Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
Study Guide by Course Hero
sections of present tense.

What's Inside
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 d In Context
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
In the early 19th century, critics often dismissed the work of
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 2 women writers as light entertainment. Much of it (Jane
Austen's work being a notable exception) was, in fact,
h Characters .................................................................................................. 3 sentimental, romantic, and trivial, written for popular
consumption. Women writers who wanted to create more
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 7
literary works often found that their work would be taken more
c Chapter Summaries ............................................................................... 11 seriously if they used a male pseudonym. Charlotte Brontë
published her first two novels, Jane Eyre and Shirley, under the
g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 31 name Currer Bell. Her sisters Emily and Anne published under
the names Ellis and Acton Bell, respectively. In an 1850 preface
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 35
to Emily's novel Wuthering Heights, Charlotte explained why
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 36 they decided to use pseudonyms: "without at that time

suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what
e Suggested Reading ............................................................................. 39 is called 'feminine'—we had a vague impression that
authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had
noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the
weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is
j Book Basics not true praise."
AUTHOR
Charlotte Brontë Critical Response
YEAR PUBLISHED Critics enthusiastically recommended Jane Eyre at the time of
1847 its publication. One London critic, reviewing the book in 1847,
said that the author showed "fertile invention, great power of
GENRE
description, and a happy faculty for conceiving and sketching
Romance
character." He called it a "remarkable novel, very far indeed
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR above the average." Some reviewers detected that the author
Jane Eyre is written as a first-person narrative in the voice of of Jane Eyre was a woman, but despite Charlotte's concern
the protagonist. that female authors are judged differently than male authors,
this didn't dampen their praise. George Henry Lewes wrote in
TENSE the Westminster Review in 1848: "Whoever may be the author,
Jane Eyre is told primarily in the past tense with some short we hope to see more such books from her pen."
Jane Eyre Study Guide Author Biography 2
Jane Eyre has enjoyed enduring popularity due to its emotional were also considered lower class. The middle class included
power and strong female voice. Brontë has been celebrated merchants, bankers, doctors, teachers, and members of the
for her effective use of natural descriptions to establish mood, clergy.
her clear depiction of the obstacles women faced in male-
dominated society, and her probing of the protagonist's Christianity was very important to people of all classes. The
psyche. Like many other rich and memorable works, the novel Bible was widely read and often quoted, and the village church
has inspired other writers to explore its world, chief among was a central part of community life. During the 19th century,
them Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, something of a prequel particularly during the reign of Queen Victoria, Britain was
that focuses on the character of Bertha Mason. solidifying its empire, ruling over colonies in India, Australia, and
the West Indies. The British generally viewed non-Europeans
as having ways of life and beliefs inferior to their own, and this
Victorian Britain inspired many churchgoers to travel abroad as missionaries to

convert them to Christianity.
Jane Eyre was written during the Victorian era, named for the
queen who ruled the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901. It was
a time of economic growth through the Industrial Revolution, a Author Biography
expansion of the British empire, and increasing
democratization. During this period British society had sharp Charlotte Brontë was born April 21, 1816, in Yorkshire, England.
divisions between the classes. At the top were the aristocrats, In 1820 her father, a clergyman, moved the family to the town
the wealthiest class. They had ties to royalty and didn't need to of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. When Charlotte was only
work because their income came from land and wealth passed five years old, her mother died, and her father sent Charlotte
down through the generations. Their children were mostly and her sister Emily to join their older sisters Maria and
educated at home by tutors or governesses. University Elizabeth at a boarding school. Conditions at the school were
education was open only to males; females were expected to so bad that the girls were brought home in 1825. Soon after
marry. Noble parents often arranged marriages for their returning home, Maria and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis.
children to bring increased wealth, land, or prestige to the
family. The presence of a new class of wealthy entrepreneurs, As they grew up, Charlotte, her younger sisters Emily and
enriched by the Industrial Revolution, posed something of a Anne, and their brother Branwell entertained each other writing
challenge to the aristocrats. That class nevertheless remained stories about the imaginary lands they invented called Angria
at the top of the social ladder. Some wealthy industrialists and Gondal. Charlotte taught at a school and briefly served
hoped to gain status by marrying a child into a noble family. two families as a governess, but the work did not appeal to her.
Some nobles, their estates grown less lucrative, seized the Charlotte and her sisters decided to open their own school. To
opportunity to improve their financial position through such a prepare for this venture, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels
match. in 1842, where Charlotte studied French, German, and music.
There she fell in love with her teacher, but he was married and
Strict rules of behavior governed interactions between the rejected her attention. Brokenhearted, Charlotte returned
lower classes and the aristocrats. The servants who did the home two years later.
work of keeping the aristocrats' manor houses and large
estates in order were expected to show great deference to The plan for a school failed when the three could recruit no
their employers. They were to do their work quietly and without students; instead they concentrated on writing. In 1847
drawing attention to themselves. Most servants had little or no Charlotte published Jane Eyre to great success. Emily's novel
education; they received very low pay and had few Wuthering Heights and Anne's novel Agnes Grey were also
opportunities to better themselves. Governesses, who had published that year. The years 1848–49 were sad ones for
some education and were entrusted with caring for the Charlotte. In the span of two years, Branwell, Emily, and Anne
children, were treated somewhat better but nevertheless had all died of tuberculosis. Charlotte continued to write while
an in-between status, both part of the family and not part of caring for her elderly father. She published the novels Shirley in
the family. Farmers, blacksmiths, and other working people 1849 and Villette in 1852. Her work received popular acclaim
and recognition in the literary circles of London and in North
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Jane Eyre Study Guide Characters 3
America.
Adèle Varens
After rejecting several marriage proposals, in 1854 Charlotte
married the Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had replaced her Adèle Varens is the daughter of a French dance-hall singer
father as the parish priest at Haworth. Just nine months later, who was once Mr. Rochester's mistress. Although she is most
on March 31, 1855, she died, perhaps from dehydration caused likely not his daughter, Rochester has taken responsibility for
by pneumonia. Two years later novelist and admirer Elizabeth the girl since her mother abandoned her. Her presence is a
Gaskell published The Life of Charlotte Brontë, which lionized reminder of a part of Rochester's past for which he wishes to
the writer Gaskell had idolized and befriended but also make reparations and is an indication of his sincere desire to
sanitized Brontë's experiences to expunge any suggestion of put his dissolute past behind him and lead a more worthy life.
behavior that was not morally upright. Thus, Gaskell omitted
any mention of Brontë's love for the married teacher at the
Belgian boarding school. Bertha Mason
Bertha Mason, the Creole daughter of a wealthy Jamaican
h Characters family, became Rochester's wife in an arranged marriage.
When she descended into madness and violence, Rochester
arranged to have her secretly cared for in a locked room on
the third floor of Thornfield. Once a beautiful woman, she has
Jane Eyre taken on the appearance of a large, menacing beast, growling
and bursting into maniacal laughter. She sometimes escapes
Treated as an outcast by the Reeds, who take her in as an her room late at night to carry out violent or destructive acts.
infant, Jane wants desperately to prove she is worthy of love Bertha represents the uncontrollable forces in life that test the
and respect. She perseveres to become a star student, a well- characters' strength and resolve. Compared to a vampire and
liked teacher, and then governess to the young ward of Mr. other mythic beasts, she adds to the novel's air of gothic
Rochester. After agreeing to marry Mr. Rochester, an obstacle mystery.
to the marriage presents a dilemma for Jane, which tests her
deep-rooted morality.
Mrs. Sarah Reed

Edward Rochester Mrs. Reed promised her husband, on his deathbed, to care for
Jane as one of her own children. However, she despises Jane
Edward Rochester, 20 years older than Jane, falls in love with for being a poor dependent and treats Jane as an outcast in
her and asks her to marry him, even though his first wife, the household. She allows her own children to abuse and
Bertha, who is incurably insane, is secretly living at Thornfield. torment Jane. When Jane is 10 years old, Mrs. Reed sends her
When he was a young man, Rochester's father and brother to a religious school for poor children. Eight years later, when
tricked him into marrying Bertha for their own financial gain. He she is dying, she contacts Jane to ease her conscience about
is subject to dark, angry moods as he tries to cope with the a lie she told that affected Jane. However, she maintains her
fact that he is tied for life to a madwoman. Craving a dislike of Jane to the end. Mrs. Reed is representative of that
relationship with someone he loves and respects, Rochester part of society that has a shallow fixation on wealth as the only
convinces himself that, because of Bertha's insanity, God will measure of a person's value.
allow him to redeem himself by marrying Jane and living a
good, moral life.
St. John Rivers

St. John (pronounced sin-jin) and his sisters, Mary and Diana,
rescue Jane when she flees from Thornfield. He finds her a

teaching position and later asks her to marry him and go with
him to India to do missionary work. Deeply religious and
conscientious, St. John is ambitious. Missionary work appeals
to him because he wants more than an ordinary life. He has a
strong personality, but he is somewhat severe and distant. His
spirituality, unlike that of Helen Burns, lacks warmth and
forgiveness.
Helen Burns
Helen Burns, though only a few years older than Jane,
becomes a kind of spiritual mentor to her. Helen is well-read,
philosophical, and intensely spiritual. She teaches Jane to learn
to temper her passions by keeping long-term goals in mind
whenever she is tempted to give in to impulse. Helen's example
helps Jane persevere and become successful at Lowood (after
Helen's death). Although Jane does not completely understand
Helen's spiritual beliefs, she is attracted to the feelings of hope
and joy that she associates with her friend.

