; Brontë is happy to disclose that Rochester was something
but the answer somehow slipped from my tongue before of a ‘rake’ before the cataclysmic revelation of his bigamy,
I was aware – ‘No, sir.’ she also reveals Jane’s response as being tolerant; thus she
‘Ah! By my word! there is something singular about you,’ paves the way for the suspense of the chapters in which
said he: ‘you have the air of a little nonnette; quaint, Jane must decide whether or not to be Rochester’s
quiet, grave and simple, as you sit with your hands mistress. The neutral language in which she describes
before you, and your eyes generally bent on the carpet Rochester’s behaviour with Céline Varens gives the reader
(except, by-the-bye, when they are directed piercingly to
the sense that Jane might be ‘open minded’ enough to
my face; as just now, for instance); and when one asks
accept the status of a mistress. Thus suspense is generated
you a question, or makes a remark to which you are
obliged to reply, you rap out a round rejoinder, which, if by the shifting attitudes of Jane’s moral conscience.
not blunt, is at least brusque. What do you mean by it?’
! discussion point
The protagonists of the novel are famously plain (unlike What were the attitudes towards mistresses in Brontë’s
the movie versions!). Rochester’s perceptions of Jane are day?
interesting because, in contrast to all others, they are not
negative but full of a sense of attraction. Interestingly, the
reader is uncertain about whether Rochester is right: we
have perceived Jane as almost the opposite of a fairy. For !
the reader, she is earthy, passionate, committed.

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‘What is it? And who did it?’ he asked. I briefly related to quite sure what Rochester will ask of her – we are not quite
him what had transpired: the strange laugh I had heard sure about him at all – but we are gratified by his gratitude
in the gallery: the step ascending to the third storey; the towards her.
smoke, – the smell of fire which had conducted me to his
room; in what state I had found matters there, and how I
! discussion point
had deluged him with all the water I could lay hands on.
How does Brontë use the incident of this rescue to
generate more suspense and anticipation, both here and in
It is Jane’s hearing of the laughter which saves Rochester.
the rest of the novel?
Laughter plays a very important role in the novel, to
generate a sense of both menace and love: Rochester is
always laughing at Jane. Many critics have also
commented upon the elemental aspects of the novel:
Brontë’s use of fire, water, air and earth. Here, it is Jane’s
hearing of the laughter in the air which leads her to the
fire; she stops it with water and thus prevents Rochester From Chapter XVI
being buried in the earth. Jane’s surname ‘Eyre’ also Miss Ingram, who had now seated herself with proud
invokes the element of ‘air’, being its homophone. It grace at the piano, spreading out her snowy robes in
serves to provide the narrative with a mythical, elemental queenly amplitude, commenced a brilliant prelude;
undercurrent which gives additional emotional talking meantime. She appeared to be on her high horse
significance to the events. tonight; both her words and her air seemed intended to
excite not only the admiration, but the amazement of
! discussion point her auditors: she was evidently bent on striking them as
Why and how does Brontë make use of the four elements something very dashing and very daring indeed.
in the rest of the novel?
The introduction of Blanche Ingram enables Brontë to
draw a marked contrast between Jane and a lady of
society. It is the only time when real social satire is
! utilised: the portrait of Blanche is satirical, mocking her
pretensions and her vapid life.
‘Why, you have saved my life! – Snatched me from a
! discussion point
horrible and excruciating death! And you walk past me
as if we were mutual strangers! At least shake hands.’ Does the introduction of the Blanche Ingram subplot slow
down the novel, stopping us from getting to the real
Just as important as the rescue itself is this aftermath, action, the real mystery? Or is it a vital part of the story?
which is really the trigger for Jane to begin feeling love for
Rochester. It is a surprising and affecting scene: we are not

