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Jane Eyre - Chapter 20

In chapter 20, a scream is heard at Thornfield at night. Rochester finds Mr. Mason injured and calls on Jane for help. They bandage his wounds while strange noises come from Grace Poole's room. In chapter 21, Jane learns of her cousin John Reed's death and Mrs. Reed's illness, so she travels to Gateshead. There, Mrs. Reed confesses to intercepting a letter that could have led to Jane's uncle taking her in. Mrs. Reed then dies. In chapter 22, Jane settles the Reed estate affairs and learns Rochester may marry Blanche, though she encounters him on the road and declares her home is wherever he is.

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611 views2 pages

Jane Eyre - Chapter 20

In chapter 20, a scream is heard at Thornfield at night. Rochester finds Mr. Mason injured and calls on Jane for help. They bandage his wounds while strange noises come from Grace Poole's room. In chapter 21, Jane learns of her cousin John Reed's death and Mrs. Reed's illness, so she travels to Gateshead. There, Mrs. Reed confesses to intercepting a letter that could have led to Jane's uncle taking her in. Mrs. Reed then dies. In chapter 22, Jane settles the Reed estate affairs and learns Rochester may marry Blanche, though she encounters him on the road and declares her home is wherever he is.

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nasir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Jane Eyre – chapter 20

Summary
That night, a scream rips through the midnight silence at Thornfield. All the guests run
into the hallway, but Rochester calms everyone by saying that the noise came from a
servant having a nightmare.
Once everyone has returned to bed, Rochester taps on Jane's bedroom door and asks
for her help. They go up to Grace Poole's third floor room, where Mr. Mason lies bleeding
from knife and bite wounds in his arm. They bandage him up and Rochester leaves to
fetch a doctor, demanding that Jane and Mr. Mason not speak to each other while he's
gone.
Jane is left alone in the dark with Mason. From Grace Poole's locked room down the hall
emerge "canine" snarling sounds and human groans. Before dawn, Rochester returns
with the surgeon. They sew up Mason and send him away before any of the guests
wake.
Analysis
Secrets cannot be contained forever. The secrets of Rochester's past break out violently
after being repressed for so long. Jane is earning Rochester's confidence. But, by
demanding silence, Rochester still tries to silence his past secrets. His late-night visit to
Jane's bedroom would have been considered risqué in Brontë's time. Jane is kept in the
dark about Rochester's secret, which seems more grave than ever. Since Mason could
reveal Rochester's secrets, he must be silenced and removed from Thornfield .

Jane Eyre – chapter 21


Summary
One afternoon, a messenger from Gateshead brings Jane some shocking news. John
Reed, heavily in debt from gambling, has committed suicide. Now Mrs. Reed is deathly ill
and demands to see Jane, who travels from Thornfield to Gateshead.
At Gateshead, Jane has a pleasant reunion with Bessie. The Reed sisters, meanwhile,
have grown into two very different types of people. Eliza is stern, organized, and highly
religious, while Georgiana is a social butterfly who gushes about her romances.
Though she's on her deathbed, Mrs. Reed shows no remorse for her treatment of Jane.
On the tenth day of Jane's visit, Mrs. Reed calls Jane into her room and confesses to
keeping a letter from Jane. Jane's uncle—John Eyre, a successful wine merchant—had
requested custody of Jane three years ago. But Mrs. Reed, hoping to squash any chance
of Jane's getting ahead in life, told him that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Jane is
upset and angry, but nonetheless tries to heal her relationship with Mrs. Reed. She
rebuffs Jane, and dies that night.
Analysis
With his debts, drinking, and suicide, John Reed contrasts with Jane's learning and
poise, showing that virtues are not based on class. The Reed sisters are caricatures of
judgment and feeling taken to extremes. Jane has learned to avoid extremes and
instead seeks balance. Mrs. Reed is a liar and lacks the religious virtue of repentance.
Like Rochester in the attack on Mr. Mason and the fire in his room, Mrs. Reed has
created a cover-up. He wants things his way, just as Mrs. Reed does, and is willing to lie
to get what he wants. In contrast to them, and like a good Christian, Jane is able to
forgive Mrs. Reed despite her awful actions.
Jane Eyre – chapter 22
Summary
Jane stays at Gateshead for a month to settle the affairs of the Mrs. Reed's
estate. Georgiana soon goes to London and eventually marries a rich
gentleman. Eliza decides to enter a French convent where she eventually becomes
Mother Superior.
While at Gateshead, Jane gets a letter from Mrs. Fairfax that says Rochester has gone to
London to buy a carriage, presumably in preparation for his marriage to Blanche. Jane
fears that her days at Thornfield are numbered.
On the road, Jane unexpectedly meets Rochester, who's out driving his new carriage.
Rochester begs her to look at the carriage and to tell him "if you don't think it will suit
Mrs. Rochester exactly." Jane is so excited to see Rochester that she exclaims how glad
she is to return to him, and adds that "wherever you are is my home—my only home."
 

Analysis
Brontë criticizes Georgiana as just another rich aristocrat and portrays Eliza as a strict
unfeeling nun in order to criticize Roman Catholicism. Everyone assumes Rochester will
marry Blanche because she is a member of his class. Blanche, living at Thornfield, would
surely send Jane away. Jane's feelings for Rochester are now on full display. Yet her
passionate declaration seems excessive and inappropriate since Rochester will most
likely marry another woman.

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