Character Map
Edward Rochester
Landowner; seeks
redemption through love
Guardian
Married
Bertha Mason Adèle Varens

Madwoman secretly Employee/Employer, French daughter
confined in third- Soulmates of Rochester's
floor room former mistress
Unwitting Governess
rivals
Jane Eyre
Orphan; seeks
independence,
self-respect, love
Friends
Aunt/
Niece
Mrs. Sarah Reed Helen Burns
Cousins, Potential
Values money over Student at Lowood;
spouses
love and duty role model
St. John Rivers

Parson; seeks glory
through religion
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character

Full Character List Eliza Reed is one of Mrs. Reed's

daughters, Jane's cousin, who treats
Eliza Reed
her badly while living at Gateshead
but later reconciles with her.
Character Description
Georgiana Reed is one of Mrs.

Jane Eyre is the protagonist and
Reed's daughters, Jane's cousin, who
narrator of the story. The orphaned
Georgiana Reed treats her badly while living at
daughter of a poor parson and a
Jane Eyre Gateshead but later somewhat
mother whose wealthy family
reconciles with her.
disowned her when she married,
Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester.
Grace Poole, hired by Rochester to
tend to and guard his mad wife at
Mr. Rochester is the owner of Grace Poole
Edward Thornfield, is blamed for the strange
Thornfield Hall, Jane's employer, and
Rochester events that Bertha causes.
the great love of her life.
Hannah is the elderly servant at

Adèle Varens is Jane's pupil at Hannah
Adèle Varens Marsh End.
Thornfield and Mr. Rochester's ward.
John Eyre is Jane's paternal uncle

Bertha Mason is Edward Rochester's
and also the uncle of the Rivers
Bertha Mason wife, who is insane and whose John Eyre
siblings; he leaves a fortune of
existence is kept secret.
20,000 pounds to Jane.
Mrs. Reed of Gateshead Hall is the

John Reed is Mrs. Reed's son, Jane's
Mrs. Sarah Reed widow of Jane's uncle, Mr. Reed, her
John Reed cousin, who bullies her while she's
mother's brother.
living at Gateshead.
St. John Rivers is a parson in the

Haughty and cold, Lady Ingram is
village of Morton. Honest, kind, and Lady Ingram
St. John Rivers Blanche's mother.
sincere, he is also ambitious, stern,
cold, and unbending.
Mary Rivers of Marsh End, sister of
Mary Rivers Diana and St. John Rivers, is Jane's
Helen Burns is Jane's best friend at
Helen Burns cousin.
Lowood.
Miss Abbot is another servant at

Bessie is a servant who is Jane's only Miss Abbot
Gateshead.
Bessie Lee ally at Gateshead, serving as
something of a mother figure for her.
A teacher at Lowood, Miss
Miss Scatcherd Scatcherd frequently punishes Helen
Blanche Ingram is a beautiful,
Burns.
haughty, and genteel young woman
Blanche Ingram
who pursues Mr. Rochester with
marriage in mind. The headmistress of Lowood, Miss
Miss Temple Temple serves as mother figure,
mentor, and friend to Jane.
Adèle's mother and Mr. Rochester's
former mistress, Céline is a French
Céline Varens
actress who never actually appears A lawyer, Mr. Briggs prevents Jane's
in the novel. marriage to Mr. Rochester by
Mr. Briggs revealing that he is married. He also
delivers Jane her inheritance from
Diana Rivers of Marsh End, sister of
John Eyre.
Diana Rivers Mary and St. John Rivers, is Jane's
cousin.

Jane Eyre Study Guide Plot Summary 7
Gateshead Hall for Lowood school.

Mr. Brocklehurst is the strict, stingy
Mr. Brocklehurst
clergyman who manages Lowood.
Lowood presents a new set of problems for Jane. The
students are cold, underfed, and poorly clothed. Helen Burns, a
Mr. Lloyd is the apothecary who
new friend, helps Jane accept the poor conditions. After a
treats Jane after her scare in the red-
Mr. Lloyd typhus epidemic passes through the school, during which time
room and gives her the idea of going
away to school. Helen dies from consumption, Lowood's deplorable conditions
are investigated and remedied. During her six years as a
Richard Mason, Bertha's brother, student, Jane rises to the top of her class. She then stays on
knew Rochester when he lived in as a teacher for two more years.
Mr. Mason
Jamaica and is attacked by his sister
when he visits her at Thornfield.
In search of new experiences, Jane accepts the post of
governess at Thornfield, a large, beautiful estate. Her student,
Mrs. Fairfax is the housekeeper at
Mrs. Fairfax Adèle Varens, a young French girl, is the ward of Mr.
Thornfield Hall.
Rochester, Jane's employer. Mr. Rochester is quirky and prone
to dark moods, but Jane finds herself falling in love with him.
A wealthy woman who owns the
cottage in Morton where Jane lives, One night she saves his life when she puts out a fire that has
Rosamond Rosamund is interested in St. John been set in his room. Jane wonders if the fire might be
Oliver Rivers. He loves her but won't marry
connected to strange laughter she sometimes hears on the
her because he believes she would
not be a good missionary's wife. third floor, and Mr. Rochester says that a servant, Grace Poole,
was responsible.
Sophie lives at Thornfield and is
Sophie Later another mysterious incident occurs involving an attack
Adèle's nurse.
on Mr. Mason, a visitor to Thornfield. Again Mr. Rochester
blames Grace Poole, but he doesn't fire her.
k Plot Summary Jane is called away to Gateshead Hall at the request of her
dying aunt. Mrs. Reed reveals that Jane's uncle, John Eyre of
Madeira, has been trying to find Jane and would like to adopt
Jane Eyre is the coming-of-age story, or bildungsroman, of an
her and leave his fortune to her. Mrs. Reed, still angry with
orphan girl in early 19th-century Britain. The novel takes place
Jane, informed him that Jane was dead. Now that Mrs. Reed is
in the early 1800s at fictional locations in northern England.
dying, she wants to unburden herself.
Orphaned shortly after her birth, 10-year-old Jane Eyre lives at

When Jane returns to Thornfield, Mr. Rochester tells her that
Gateshead Hall with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and the Reed
he has secretly been in love with her, and he asks her to marry
children, Eliza, John, and Georgiana. The Reeds dislike Jane
him. Jane accepts. However, happiness eludes Jane. Her
intensely because she has no money, and they treat her as an
wedding ceremony is interrupted by a lawyer, Mr. Briggs, who
outsider. As the story opens, Jane is quietly reading. Her
claims that Rochester is already married. Rochester admits
cousin John bullies her and scuffles with her. Mrs. Reed, as
that, when he was a young man in Jamaica, his father had
usual, blames Jane and banishes her to the red-room for
arranged his marriage to a woman named Bertha Mason. When
punishment.
Bertha revealed herself as insane and unmanageable,
The red-room is where Jane's uncle died nine years earlier. Rochester secretly brought her to Thornfield. He put her under
While she is confined there, Jane thinks she sees a ghost and the care of Grace Poole, on the third floor. It was Bertha, not
she passes out. When she wakes up, Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary Grace Poole, who set the fire in Rochester's room and
who is tending to her, asks Jane about her life at Gateshead. attacked Mr. Mason, her brother. Rochester pleads for Jane's
Mr. Lloyd suggests that going away to school might solve understanding. He hadn't meant to deceive her but had
Jane's problems, and Jane agrees. Happy to be rid of Jane, convinced himself that Bertha's madness somehow nullified his
Mrs. Reed agrees as well. A few months later Jane leaves marriage. He thought that, if he lived a good life, he deserved
to find real love with Jane. Jane forgives him in her heart and