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From Chapter XX turned on me; the tone in which you declared you
abhorred me the worst of anybody in the world; the
Mr Rochester held the candle over him; I recognised in unchildlike look and voice with which you affirmed that
his pale and seemingly lifeless face – the stranger, the very thought of me made you sick, and asserted that
Mason: I saw too that his linen on one side, and one arm, I had treated you with miserable cruelty.
was almost soaked in blood.
‘Hold the candle,’ said Mr Rochester, and I took it: he The way in which the death scene of Mrs Reed interrupts
fetched a basin of water from the washstand: ‘Hold that,’ the dramatic goings on at Thornfield Hall is almost
said he. I obeyed. He took the sponge, dipped it in, and frustrating, but Brontë wishes us to see that Jane has
moistened the corpse-like face; he asked for my smelling- matured: she does not rebuke the old, embittered woman
bottle, and applied it to the nostrils. Mr Mason shortly
in the same way that she did as a child.
unclosed his eyes; he groaned. Mr Rochester opened the
shirt of the wounded man, whose arm and shoulder were
! discussion point
bandaged: he sponged away blood, trickling fast down.
‘Is there immediate danger?’ murmured Mr Mason. To what extent does the modern reader feel Jane has
matured? Clearly Brontë wants to show that Jane has
Brontë paces her narrative brilliantly. Having introduced acquired the important Victorian quality of stoicism, but
the ghastly laugh and described the fire around today this is a less fashionable quality and perhaps we
Rochester’s bed, she now ups the tension with a violent sympathise more with the rebellious child who speaks her
attack on the poor Mr Mason, a mysterious person mind rather than represses it?!
himself. Notice again how Rochester has to rely on Jane to
assist him in helping Mason. For once, Rochester is
helping someone, but not a woman: a man.
From Chapter XXIII
! discussion point ‘I tell you I must go!’ I retorted, roused to something like
Why is Brontë’s description of the wounded Mason so passion. ‘Do you think I can stay to become nothing to
effective? What verbs and adjectives does she use to make you? Do you think I am an automaton? – A machine
it so alarming? What is effective about her use of without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of
dialogue? bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water
dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor,
obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?
You think wrong! – I have as much soul as you, and full
From Chapter XXI
as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some
‘Why did I never hear of this?’ I asked. beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard
‘Because I disliked you too fixedly and thoroughly ever to for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am
lend a hand in lifting you to prosperity. I could not forget not talking to you now through the medium of custom,
your conduct to me, Jane – the fury with which you once conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh; – it is my

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spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had sat quiet, looking at me gently and seriously. Some time
passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, passed before he spoke; he at last said, ‘Come to my side,
equal – as we are!’ Jane, and let us explain and understand one another.’
‘As we are!’ repeated Mr Rochester – ‘so,’ he added, ‘I will never again come to your side: I am torn away
enclosing me in his arms. Gathering me to his breast, now, and cannot return.’
pressing his lips on my lips: ‘so, Jane!’ ‘But, Jane, I summon you as my wife: it is you only I
‘Yes, so, sir,’ I rejoined: ‘and yet not so; for you are a intend to marry.’
married man – or as good as a married man, and wed to I was silent: I thought he mocked me.
one inferior to you – to one with whom you have no ‘Come, Jane – come hither.’
sympathy – whom I do not believe you truly love; for I ‘Your bride stands between us.’
have seen and heard you sneer at her. I would scorn such He rose, and with a stride reached me.
a union: therefore I am better than you – let me go!’ ‘My bride is here,’ he said, again drawing me to him,
‘Where, Jane? To Ireland?’ ‘because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you
‘Yes – to Ireland. I have spoken my mind, and can go marry me?’
anywhere now.’ Still I did not answer, and still I writhed myself from his
‘Jane, be still; don’t struggle so, like a wild frantic bird grasp: for I was still incredulous.
that is rending its own plumage in its desperation.’ ‘Do you doubt me, Jane?’
‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human ‘Entirely.’
being with an independent will, which I now exert to ‘You have no faith in me?’
leave you.’ ‘Not a whit.’
Another effort set me at liberty, and I stood erect before ‘Am I a liar in your eyes?’ he asked passionately. ‘Little
him. sceptic, you shall be convinced. What love have I for Miss
‘And your will shall decide your destiny,’ he said: ‘I offer Ingram? None: and that you know. What love has she for
you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused a
possessions.’ rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of
‘You play a farce, which I merely laugh at.’ what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to
‘I ask you to pass through life at my side – to be my see the result; it was coldness both from her and her
second self, and best earthly companion.’ mother. I would not – I could not – marry Miss Ingram.
‘For that fate you have already made your choice, and You – you strange, you almost unearthly thing! – I love
must abide by it.’ as my own flesh. You – poor and obscure, and small and
‘Jane, be still a few moments: you are over-excited: I will plain as you are – I entreat to accept me as a husband.’
be still too.’ ‘What, me!’ I ejaculated, beginning in his earnestness –
A waft of wind came sweeping down the laurel-walk, and especially in his incivility – to credit his sincerity:
and trembled through the boughs of the chestnut: it ‘me who have not a friend in the world but you – if you
wandered away – away – to an indefinite distance – it are my friend: not a shilling but what you have given
died. The nightingale’s song was then the only voice of me?’
the hour: in listening to it, I again wept. Mr Rochester ‘You, Jane, I must have you for my own – entirely my