assures him that she still loves him, but, as he is a married man,
she knows that she must leave him.
Jane flees Thornfield and finds herself on the outskirts of a

remote village on the moors with nothing but the clothes she is
wearing. Three siblings—Mary, Diana, and St. John
Rivers—take her in; Jane begins to teach at the village school
and becomes close to the Rivers siblings. Jane receives news
that she has inherited a large fortune from her uncle, John
Eyre. To her delight she discovers that the Rivers siblings are
her cousins, and she decides to share the fortune with them.
St. John pressures Jane to go to India with him as his wife to
do missionary work. She doesn't love him but she's on the
verge of accepting, out of a sense of religious duty, when she
thinks she hears Rochester's voice calling her name. She's
been worried that Rochester has fallen into despair, and
suddenly she knows that she must find out what has happened
to him.
Jane goes back to Thornfield only to find the manor in ruins; it

has burned to the ground. Bertha had escaped and set the fire
before falling from the roof to her death. Jane rushes to
Ferndean, the remote house where Mr. Rochester, who lost his
sight and the use of a hand in the fire, is living. They rekindle
their relationship and marry. Ten years later Jane reports that
they are closer and happier than ever. Rochester has regained
some of his sight, they have a son, and all of their loved ones
are happy as well, even the dying St. John.

Plot Diagram
Climax
7
10 Falling Action
Rising Action
6
11
5
4 12
3 Resolution
2
1
Introduction
Introduction Climax
1. Jane resists John Reed and aunt, is punished in red-room. 9. Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her name.
Rising Action Falling Action
2. Jane begins schooling at Lowood. 10. Jane returns to Thornfield, finds ruin.
3. Jane goes to Thornfield as governess, meets Mr. Rochester. 11. Jane and Rochester reunite, marry.
4. Jane saves Rochester's life in mysterious fire.
5. Jane goes to her dying aunt at Gateshead.

Resolution
6. Jane becomes engaged to Rochester, learns about Bertha.
12. Jane and Rochester have a son, live happily together.
7. Jane flees Thornfield, is taken in by the Rivers siblings.
8. St. John Rivers proposes, asks Jane to go to India with him.

Timeline of Events
November
Jane stands up to her bullying cousin and aunt's unfair

treatment of her.
January, 3 months later
Jane leaves Gateshead Hall for Lowood Institution, a

religious charity school.
October, 8 years later
Jane arrives at Thornfield as governess for Mr.

Rochester's ward.
January, 3 months later
Jane meets Mr. Rochester for the first time.
May, 5 months later
Jane goes back to Gateshead to be with Mrs. Reed, who

is dying.
June, 1 month later
Rochester asks Jane to marry him.
July, 1 month later
Jane flees Thornfield and is taken in at Moor House by

St. John, Diana, and Mary Rivers.
November, 4 months later
Jane learns she has inherited John Eyre's estate and

that she and the Rivers siblings are cousins.
May, 6 months later
St. John asks Jane to marry him.
June, 1 month later
Jane reunites with Rochester and marries him.

Jane Eyre Study Guide Chapter Summaries 11
as well as Anne's second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

c Chapter Summaries (1848), had all been mistakenly attributed by some critics to
Currer Bell. Clearly, Charlotte wanted to end that confusion
and ensure that her sisters could enjoy their own
Preface success—albeit pseudonymously. It was not until her 1850

preface to a new edition of Wuthering Heights that Charlotte
revealed the identities of the three sisters.
Summary
Charlotte Brontë, using her pen name Currer Bell, added a
Chapter 1
preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre. First she thanks
those who have "aided and approved" her: her public, the
press, and her publishers and their reviewers. Then she has a Summary
few choice words to say about her critics. She refutes those
The story opens on a rainy November day at Gateshead Hall.
who claim that the questioning of conventions and self-
Jane Eyre, age 10, is banished from the company of the three
righteousness in Jane Eyre is an attack on morality and
Reed children, Eliza, John, and Georgiana, who are gathered
religion. It is important, she says, to expose the bigotry and
happily around their mother in the drawing room. Jane settles
hypocrisy that often underlie human interpretations of
down in a window seat to enjoy making up stories about the
Christianity. Finally she launches into praise for William
pictures in a nature book. Constantly terrorized by John's
Thackeray and his new work, Vanity Fair. She regards
bullying, Jane hopes to avoid being hit by him, but he hits her in
Thackeray as a brilliant satirist who, by revealing the "warped
the face. John tells her she has no right to read their books
system of things," will help to restore true morality. She ends
because she's poor and dependent on the Reeds, and then he
by dedicating the second edition of Jane Eyre to Thackeray.
throws the heavy book at her head, drawing blood. Provoked,
Brontë, still using the name Currer Bell, appended a new note Jane calls him "wicked and cruel." Then John charges at her,
to the third edition. In this note she disavows authorship of any pulling her hair and grabbing her shoulder. Pushed to her limit,
works but Jane Eyre. Jane fights back. Brought in by Georgiana and Eliza, Mrs. Reed
intervenes and blames Jane for the incident. She orders her
servants, Bessie and Abbot, to lock Jane in the red-room for
Analysis punishment.
In responding to criticism of Jane Eyre, the preface reveals

Brontë's concerns about bigotry and religious hypocrisy. Analysis
Author and protagonist, it seems, see the world the same way.
Questioning beliefs, as Jane Eyre often does, is a healthy way Jane's description of what seems to be a typical day in her life
to keep from falling under the influence of rigid, harsh at Gateshead Hall reveals her isolated position in the Reed
doctrines. Her comments on Thackeray also suggest her view household. For the Reeds wealth seems to be the measure of
of the role of the author: to entertain and to instruct. Thackeray a person's worth; Jane is poor, so she is considered unworthy
was a British novelist and satirist who had recently achieved of living with a gentleman's children. Jane, however, doesn't
great popularity with the publication of Vanity Fair, which buy into their assessment of her. Her fury against John is
probes the themes of society, ambition, love, and happiness. buoyed by her strong spirit and sense of self and her certainty
While praising Thackeray's wit and humor, she heaps even that she is being treated unjustly. Jane copes with her isolation
greater praise on him for his "intellect profounder and more by finding joy where she can—in reading, using her imagination,
unique" than he is given credit for and calls him "the first social and appreciating nature. She has learned to deflect John's
regenerator of the day." bullying by seeming to comply with his demands, but when she
is pushed too far, her repressed anger erupts and she defends
Charlotte's sisters' novels Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, herself.