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own. Will you be mine? Say yes, quickly.’ Huge suspense surrounds the marriage proposal because
‘Mr Rochester, let me look at your face: turn to the it has been so drawn out: the interruptions of Blanche
moonlight.’ Ingram, the attack on Mason, and the visit to Mrs Reed in
‘Why?’ Gateshead have all meant that it has been delayed. When
‘Because I want to read your countenance – turn!’
it comes, it is Jane’s passionate declaration of love that
‘There! You will find it scarcely more legible than a
crumpled, scratched page. Read on: only make haste, for prompts it, because she is so distraught at the thought of
Rochester marrying Blanche. Then, when he first
I suffer.’
His face was very much agitated and very much flushed, proposes, she believes she is being mocked. Unusually for
and there were strong workings in the features, and the time, he offers her a share of his property, indicating
strange gleams in the eyes that, while this will be no union of financial equals, he
‘Oh, Jane, you torture me!’ he exclaimed. ‘With that wishes to give her some independence.
searching and yet faithful and generous look, you torture
me!’ ! discussion point
‘How can I do that? If you are true, and your offer real, Look at Jane’s final acceptance of Rochester. How effective
my only feelings to you must be gratitude and devotion – is it? Is the sudden introduction of his first name affecting
they cannot torture.’ or rather ridiculous? What does it signify?
‘Gratitude!’ he ejaculated; and added wildly – ‘Jane
accept me quickly. Say, Edward – give me my name –
Edward – I will marry you.’
‘Are you in earnest? Do you truly love me? Do you From Chapter XXV
sincerely wish me to be your wife?’
‘I do; and if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear ‘Not at first. But presently she took my veil from its
it.’ place; she held it up, gazed at it long, and then she threw
‘Then, sir, I will marry you.’ it over her own head, and turned to the mirror. At that
‘Edward – my little wife!’ moment I saw the reflection of the visage and features
‘Dear Edward!’ quite distinctly in the dark oblong glass.’
‘Come to me – come to me entirely now,’ said he; and ‘And how were they?’
added, in his deepest tone, speaking in my ear as his ‘Fearful and ghastly to me – oh, sir, I never saw a face
cheek was laid on mine, ‘Make my happiness – I will like it! It was a discoloured face – it was a savage face. I
make yours.’ wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful
‘God pardon me!’ he subjoined ere long; ‘and man meddle blackened inflation of the lineaments!’
not with me: I have her, and will hold her.’ ‘Ghosts are usually pale, Jane.’
‘There is no one to meddle, sir. I have no kindred to ‘This, sir, was purple: the lips were swelled and dark; the
interfere.’ brow furrowed: the black eyebrows widely raised over the
bloodshot eyes. Shall I tell you of what it reminded me?’
‘You may.’
‘Of the foul German spectre – the Vampyre.’

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‘Ah! – What did it do?’ ! discussion point