There is still much readers don't know about Jane: Who are her being bullied by John Reed, about having no family, and about
parents and what has happened to them? How did Jane come her desire to get away from Gateshead. Mr. Lloyd suggests
to live at Gateshead Hall? Why do the Reeds allow Jane to that going away to school might be just the change she needs.
continue living with them if they dislike her so much? After weighing the pros and cons of this idea, Jane agrees.
Later she overhears the servants talking about her parents and
learns that Mrs. Reed, happy to be rid of Jane, has agreed to
Chapters 2–3 Mr. Lloyd's suggestion.
Summary Analysis
Chapters 2 and 3 answer questions about Jane's relationship
to the Reeds and how and why she came to be at Gateshead.
Chapter 2 Chapter 2 also reveals the hypocrisy of Mrs. Reed, who not
only treats Jane with unfair harshness but is shown to have
While she and Abbot are locking Jane in the red-room, Bessie
reneged on the deathbed promise made to her husband. The
comments that Jane has never behaved like this before. She
red-room scene brings in some of the gothic elements often
advises Jane that "if [she] become[s] passionate and rude,
found in popular 18th- and 19th-century novels: an elaborately
[Mrs. Reed] will send [her] away" and she will have nothing.
decorated, cold, dark room where someone has died, a
Locked in the cold, seldom-used red-room, Jane is upset
mysterious light, and a raging storm. The atmospherics of the
because she tries so hard to be good, yet she's always
storm reflect Jane's tumultuous emotions, as well as
accused of being "naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking."
contributing to her fright and profound sense of isolation.
As evening approaches the room grows dark and cold, rain
beats on the windows, and the wind howls. Jane's anger fades
The red-room incident clearly is a traumatic and memorable
and she thinks of her uncle, who took her in as an infant when
experience for Jane, and she recalls it later in the book when
her parents died. On his deathbed, in this very red-room, he
she reaches personal crises. Being locked alone in the red-
had asked Mrs. Reed to promise to keep Jane as one of her
room—"no jail was ever more secure," she comments—reflects
own children. Jane knows "that if [her uncle] had been alive he
her feelings of isolation and being trapped by her status as an
would have treated [her] kindly." Soon she begins to fear that
unwanted orphan. These feelings will emerge later, as she
her uncle, troubled because his last wishes have been ignored,
bristles against societal restrictions on her because she is a
might appear in the room as a ghost. When she sees a gleam
woman. The red-room is often associated with Jane coming of
of light on the wall, she thinks a spirit is in the room. In a panic
age as a woman.
Jane screams, tries to open the door, and begs to be let out.
Bessie and another servant arrive, and Bessie tries to defend Reflecting on the incident and her life at Gateshead, Jane the
Jane, but Mrs. Reed declares that the girl must stay in the child is bewildered: "I dared commit no fault," she says. "I strove
room another hour. Forced back into the room, Jane faints. to fulfill every duty." Yet she is always punished. Bessie's
comments that Jane has never behaved like this before back
up Jane's contention that she has always tried to be good,
Chapter 3 showing that she is a reliable narrator. While the child Jane
cannot understand her situation, the adult narrator has a better
Jane awakens that night in her own bed, being tended by Mr.
view, based on life experience: "I was a discord at Gateshead
Lloyd, the apothecary, and talks briefly to Bessie. The next
Hall; I was like a nobody there." Imprisoned in the room, Jane
morning Jane is tearful and depressed. Bessie tries to cheer
considers two options to end her misery—escape and starving
her up, bringing her a tart on a plate she long admired, but
herself to death. Mr. Lloyd's suggestion provides her with hope
Jane won't eat it. Bessie asks if she would like a book, and
for relief. After careful consideration, she decides that the only
Jane quickly asks for Gulliver's Travels, a favorite. It does not
solution to her problem is to leave Gateshead.
lift her mood either. Mr. Lloyd returns and gently coaxes Jane
to tell him what has made her so unhappy. She tells him about

courage to confront Mrs. Reed about how she has been

Chapter 4 treated. Initially Jane sees her passionate outburst as a victory;
yet in the end it leaves her feeling somehow disappointed with
herself. The "ridge of lighted heath" to which Jane compares
Summary her act of retaliation invokes the symbol of fire that recurs
throughout the novel and often signifies uncontrolled passion,
After the red-room incident, Mrs. Reed isolates Jane more than one of the book's themes. The blackened heath to which she
ever, particularly after Jane reproaches her: "What would Uncle compares her state of mind after that retaliatory remark
Reed say to you, if he were alive?" Bessie continues to help represents the ruin that can result when passions are allowed
her, however. In mid-January, Mr. Brocklehurst, headmaster of to run out of control. While Jane still acts impulsively, she is
Lowood Institution (the school Mrs. Reed plans to send Jane beginning to learn that such behavior is not desirable.
to), arrives at Gateshead to meet Jane. The stern clergyman is
not pleased that, although Jane readily lists the parts of the The chapter ends on a hopeful note, as Bessie tells Jane some
Bible she likes, she pronounces the Psalms "not interesting." of her "most enchanting" stories and sings "some of her
Mrs. Reed warns Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a "tendency sweetest songs." Bessie—who is herself a young
to deceit" and should be closely watched. Jane is stunned. She woman—provides Jane with something of a surrogate mother,
realizes that Mrs. Reed has poisoned the headmaster's mind and the maid serves as a foil, or counterpoint, to Jane's stern
against her, dashing her hopes that, once she is away from aunt.
Gateshead, people will see her as she really is and like her.
When Brocklehurst leaves (after giving Jane a pamphlet, the Chapter 5

"Child's Guide"), Jane lashes out at her aunt. She denies being
deceitful and declares how much she dislikes Mrs. Reed and
her children. Mrs. Reed is taken aback by the outburst, and for
a moment Jane savors her victory. However, she feels a
Summary
curious letdown afterward and sees the folly of her behavior. In
A coach comes, and Jane clings to Bessie's neck until she is
Jane's last few days at Gateshead, Bessie shows kindness and
put on the vehicle, with the servant telling the coach's guard to
sympathy for her, and Jane is heartened by the attention.
take care of the girl. Jane then travels by herself for a full day
on a coach to Lowood, where she meets Miss Temple and
another teacher. Jane describes her first evening and day at
Analysis Lowood. The sprawling building houses about 80 students.
Daily activities, from meals to prayers to classes, are highly
Jane's comment that the Psalms are uninteresting reveals that
regimented. The dormitories are cold; the girls are dressed in
she forms her own opinions about things without regard to
old-fashioned, cheap uniforms; and the meals are insubstantial
popular opinion. This very combination of intelligence and
and of poor quality.
independence might contribute to Mrs. Reed's dislike of the
girl. In Mrs. Reed's world, a penniless orphan belongs in the Jane observes classes, and Miss Temple replaces the poor
lower class, illiterate and begging on the streets; only wealthy breakfast with lunch she pays for herself. This lunch is eaten in
upper-class women should display intelligence and the garden. In the garden Jane meets an older girl, Helen
accomplishments. To keep Jane in her place, Mrs. Reed asks Burns, who answers Jane's many questions about the school
Mr. Brocklehurst to prepare her "in a manner suiting her and the teachers. Helen agrees with Jane that the school
prospects" so that she is "made useful" and "kept humble." This superintendent, Miss Temple, is the best teacher at Lowood.
directive refers to Jane's unfortunate position in society as a Later that day a teacher, Miss Scatcherd, makes Helen Burns
woman without fortune, which makes her unsuitable for a stand in the middle of the schoolroom as punishment for some
husband of high social rank, unlike her female Reed cousins. infraction in class. Jane is impressed and puzzled by the way
Jane is relegated to working for a living. Helen accepts her punishment—not with "distress and shame,"
as Jane would have done, but with serene composure.
Jane's impending departure from Gateshead gives her the

Analysis Chapter 7
Jane describes Lowood—the setting for the next phase of her Jane describes in more detail the hardships of life at Lowood
life—without expressing her reactions to the poor conditions during her "first quarter." The girls are always hungry because
and bad food, but the details conjure the reader's sympathy for of the small portions and poor quality of the food, and they
the students, who are clearly ill-treated. There is no suggestion don't have warm clothing for the long trek to church in the cold
she feels she might have made a mistake by coming to and snow. After Jane has been at Lowood for three weeks,
Lowood. This might be an indication of how bad things were Brocklehurst visits the school. Brocklehurst reprimands Miss
for her at Gateshead. Jane is drawn to Miss Temple, the Temple for spending too much money on food and clothing for
headmistress, who embodies qualities Jane the students. Then he demands that girls with abundant or
admires—intelligence, independence, grace, and beauty. Her curly hair have it cut off completely to make them look modest
presence at the school might make Lowood's shortcomings and plain. Brocklehurst's very well dressed wife and two
seem less important, and her gesture with the lunch shows her daughters come in. Jane drops her slate, breaking it, and for
kindness toward the students. Jane is also impressed with punishment Brocklehurst has her stand on a stool at the front
Helen Burns, who will become a close friend and an important of the room for 40 minutes. Then he warns the entire school to
influence on her life. shun Jane because she is a liar. Mortified, Jane's emotions
begin to get the better of her. As her emotions begin to rise
again, Helen comes near her to talk to the teacher and meets
Chapters 6–7 her eyes in a silent signal of support. When Helen returns to
her seat, she smiles warmly at Jane, "like a reflection from the
aspect of an angel."
Summary
Analysis
Chapter 6 In Chapter 6, Jane is fascinated by the way Helen handles
being punished because it is the opposite of how she herself
On her second day at Lowood, Jane begins classes, noting
reacts to punishment. Jane seems to have a vague sense that
how cold the classroom is. She notices that Miss Scatcherd
she should learn to control her rebellious, passionate nature.
frequently targets Helen Burns for punishment over minor
She can't quite understand Helen's "doctrine of endurance,"
infractions; she beats Helen "a dozen strokes with the bunch of
but she says, "Still I felt that Helen Burns considered things by
twigs." Jane asks Helen how she can endure such treatment
a light invisible to my eyes. I suspected she might be right and I
without becoming angry and rebellious. Helen explains that she
wrong; but ... I put [thinking about] it off to a more convenient
benefits from the criticisms because Miss Scatcherd is right
season." This theme of governing one's passions recurs
about her "faults." Helen admits to being disorganized and
throughout the story and is examined through the actions of
undisciplined, "careless" and forgetful. Miss Scatcherd, Helen
several of the characters.
says, is only trying to improve her. Jane says she dislikes
people who dislike her and feels compelled to defy anyone Jane's ability to follow Helen's model is tested in the next
who punishes her unjustly. Helen advises Jane to "read the chapter, when she is punished for dropping her slate. Worse
New Testament" and follow Christ's advice to "love your than that, Jane's worst fears are realized when Brocklehurst
enemies." When Jane tells Helen why she can't love Mrs. Reed condemns her as a liar. She struggles with her anger against
and John, Helen responds that Jane will be "happier if [she] Brocklehurst. Will she respond to his accusations with a
trie[s] to forget" both Mrs. Reed's cruelty and her own passionate outburst, or will her conversation with Helen help
"passionate emotions." her to have a more measured response? How will the support
she receives from Helen affect her behavior? The chapter
ends with Jane reflecting on the irony of her perception of
Helen's goodness and deeply moral nature versus yet another