‘Sir, it removed my veil from its gaunt head, rent it in What interpretation do you put on Bertha’s destruction of
two parts, and flinging both on the floor, trampled on the veil? Is it a warning to Jane? Is it a threat? What do
them.’ you think of the way in which Bertha is presented here – a
‘Afterwards?’
black woman described as ‘purple’, ‘a vampyre’, a ‘ghost’.
‘It drew aside the window-curtain and looked out;
perhaps it saw dawn approaching, for, taking the candle, What does this say of Victorian attitudes towards other
cultures?
it retreated to the door. Just at my bedside, the figure
stopped: the fiery eye glared upon me – she thrust up her
candle close to my face, and extinguished it under my
eyes. I was aware her lurid visage flamed over mine, and
I lost consciousness: for the second time in my life – only From Chapter XXVI
the second time – I became insensible from terror.’
Mr Rochester continued, hardily and recklessly: ‘Bigamy
‘Who was with you when you revived?’
is an ugly word! – I meant, however, to be a bigamist;
‘No one, sir, but the broad day. I rose, bathed my head
but fate has out-manoeuvred me, or Providence has
and face in water, drank a long draught; felt that though
enfeebled I was not ill, and determined that to none but checked me, perhaps the last. I am little better than a
devil at this moment; and, as my pastor there would tell
you would I impart this vision.’
me, deserve no doubt the sternest judgments of God,
‘Now, sir, tell me who and what that woman was?’ even to the quenchless fire and deathless worm.
‘The creature of an over-stimulated brain; that is
certain. I must be careful of you, my treasure: nerves like Gentlemen, my plan is broken up: what this lawyer and
his client say is true: I have been married, and the
yours were not made for rough handling.’
woman to whom I was married lives! You say you never
heard of a Mrs Rochester at the house up yonder, Wood;
The omens for the marriage are not auspicious. Nature
but I daresay you have many a time inclined your ear to
itself seems to rage at the thought of the unnatural union gossip about the mysterious lunatic kept there under
of the pair: there is a terrible storm and a chestnut tree is watch and ward. Some have whispered to you that she is
split ‘down the centre’, its ‘vitality destroyed’. As Jill my bastard half-sister: some, my cast-off mistress. I now
Matus points out in her essay ‘Jane Eyre and The Tenant inform you that she is my wife, whom I married fifteen
Of Wildfell Hall’ in The Cambridge Companion to the years ago, Bertha Mason by name; sister of this resolute
Brontës: ‘nature, landscape and weather carry strong personage, who is now, with his quivering limbs and white
symbolic significance’. She and many other critics have cheeks, showing you what a stout heart men may bear.
noted that the split chestnut tree is a symbol for the
fundamental immorality of the marriage. Thus the natural In one of the most dramatic wedding scenes in all English
and the moral are inextricably entwined in the novel. literature, Mr Rochester’s plan to marry is foiled by
Perhaps most horrifyingly, it is Jane’s encounter with Richard Mason, the brother of Bertha, who returns to
Bertha and the destruction of the bridal veil which gives Thornfield with a lawyer to prove that Rochester is indeed
the strongest hint that all is not well. married. The scene is notable for Rochester’s response and

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the minimal emotion evinced by Jane at this point. ‘One never knows what she ’as, sir: she is so cunning: it is
Rochester’s lack of remorse, his passionate confession, and not in mortal discretion to fathom her craft.’
the way he shows Bertha to the rest of the world all ‘We ’ad better leave her,’ whispered Mason.
suggest that Brontë wants to present someone who is ‘Go to the devil!’ was his brother-in-law’s recommendation.
‘Ware!’ cried Grace.
almost relieved to confess, but is not sorry that he tried to
The three gentlemen retreated simultaneously. Mr
marry Jane. He is clearly contemptuous of the edicts of Rochester flung me behind him: the lunatic sprang and
the Church, seeing them only as a means to marry Jane.
grappled his throat viciously, and laid her teeth to his
This implicit atheism was shocking for the time, but also cheek: they struggled. She was a big woman, in stature
understandable within the context of Romantic poets, almost equalling her husband, and corpulent besides: she
such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, who married but were showed virile force in the contest – more than once she
atheists. almost throttled him, athletic as he was. He could have
settled her with a well-planted blow; but he would not
! discussion point strike: he would only wrestle. At last he mastered her
To what extent do you think Brontë presents Rochester as arms; Grace Poole gave him a cord, and he pinioned them
a villain who has been unmasked at the wedding? behind her: with more rope, which was at hand, he
bound her to a chair. The operation was performed
amidst the fiercest yells and the most convulsive plunges.
Mr Rochester then turned to the spectators: he looked at
! them with a smile both acrid and desolate.
‘That is my wife,’ said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal
embrace I am ever to know – such are the endearments
which are to solace my leisure hours!’
A fierce cry seemed to give the lie to her favourable
report: the clothed hyena rose up, and stood tall on its Many modern critics have noted Brontë’s portrayal of
hind-feet. Bertha as an animal – as someone who is not human but a
‘Ah! Sir, she sees yer!’ exclaimed Grace: ‘yer’d better not
‘hyena’, only worthy of the pronoun ‘it’, a maniac with
stay.’
‘Only a few moments, Grace: you must allow me a few shaggy hair. However, there is a virulent, aggressive
moments.’ sensuality in the description which suggests the sexual
‘Take care then, sir! – for God’s sake, take care!’ allure that Rochester responded to in marrying her; she is
The maniac bellowed: she parted her shaggy locks from ‘corpulent’ and strong and tall like Rochester, his physical
her visage, and gazed wildly at her visitors. I recognised equal. Notice, too, that he refrains from hitting her but
well that purple face, those bloated features. Mrs Poole ‘wrestles’, and that this is redolent of the sexual act.
advanced. Indeed, Rochester comments sarcastically that it is the
‘Keep out of the way,’ said Mr Rochester, thrusting her only conjugal embrace he gets. The description of her as
aside: ‘she has no knife now, I suppose, and I’m on my ‘purple’ and ‘bloated’ suggests her alien nature, her
guard.’ otherness.

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! discussion point I live. You shall go to a place I have in the south of

To what extent do you think the description of Bertha is France: a whitewalled villa on the shores of the
essentially racist? From the descriptions of Rochester and Mediterranean. There you shall live a happy, and
Bertha together, what do you think their relationship was guarded, and most innocent life. Never fear that I wish
to lure you into error – to make you my mistress. Why
and is like?
did you shake your head? Jane, you must be reasonable,
or in truth I shall again become frantic.’
His voice and hand quivered: his large nostrils dilated;
From Chapter XXVII his eyes blazed: still I dared to speak.
‘Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this
‘You know I am a scoundrel, Jane?’ ere long he inquired morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire, I
wistfully – wondering, I suppose, at my continued should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is
silence and tameness, the result rather of weakness than sophistical – is false.’
of will.
‘Yes, sir.’
Jane is quick to perceive that Rochester’s arguments in
favour of keeping her are false in their logic. She sees that
We learn about Jane’s moral judgement of Rochester
his offer would involve her living in sin. Here, reading the
through dialogue rather than the expression of her
novel within the context of Helen Burns’s religious beliefs
thoughts. He himself provides the word ‘scoundrel’, which
makes sense: Jane, for all her hatred of religious
is interesting. A ‘scoundrel’ was a man driven by his
fundamentalism and hypocrisy, is profoundly religious.
passions – his sexual passions in particular; he used his
The marriage vow is inviolate and cannot be broken. This
intellect as a means to pursue sexual satisfaction.
is probably true of Charlotte Brontë herself, who, while in
! discussion point Belgium, struggled with her own passions for a married
man but decided that she could not become his mistress.
Do you think Rochester is presented as a scoundrel or as a
Implicit here perhaps is an attack upon the rigid
victim of his own passions? Or is he portrayed as both
simultaneously? institution of marriage, although it is not something to
which Brontë explicitly draws the reader’s attention. The
impossibility of divorce seems harsh to the modern reader.

! ! discussion point
Would this be a believable moral dilemma for a modern
I pass over the madness about parting from me. You novel? If not, why not? In what way have attitudes
mean you must become a part of me. As to the new towards marriage have changed since the Victorian era?
existence, it is all right: you shall yet be my wife: I am
not married. You shall be Mrs Rochester – both virtually
and nominally. I shall keep only to you so long as you and
!
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‘I advise you to live sinless, and I wish you to die tranquil.’ up to the climax: her rediscovery of Rochester and her
‘Then you snatch love and innocence from me? You fling marriage to him. It is Brontë’s thematic control which
me back on lust for a passion – vice for an occupation?’ sustains the interest here. At the back of the reader’s mind
‘Mr Rochester, I no more assign this fate to you than I is the question about what will happen to Rochester and
grasp at it for myself. We were born to strive and
Jane, but this is secondary to our interest in how Jane will
endure!– you as well as I: do so. You will forget me before
I forget you.’ now fare, having rejected a tempting but sinful offer of
living with her loved one. The laws of God have triumphed
‘You make me a liar by such language: you sully my
honour. I declared I could not change: you tell me to my over her own passions. Now Brontë explores these themes
face I shall change soon. And what a distortion in your further in her presentation of St John Rivers: he is
judgment, what a perversity in your ideas, is proved by portrayed as the complete antithesis of Rochester. The
your conduct! Is it better to drive a fellow-creature to imagery employed is striking: he is like a Greek statue,
despair than to transgress a mere human law, no man with a straight nose. Younger than Rochester, St John
being injured by the breach? For you have neither Rivers is someone whose reason always overrules his
relatives nor acquaintances whom you need fear to passion: his love for Rosamund Oliver is overruled by his
offend by living with me?’ belief that she is unsuitable, that she arouses too much
passion in him, and that Jane is a much better and more
Rochester here begins to articulate what cannot be fully suitable candidate... precisely because he does not love her.
expressed: that the marriage laws forbidding divorce were
unreasonable, even if made by God. The idea has become
more powerful with time.
From Chapter XXXIV
‘St. John!’ I exclaimed, when I had got so far in my
From Chapter XXIX meditation.
‘Well?’ he answered icily.
Mr St. John – sitting as still as one of the dusty pictures ‘I repeat I freely consent to go with you as your fellow-
on the walls, keeping his eyes fixed on the page he missionary, but not as your wife; I cannot marry you and
perused, and his lips mutely sealed – was easy enough to become a part of you.’
examine. Had he been a statue instead of a man, he ‘A part of me you must become,’ he answered steadily;
could not have been easier. He was young – perhaps from ‘otherwise the whole bargain is void. How can I, a man
twenty-eight to thirty – tall, slender; his face riveted the not yet thirty, take out with me to India a girl of
eye; it was like a Greek face, very pure in outline: quite a nineteen, unless she be married to me? How can we be
straight, classic nose; quite an Athenian mouth and chin. for ever together – sometimes in solitudes, sometimes
amidst savage tribes – and unwed?’
Jane’s fleeing from Thornfield and her eventual surfacing
at Moor House, the home of St John Rivers, marks the end In order to sustain the narrative, Brontë deploys a number
of the ‘crisis’ section of the book. Now begins a long build- of techniques: she uses her own experiences of running a