unjust punishment Helen suffers at the hands of Miss

Scatcherd, who, like Brocklehurst and Mrs. Reed, represents
Analysis
the hypocrisy that Brontë criticizes.
Helen tries to convince Jane that, in her single-minded focus
on gaining the approval of others, she is neglecting the
importance of self-approval. Jane's accomplishments should
Chapter 8 make her feel proud of herself and give her the confidence to
make her own judgment about whether she is worthy to be
loved, including self-love and self-respect. Helen wants Jane to
Summary understand that, if she relies on the judgment of others to
define her worth, she won't be happy because she can never
When her punishment is over, Jane crouches in a corner, please everyone. Jane doesn't share or completely understand
overcome with grief because she's sure everyone will shun her. this attitude, or Helen's spirituality, but she respects it. Helen's
Helen arrives and tries to comfort Jane, pointing out that, frequent mention of the next life, her cough, and the concern
because Mr. Brocklehurst is disliked, the other students are that both Jane and Miss Temple feel for her foreshadow the
unlikely to believe him. She advises Jane not to worry about possible loss of this gentle friend.
what others think of her as long as her conscience is without
guilt. Jane says, "If others don't love [her, she'd] rather die." Mr. Brocklehurst's condemnation is an obstacle to Jane's goal
Helen tells Jane to focus less on "the love of human beings" of gaining love and respect. The intervention of Miss Temple,
and more on the "kingdom of spirits." Angels, Helen says, by writing to Mr. Lloyd, offers a solution to Jane's problem.
"recognize our innocence." Jane "calm[s]" but feels "concern" Jane's delight and admiration as she listens to the deep
when Helen coughs. intellectual conversation between Helen and Miss Temple
inspire her to persevere in her pursuit of knowledge. Miss
Miss Temple invites Jane and Helen to her room, where they Temple's announcement about Jane's innocence gives Jane's
later have tea. At Miss Temple's prompting, Jane recounts the confidence an additional boost.
tale of her childhood with Mrs. Reed including Mr. Lloyd's visit
after the incident in the red-room. Miss Temple, who knows Mr.
Lloyd, says she'll write to him, and, should he confirm Jane's Chapter 9
account, she'll tell the school of Jane's innocence. At her
request a kitchen servant brings tea for her and the two girls,
and she treats them to some seed cake. Afterward Miss
Temple and Helen Burns discuss several topics, including
Summary
history and nature, in a conversation that dazzles Jane. That
The forbidding winter landscape gives way to flowers and
night Miss Scatcherd finds Helen's belongings in disarray, and
sunshine, but spring also brings a typhus epidemic. More than
the next day she punishes Helen for being disorganized. She
half the students fall ill, and Lowood is transformed into a
tapes a paper with the word slattern on it to Helen's head and
hospital. Helen Burns is stricken with consumption
makes her wear it all day. When Miss Scatcherd leaves for the
(tuberculosis). Jane underestimates the severity of Helen's
day, Jane tears off the paper and throws it into the fire. A week
condition until one night, when she learns that Helen is dying
later, having heard from Mr. Lloyd, Miss Temple announces
and is being cared for in Miss Temple's room. Longing to see
that Jane has been completely cleared of the charges made
Helen, Jane finds her way to Miss Temple's room, guided by
against her. Jane plunges forward with her studies with
the light of the moon through the windows. Helen assures Jane
renewed enthusiasm, happier at Lowood, despite its flaws and
that she's "very happy" and ready to die. Jane asks if Helen is
deprivations, than she ever was at Gateshead.
"sure ... there is such a place as heaven, and that our souls can
get to it when we die" and whether she will see Helen again
there. Helen assures Jane that she one day "will come to the
same region of happiness" and "be received by the same
mighty, universal Parent." Privately Jane doubts whether such a
"region" exists, but she clasps her arms around her friend and

they fall asleep. When Jane awakens in the morning, a nurse is When Miss Temple marries and moves away, however, Jane
carrying her back to her room. She later learns that Helen died begins to want change, praying "for a new servitude," and
during the night. Fifteen years later a gravestone is placed on advertises independently and secretly for a governess position.
Helen's grave, presumably by Jane, inscribed with Helen's A response arrives from Mrs. Fairfax, offering Jane a position
name and the word resurgam. at Thornfield, where her pupil will be a 10-year-old girl. Jane
asks the new superintendent of teachers for permission to
leave. She passes the request to Mr. Brocklehurst, who writes
Analysis to ask Mrs. Reed if she will agree to the change. Mrs. Reed
replies that she cares not, as she "had long relinquished all
Throughout the story detailed descriptions of the landscape interference" in Jane's life. Accordingly the school committee
help establish the setting. Such details add drama and grants Jane permission to go and provides her with a
importance to events and reflect characters' emotions. The testimonial to her character and ability.
stormy night and howling winds during the red-room incident,
for example, heightened the drama of Jane's experience. The About two months later, the night before she is to leave for
bright spring reinforces Jane's brighter prospects from the end Thornfield, Jane receives a surprise visit from Bessie, who is
of the previous chapters but also provides a contrast to the now married, with two children, Bobby and Jane. Bessie brings
sadness associated with Helen's impending death. The moon is Jane up to date on the Reed family: the sisters are always
a nature motif that often signals an important change in Jane's quarreling; John failed at college and is living a degenerate life
life. In this chapter the moon lights the way for Jane as she pursuing pleasure; and Mrs. Reed is unhappy about how much
goes to Helen to say good-bye. money John spends. Bessie is delighted with Jane's success.
She mentions that "nearly seven years ago, a Mr. Eyre came to
Helen's Christian beliefs about the afterlife help her to accept Gateshead" looking for Jane. Learning that Jane was 50 miles
her untimely death with serenity and even joy. Jane finds (80 kilometers) away, he said he had to leave for Madeira and
Helen's spiritual beliefs appealing, but she still has doubts. The wouldn't have time to visit her. Bessie thinks Mr. Eyre is Jane's
Latin word resurgam on Helen's gravestone means "I shall rise uncle. The next morning they see each other briefly before
again." If Jane is responsible for the inscription, it could Bessie sets off to return to Gateshead and Jane leaves for
indicate that she eventually resolves her doubts and comes to Thornfield and her next adventure.
believe as Helen did. Or it could simply be an indication of the
respect that Jane has for Helen's beliefs and spirituality.
Analysis
Chapter 10 This is a transitional chapter that resolves the story lines of
characters both at Lowood and Gateshead. At Lowood Mr.
Brocklehurst's abuses are uncovered and his power is
Summary diminished; the school has been improved, with a new building
and with the students receiving better food and clothing. Miss
Temple marries (a standard happy ending for women of this
The passage of eight years has brought many changes at
era); Jane has achieved the goals that she set for herself when
Lowood. After the typhus epidemic, an investigation was made
she came to Lowood. In addition, she has matured and is no
into conditions at the school. Mr. Brocklehurst's power was
longer the impulsive, emotionally driven child she had been. At
reduced, and a committee of benefactors formed to make
Gateshead the despicable Reed family members seem to have
many changes, improving students' lives. Jane has stayed on
received their just desserts, while kind Bessie is happily
through all the changes—as a student for six years and as a
married with two children. The fact that her daughter is named
teacher for two years.
Jane may be a nod to the affection she felt for Jane Eyre. With
For Jane's eight years at Lowood, Miss Temple filled the roles these loose ends resolved, Jane is ready to begin her "new
of "mother, governess, and ... companion." By modeling herself duties and a new life." The news of Mr. Eyre's visit leaves a new
after Miss Temple, the impulsive, angry 10-year-old who arrived untidy story line and suggests that more will be heard from this
at Lowood has become a "disciplined and subdued character." mysterious relation later.

Jane's prayer "for a new servitude" calls up the theme of class preternatural a laugh as any I ever heard," she comments. Like
and gender. Not part of the upper class, not part of any family, the red-room of Jane's childhood, the third floor of Thornfield
and thus with no real prospects of marriage, she faces a life of seems to lend itself to superstitious fancies.
service. With her education and intelligence, she can serve as a
governess, thus enjoying a slightly higher position than most In talking with Jane on her arrival, Mrs. Fairfax comments that
servants. But she cannot be fully independent. she looks forward to having someone to talk to. Referring to
servants of the house, she says, "Leah is a nice girl to be sure,
and John and his wife are very decent people; but then you see
Chapter 11 they are only servants, and one can't converse with them on
terms of equality: one must keep them at due distance, for fear
of losing one's authority." Even within the serving class, there
are ranks and levels, and all must be aware of the social
Summary differences between a housekeeper and kitchen help.
Jane starts the chapter by speaking to the reader and calling Jane's direct address to the reader in this chapter is echoed in
out the setting, first saying, "A new chapter in a novel is the final chapter of the book, which begins with the famous
something like a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the "Reader, I married him." Jane rarely engages in the self-
curtain this time, reader," she asks the reader to picture her conscious lifting of the authorial curtain; her doing so here
room at the inn. The passage is also briefly in the present underscores the significance of this chapter, a passage to a
tense. Then Jane describes the final segment of her journey to new phase of Jane's life.
Thornfield.
Jane arrives at Thornfield on a cold October evening, and Mrs.

Fairfax gives her a warm welcome. The next day Jane
Chapters 12–13
discovers that Mr. Rochester, who is away, is the owner of
Thornfield, not Mrs. Fairfax. Jane's pupil is his ward, a young
French girl named Adèle Varens (Adèle has a nurse, Sophie). Summary
Following lessons Mrs. Fairfax gives Jane a tour of the manor
house, from the richly decorated first-floor rooms to the "dark
and low," old-fashioned third-floor rooms. When Jane hears Chapter 12
strange laughter coming from one of the third-floor rooms,
Mrs. Fairfax explains that it must be Grace Poole, a servant. Over the next months, from October to January, Jane settles in
at Thornfield. She finds some satisfaction in her daily routine
but feels restless as well. She had hoped for a more exciting
Analysis environment, where she could meet interesting people and

have new experiences.
Jane's arrival at Thornfield is quite a contrast to her first day at
One cold December day, Jane walks to the town of Hay to
Lowood. Here the house and grounds are very pleasant, and
post a letter. En route she stops to rest and observe "the rising
everyone treats her kindly and with respect. Before Jane
moon." Suddenly a huge dog and a man on horseback come
sleeps in her pleasant room, she prays her thanks for her new
thundering along the road. The horse slips on ice in the road
situation and also asks for "the power of meriting the kindness
and falls, and Jane helps the man, who has injured his ankle.
which seemed so frankly offered me before it was earned." Her
Before he rides off, he questions her briefly, learning that she is
gratitude and humility reinforce the idea that she has gained
the governess at Thornfield. As Jane walks on, she can't shake
maturity. The third floor of the manor, however, introduces an
the image of the stranger's face, although it's not a handsome
element of gothic mystery to the setting. It feels dark and
one. Returning to Thornfield, she notes the moon's progress
heavy, and Jane finds it difficult to connect the unearthly
over the hilltops. Once inside she learns that Mr. Rochester has
laughter to the person of Grace Poole. "I really did not expect
returned home and the surgeon is tending to the ankle he
any Grace to answer; for the laugh was as tragic, as
sprained when his horse fell.

thread that is woven throughout the novel.

Chapter 13
The next day Thornfield becomes a lively place as people
come and go to do business with Mr. Rochester. In the evening Chapters 14–15
he asks Jane, Mrs. Fairfax, and Adèle to have tea with him. Mr.
Rochester says his first sight of Jane on the road made him
think of fairy tales and suggests that she "had bewitched [his] Summary
horse" to make it fall. He questions Jane about her family,
Lowood, and her accomplishments, having her play piano and
taking particular interest in her drawings, including a "bird and Chapter 14
mast ... [and] a drowned corpse," a "woman's shape" as "the
Evening Star," and "an iceberg ... [and] colossal head" with a One evening Mr. Rochester invites Jane and Adèle to the
crown. Mr. Rochester adopts a bantering tone with Jane, and dining room after dinner. After giving Adèle a present, he
she falls in with it. Jane is intrigued by him. She learns later invites Mrs. Fairfax to join them and asks her to amuse Adèle
from Mrs. Fairfax that Mr. Rochester was the younger son of while he talks with Jane. After he and Jane discuss beauty and
his family and he inherited Thornfield nine years ago. Before appearance, Rochester mentions that "Fortune has knocked
that he'd been estranged from his father and brother because [him] about" so much that he's as "tough as an India-rubber
they put him in a "painful position" for the sake of money. ball," but he hopes to be transformed "back to flesh." They
speak of class and equality, and the words command and
subordinate appear in their conversation. Jane reminds him he
Analysis pays her a salary, signaling the distance between them. He
says he regrets having given in to a life of "dissipations."
At Thornfield Jane has more freedom than she has ever had Something is preventing him from reforming his life, but he
before, yet she feels confined and isolated. There is no one at hopes to have the help of an "inspiration," something that "is no
Thornfield like Miss Temple, with whom she can have lively, devil" but "has put on the robes of an angel of light." Jane,
thoughtful conversations about books and ideas. Aware that seeing in his face the idea troubles him, warns him to "distrust"
some people think women should be content with household the false angel. She advises him to simply become the person
chores and light entertainment, Jane believes that women he would respect. Although Jane enjoys their conversation, she
need just as much excitement and intellectual stimulation as doesn't completely understand what troubles him. Jane tries to
men: "women feel just as men feel." Jane's views about end the conversation by saying it is time to put Adèle to bed
women's roles and needs, which are at odds with prevailing and is relieved when the girl becomes the center of attention
attitudes, show how she has grown. She thinks for herself and by doing an impromptu brief dance in a new dress that
does not simply accept the judgment of others. Her Rochester has given her.
independent mind is one factor that makes her such an
appealing heroine.
Chapter 15
Jane observes the rising moon just before Rochester comes
thundering down the road and lingers to watch it before Later on Rochester tells Jane "one afternoon" how Adèle came
reentering Thornfield. The moon had appeared to Jane on the to be his ward. He'd had an affair with Céline Varens, a French
night of Helen's death at Lowood. It appears here once again opera-dancer, which he broke off when he discovered she'd
to signal an important change in Jane's life: Mr. Rochester's been unfaithful. Céline claimed that Adèle was his child. He
appearance on the scene dramatically alters the regularity of knew this was probably untrue—"I see no proofs of such grim
Jane's routine, and he will be a major factor in her life from this paternity written in her countenance," he tells Jane—but he
point on. Mr. Rochester has the air of mystery, moodiness, and took Adèle in when Céline "abandoned" the girl in Paris.
unpredictability typical of the hero of gothic romance fiction.
His characterization of Jane as an elfish, fairy-tale creature Jane thinks about how she and Rochester have begun to have
capable of "bewitch[ing his] horse" picks up the supernatural more frequent evening conversations and developed an ease