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school to help describe Jane’s labours as a school mistress; and heard ’er with me own eyes. She was a big woman,
she develops the friendly characters of the Rivers sisters as and had long black hair: we could see it streaming
close and welcome allies; and, in typical Victorian fictional against the flames as she stood. I witnessed, and several
fashion, she introduces a number of unlikely coincidences more witnessed, Mr Rochester ascend through the sky-
light on to the roof; we heard him call ‘Bertha!’ We saw
to spice things up. It transpires that the Rivers children
’im approach ’er; and then, ma’am, she yelled and gave a
are actually Jane’s long lost cousins, and that Jane has spring, and the next minute she lay smashed on the
inherited some considerable property from a deceased
pavement.’
relative. Interestingly, none of these plot developments ‘Dead?’
are strictly necessary in order to sustain the reader’s ‘Dead! Ay, dead as the stones on which her brains and
interest. The fascinating dynamic between the controlling blood were scattered.’
Mr Rivers and Jane creates much of the suspense, ‘Good God!’
culminating as it does here with Jane’s second rejection of
a man. Brontë is at pains to present Jane as passionate, It is fascinating to see how the energy returns to Brontë’s
associating her with imagery connected with ‘fire’, while writing when describing the ghastly events at Thornfield.
Rivers is most often connected with ‘cold’ and ‘ice’. This is It is a welcome relief after the muted domestic drama at
effective in reminding the reader that Jane’s rejection of Moor House. Once Jane hears in her head Rochester’s
the passionate Rochester was all the more difficult because voice calling her back to him, we realise that we have
they have essentially the same natures. returned to the realm of the Gothic – to a different world,
where passion and madness prevail. As with many key
! discussion point parts of the novel, the death of Bertha is conveyed in
Is the long, drawn-out section that precedes Jane’s dialogue – Rochester’s butler explains it after Jane has
reunion with Rochester necessary or is it merely a walked around the shattered, burnt-out husk of
diversion? Thornfield. We learn that Rochester, as a result of trying
(unsuccessfully) to save Bertha from dying, is now a blind
cripple. There is something profoundly symbolic and
moral about his fate: he is punished by God for his sins.
From Chapter XXXVI And now he is free to be loved again.
‘Then Mr Rochester was at home when the fire broke out?’
! discussion point
‘Yes, indeed was he; and ’e went up to the attics when all
To what extent do you think Brontë presents Rochester as
was burning above and below, and got the servants out
of their beds and helped them down ’imself, and went a character who deserves his fate?
back to get ’is mad wife out of ’er cell. And then they
called out to ’im that she was on the roof, where she was
standing, wavin’ her arms, above the battlements, and
shouting out till they could ’ear ’er a mile off: I saw ’er

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 charlotte brontë – jane eyre a study guide by francis gilbert