with each other. Jane looks forward to the time they spend
together. She sees a lot of good qualities in him, although he Chapter 16
can sometimes be proud or harsh. He seems to be nursing a
secret grief that prevents him from being completely happy.
Summary
At two in the morning, unable to sleep, Jane is disturbed by a
"demoniac laugh" outside her door and hears footsteps going The following morning, Jane speaks with Grace Poole and is
up the third-floor staircase. She cautiously opens her door and amazed the woman hasn't been dismissed or punished for
sees smoke coming from Rochester's room. He's asleep, with setting the fire. Rochester has told everyone that he
his bed curtains and sheets in flames. Jane douses the fire and accidentally set the fire. At her dinner with Mrs. Fairfax, Jane
tells him about the laugh. Rochester goes to the third floor and wonders what hold Poole has over Rochester. At tea Jane is
returns to explain that Grace Poole was responsible for the disappointed to learn from Mrs. Fairfax that he has left for a
fire. He instructs Jane to "say nothing about" the fire: he will party at a neighbor's estate and will likely be away for "a week
explain what happened to the servants. Rochester emotionally or more." Mrs. Fairfax chats about the ladies who will be at the
thanks Jane for saving his life with "strange energy ... in his party, especially the "beautiful and accomplished" Blanche
voice, strange fire in his look." Ingram. Jane immediately begins to worry about a possible
match between Rochester and Miss Ingram. She realizes she
has fallen in love with Rochester, with whom she has no hope
Analysis of marriage. In an attempt to rein in her emotions, Jane draws a
harsh self-portrait, labeling it "Portrait of a Governess,
In Chapter 14 Jane can be seen as embodying the "inspiration" disconnected, poor, and plain." Then, using her imagination,
or "notion" of the "angel of light" that Rochester believes will she draws a portrait of the lovely Blanche Ingram, labeled
transform his life, through her honesty and good character. "Blanche, an accomplished lady of rank."
Jane instinctively feels that Rochester's plans for his future are
somehow outside the bounds of conventional morality. His
mention of new "unheard-of rules" reinforces this feeling. His Analysis
strange talk also adds to the sense of him as a gothic hero, a
dark but attractive figure who has a mysterious past the The continued presence of Grace Poole is unnerving to Jane.
heroine must uncover. In asking Jane not to reveal what really happened, Rochester
has involved her in a deception that she doesn't understand.
While many young women of the time would be shocked to
What information is he keeping from her? Why is he covering
hear about Rochester's affair with Céline Varens (described in
up for an apparently dangerous woman?
Chapter 15), Jane takes it in stride. Rochester's rash actions
are somewhat redeemed by his kind and responsible actions Rochester's absence and the thought of the beautiful Blanche
toward Adèle, and his contrition helps her swallow the news as Ingram make Jane realize that she has been lulled into
well. She is glad that he feels comfortable enough with her to dreaming of a possible future with a man who would not be
share the story, and her own passionate nature helps her to likely to marry a poor, plain-looking governess. She decides
sympathize with Rochester's jealousy. Her growing comfort she must rid herself of all such thoughts and vows that in the
with him brings her some peace of mind: "so happy, so gratified future, should she ever "chance to fancy Mr. Rochester thinks
did I become with this new interest added to life, that I ceased well of [her]," she will "take out these two pictures and
to pine after kindred." compare them." Jane controls her emotions by limiting her
expectations, demonstrating the discipline she has achieved
The incident of the fire deepens the sense of gothic mystery
and reflecting the themes of religion and self-control.
about Thornfield, as well as foreshadowing the fire that
eventually destroys the mansion and injures Rochester. Jane's
physical rescue of him in this scene also foreshadows her
emotional rescue of him in the book's resolution.

is not being completely forthcoming with her heightens her

Chapter 17 sense of separation from him—and also keeps her interested in
him.
Summary Jane manages to maintain her composure when she sees

Rochester, even though she feels that there is little hope for a
In Rochester's absence Jane continues to observe Grace relationship with him. She closely watches his interactions with
Poole's habits and feels she acts suspiciously, noticing that Miss Ingram and tries to determine how he feels about her. Her
Poole comes through the third-floor staircase door, for leaving the room soon after hearing Ingram's insulting words
instance. She overhears a conversation between two servants shows both the depth of her upset and her self-control. Rather
that suggests she is being "purposely excluded" from knowing than confronting the woman—a behavior that is precluded by
the secret related to Poole. Steeling herself in further their differences in class and station—Jane simply distances
demonstration of her self-control, she starts to consider her herself from her.
future without Rochester. After more than two weeks, he
In one section of this chapter—as Jane relates where she took
sends word that he will be returning to Thornfield with guests
position in the room, observes the guests, and both waits for
"in three days."
Rochester to enter and then comments on his
Blanche Ingram is one of the guests who arrive at Thornfield appearance—the narrator switches to the present tense. The
with Rochester. A day later Miss Ingram and Rochester pair up change in tense gives the scene an immediacy and emotional
when they go horseback riding, and Mrs. Fairfax comments to impact.
Jane that he seems to admire Miss Ingram. At Rochester's
request, Adèle and Jane go to the drawing room where the
guests gather after dinner (Adèle and Jane have eaten Chapters 18–19
separately). From a perch on the window seat, Jane observes
that Miss Ingram is indeed beautiful, but she is also "haughty"
and "self-conscious." When Jane first sees Rochester, all of Summary
her passionate feelings for him rush back, though she tries to
hide them. Knowing that Jane can hear them, Miss Ingram talks
with the other guests, including her mother, in an insulting way Chapter 18
about governesses.
The guests pursue various amusements at Thornfield,
At the first opportunity, after listening to Rochester sing, Jane
including a game of charades. When Rochester and a male
"slip[s] away" from the drawing room, but Rochester follows
guest invite Jane to join the game, Jane declines, and Miss
and tries to persuade her to come back. He notices that she
Ingram's mother declares that Jane "looks too stupid" to play.
seems depressed and, when tears fill her eyes, he allows her to
During the game Rochester and Miss Ingram pantomime a
go. He tells her that she and Adèle must come to the drawing
marriage ceremony. Jane notices that Miss Ingram seems to
room every night while the guests are there. He then says,
be pursuing Mr. Rochester, and, although he seems somewhat
"Good-night, my—" and bites his lip before turning away
receptive, he doesn't seem captivated by her. Miss Ingram
abruptly.
seems unkind, small-minded, and cold. Jane doesn't feel
jealous because she knows that Miss Ingram will never have
the kind of connection with Rochester that Jane has, or could
Analysis have, with him.
Jane's discovery that the servants are hiding a secret about One evening while Rochester is away on business, Mr. Mason
Grace Poole deepens the mystery surrounding the woman and arrives and explains that he knew Rochester in the West
continues to emphasize this important plot element. It also Indies. Jane takes an instant dislike to the man, seeing
adds to the mystery surrounding Rochester—what is he not something weak or unstable in him. Then an old gypsy woman
telling Jane? Why is he withholding the truth from her? That he arrives and insists on telling the guests their fortunes in the

library. Miss Ingram goes first. When she returns she is

subdued and withdrawn. After the other young women in the Chapter 20
party have their fortunes told, the gypsy insists on telling
Jane's fortune. Curious, Jane agrees.
Summary
Chapter 19 As the light of the full moon shines into Jane's room in the
middle of the night, awakening her, a frightening shriek rings
Jane tells the gypsy that she doesn't believe in fortune-telling, out from the third floor. Jane hears a struggle in the room
but she'll agree to listen. She says she wants to "save" and "set above hers and a call for help, followed by a call for Rochester.
up a school." The gypsy presses Jane to find out what she Rochester calms his frightened guests by telling them that "a
thinks of the talk of marriage between Rochester and Miss servant has had a nightmare." In fact it is another incident that
Ingram. Jane asks if the marriage is planned, and the gypsy may be related to Grace Poole. Rochester asks Jane to come
says it is. But she says she's told Miss Ingram that she'll be to the third floor and stay with Mason, who is bleeding, while
disappointed that Rochester's wealth is not as vast as she has Rochester fetches a surgeon. Before he goes Jane hears
hoped. Eventually Jane realizes that the gypsy is Rochester in snarling behind a hidden door that she assumes is Grace
disguise. Jane tells him about the arrival of Mr. Mason, and he's Poole. Jane tends Mason's knife and bite wounds. After
startled by the news, saying he'd like to be with her away from Rochester returns with the surgeon and Mason is patched up,
"trouble, and danger, and hideous recollections." At Jane's Rochester arranges for him to leave with the surgeon before
request, Rochester has her aid him by observing Mason and the guests awaken.
the other guests. He speaks with Mr. Mason in the library
before everyone retires for the night. Rochester walks in the garden with Jane and assures her that
the danger is past and she doesn't need to be afraid of Grace
Poole. He tells Jane a story about a young man who makes a
Analysis serious mistake in a foreign land that now casts a shadow on
his life. After years of trying to find happiness in the pursuit of
In Chapter 18 Jane comes to terms with the probability that pleasure, the man goes home. There he meets someone who
Rochester will marry Miss Ingram. She doesn't detect anything can help him redeem himself and lead a moral life. Rochester
like the bond that she and Rochester share, so she takes some asks Jane if she thinks the man is justified in ignoring a moral
comfort from that. On the other hand, she cannot forget her "obstacle of custom" and convention in order to be with this
own feelings: addressing the reader once again, she says, "I person, who can reform him. Jane responds that true
had learnt to love Mr. Rochester: I could not unlove him now." reformation should depend on a higher power, not on a mortal
person. Then Rochester admits that he himself is in this
In his disguise as the gypsy, Rochester's message to Miss situation and he believes he has found "the instrument" of his
Ingram about the fortune she hopes to gain indicates that his redemption. He asks Jane if she doesn't think Miss Ingram, if
assessment of her character is similar to Jane's assessment. he marries her, "would regenerate [him] with a vengeance."
He knows that she is shallow, interested only in money, and will Before they return to the house, he asks Jane to sit watch with
soon lose interest in him. Why, then, does he want Jane to him the night before his marriage.
think he plans to marry Miss Ingram? Is he trying to prod Jane
to reveal her true feelings for him?
Adding to the mystery is Rochester's reaction to Mason. He