From Chapter XXXVII From Chapter XXXVIII—Conclusion

‘You cannot now wonder,’ continued my master, ‘that Reader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I,
when you rose upon me so unexpectedly last night, I had the parson and clerk, were alone present. When we got
difficulty in believing you any other than a mere voice back from church, I went into the kitchen of the manor-
and vision, something that would melt to silence and house, where Mary was cooking the dinner and John
annihilation, as the midnight whisper and mountain cleaning the knives, and I said, ‘Mary, I have been
echo had melted before. Now, I thank God! I know it to married to Mr Rochester this morning.’
be otherwise. Yes, I thank God!’
He put me off his knee, rose, and reverently lifting his The famous conclusion of the novel is notable for its
hat from his brow, and bending his sightless eyes to the sentence structure, which contains an incipient feminism.
earth, he stood in mute devotion. Only the last words of Brontë did not write ‘he married me’ but ‘I married him’,
the worship were audible. indicating that it is now Jane who is in charge of her own
‘I thank my Maker, that in the midst of judgment, he has destiny. It has taken her to be in possession of her own
remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeemer to fortune, for her fiancé to be blinded and crippled, but, at
give me strength to lead henceforth a purer life than I
the very end of the novel, she now has genuine power over
have done hitherto!’
Rochester.
Then he stretched his hand out to be led. I took that dear
hand, held it a moment to my lips, then let it pass round
my shoulder: being so much lower of stature than he, I ! discussion point
served both for his prop and guide. We entered the wood, To what extent do you think this is a feminist ending to
and wended homeward. the novel?

At the end of the novel, Rochester is presented as someone

who has discovered the enlightened ways of God but
whose passionate nature remains intact. In this way,
Brontë subtly brings her moral purposes to a close: the
passionate have had their natures tempered and punished
by fire, both literal and metaphorical.

! discussion point
What significance does fire have in the novel? How is it
connected with passion?

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Glossary
Authorial An adjective meaning ‘belonging to the author
or writer’
Autobiography A personal account of the author’s own
life, with the events usually relayed in the order in which
they happened
Bluebeard A terrifying figure in a fairytale who locked up
and killed his wives
Byronic Like Lord Byron; i.e. romantic, passionate,
immoral, sexually promiscuous in some contexts
Contexts The worlds from which a text is created and
emerges; the social, biographical and literary background
to a text
Dynamic (n) Movement
Elliptical Concise, perhaps surprising
Genre Type of text, e.g. horror, sci-fi, Gothic
Gothic An adjective describing narratives which are full of
supernatural happenings and extreme emotions, involving
damsels in distress in haunted castles
Fundamentalism The idea that religious texts should be
taken literally and obeyed absolutely, e.g. Christian
fundamentalists insist that the story of Adam and Eve
actually did happen.
Hero/heroine The main character (male/female) in a
narrative, who exhibits truly fine qualities
Homophone A word which sounds the same as another

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but is spelt differently, e.g. ‘there, their, they’re’

Imagery All the poetic devices in a text, in particular the
Study Guide Author:
visual images created for the reader’s mind to feed on and
the comparisons that make a reader think and reflect Francis Gilbert
upon an issue
Francis Gilbert has taught English
Melodrama A story with extreme emotional events and
literature in the uk for nearly two
characters, e.g. suicides, threats, blackmail, mad wives,
decades and has published four books,
lustful husbands
including the bestselling I'm A Teacher,
Novel A made-up, extended story Get Me Out Of Here and Yob Nation.
Protagonist The main character He lives in London and currently
Radical Extreme (politically or otherwise) teaches part-time and writes. He
regularly appears on tv and radio,
Realism In literature, a movement which aimed to
commentating about education.
simulate ‘reality’ in fiction
Satire – A work which mocks or ridicules (usually
humorously) an individual or a prevailing trend (adj.
satirical)
Sensibility/Sensibilities A characteristic of people who
think deeply and responsively about issues
Subversive Troublesome, rebellious, seeking to
overthrow a current system
Symbolic Representative of a particular issue or message,
e.g. Bertha Mason’s cutting of the bridal dress is symbolic
of Rochester’s betrayal of her
Theme An important idea in a text
Tone An atmosphere conveyed in the writing
Victorian Belonging to the UK’s Victorian era (i.e. the
reign of Queen Victoria, 1837–1901)

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