Analysis
seems to feel that Mason could somehow threaten his
There are several unresolved mysteries in this chapter. What
reputation. What secret does Mason hold over Rochester?
connection does Mason have to whoever attacked him in the
third-floor room? Is Grace Poole the attacker? Might it be
someone else? When Rochester instructs Mason to keep
quiet, he refers to an unnamed woman. Who is she? Why is
Rochester so desperately determined to keep the occupant of

that room out of sight? Why does Rochester insist that Jane
and Mason not talk to one another while he gets the surgeon?
Analysis
What mistake did Rochester make in a foreign land? What is
This chapter highlights how much Jane has changed and
the obstacle that is preventing him from moving forward with
matured since she left Gateshead at the age of 10. Although
his life?
she had sworn to never again to call Mrs. Read her aunt or
Rochester realizes, from Jane's response to his hypothetical come to see her, she does both. Although her aunt refuses to
story, that the importance with which she regards a higher forgive Jane's childish excesses, Jane forgives her aunt for the
power will not allow her to ignore the obstacle that is blocking treatment she received. No longer defensive, angry, or
his hope of redemption and regeneration. He stops himself dependent, Jane is now confident, forgiving, and independent.
from naming Jane as the person who can help him regenerate She has internalized the message that Helen Burns taught her.
his life and revives the idea that he will marry Blanche Ingram. The differences between her aunt and her highlight the
difference between hypocrisy and true Christian values. At the
same time, Jane does not grieve over her aunt's death.
Chapter 21 Jane's female cousins provide a counterpoint to her. Georgina

and Eliza want nothing to do with her at first, though, when
they see Jane's skill in portraiture, they become more
Summary interested in her and agree to pose so that Jane can draw their
portraits. Over time they open up to Jane. Georgina adores
Jane begins the chapter by reflecting on the value of fashion and society and speaks often of a possible match with
"presentiments," or premonitions, and signs. The day after the a titled suitor. Eliza is much more devout and contemplative
incident with Mason, Jane receives the news that John Reed and spends her time largely by herself. The two reveal their
has died, a possible suicide, after leading a "wild" life. Mrs. mutual ill-feeling when Eliza attacks Georgiana for being overly
Reed has had a stroke and wants to speak to Jane. Before caught up in society, causing her sister to accuse her of
Jane leaves she requests permission to do so from Rochester. spreading rumors out of jealousy to torpedo her own chances
As they talk Jane asks about Adèle's future when Rochester at receiving a desired marriage proposal. Jane, it seems, is
marries (she thinks to Miss Ingram). preferred by each of them to her own sister. Yet the coldness
they initially show her and the bitterness they display toward
Jane goes to Gateshead and has a pleasant reunion with
each other contrasts with what we later see in the Rivers
Bessie. Georgiana and Eliza are as cold as ever, but this no
sisters, who accept Jane from the start.
longer upsets Jane. Mrs. Reed is expected to live only for a
few weeks. Ten-plus days pass before Jane learns why her The letter from Jane's uncle raises to the reader the possibility
aunt sent for her. In the meantime Jane and her cousins that Jane's position in life may change in the future, though
develop a more tolerable relationship, though the two of them that is not something she thinks about. If she inherits wealth,
despise each other. When she finally speaks with Mrs. Reed, how will her life change? Or did her aunt's response to her
her aunt expresses no regret for the way she treated Jane. uncle dash any chance of her inheriting that wealth? Jane's
She shows Jane a letter she received three years earlier from mention of the value of presentiments and signs alerts the
John Eyre, Jane's uncle. He wanted to find Jane so he could reader to look for some in the coming chapters.
adopt her and have her come to Madeira. He has been
successful in business and wants to leave his fortune to Jane.
Not wanting to see Jane become wealthy, Mrs. Reed replied to Chapter 22
John Eyre that Jane had died of typhus at Lowood. This, she
says, was her revenge for Jane's outburst against her before
she left Gateshead. Jane asks for Mrs. Reed's forgiveness but
is refused. Nevertheless Jane forgives her aunt, who dies just a
Summary
few hours later.
After her aunt's funeral, Jane stays two more weeks to help
her cousins until Georgiana departs to live with an uncle in

London and Eliza leaves for a convent. Back at Thornfield after for Rochester. He suddenly asks her to be his wife, but, sure
a month, Jane (who dreamed about Miss Ingram during her that he intends to marry Miss Ingram, Jane thinks he is
journey back) encounters Rochester in the garden. He greets mocking her. Rochester finally convinces her that he has no
her joyfully, teasing her about her elfish, fairy ways, and interest in the other woman, emphasizing his and Jane's
welcoming her home. Impulsively, before quickly walking past equality: "my equal is here, and my likeness." Jane accepts his
him, Jane blurts out, "I am strangely glad to get back again to proposal. They sit under the chestnut tree until a storm begins
you: and wherever you are is my home—my only home." to blow in. A heavy rain falls and thunder and lightning boom
and crackle through the sky. During the storm the chestnut
Two weeks go by and there is no evidence of Miss Ingram's tree is struck by lightning, splitting it in half.
and Rochester's marriage plans. Rochester spends more time
than ever with Jane. She sometimes becomes dejected at
thoughts of the pending marriage, but at such times Analysis
Rochester's spirits seem to improve even more.
Rochester uses the fiction that he will marry Miss Ingram to
arouse Jane's emotions. He needs to know the depth of her
Analysis feeling for him before he can propose to her. After Jane
accepts, Rochester says, really to himself, "I know my Maker
Rochester's frequent references to Jane's connection with the sanctions what I do." With these words he washes his hands of
"elfish" or "fairy" reinforce his view of Jane as an agent of the world's judgment and defies man's opinion. Jane may think
change in his life. Elves and fairies often cast spells or grant he is speaking this way because, in marrying someone who is
wishes that change people's lives, and Rochester hopes that not of his class or social standing, he will be defying
Jane will change his life for the better. convention. But Rochester's reference to "God's tribunal"
suggests a more serious moral transgression.
Jane's impulsive admission about home being wherever
Rochester is seems rather bold, for her. This may be why In determining his sincerity, Jane views Rochester's face in the
Rochester's mood improves and why he spends so much time light of the moon. Once again, as had happened, for instance,
with her. Blanche Ingram seems to have receded into the on the night that Helen Burns died, moonlight signals her way.
background, but Rochester still doesn't deny that the marriage
will take place. The lightning strike on the chestnut tree, so soon after the
marriage proposal that takes place below its branches, is a bad
Jane conveys her and Rochester's conversation in the garden omen for the couple's future. The tree, a symbol of growth and
in the present tense, once again heightening the emotional harmony, is split apart by fire's destructive force.
intensity with this switch.
Chapters 24–25
Chapter 23
Summary
Summary
On Midsummer Eve Jane wanders in the orchard under the
Chapter 24
rising moon, describing the scene in the present tense.
Rochester joins her and tells her he will soon marry (he implies, The next day, Rochester is full of plans for their life together.
and Jane thinks he means, to Miss Ingram); Adèle will be He wants to shower Jane with jewels and expensive clothing,
leaving Thornfield; and he has found a new situation for Jane in but she objects. She has a short discussion with Mrs. Fairfax,
Ireland. They sit under the huge chestnut tree, and Jane is who doesn't seem pleased with the news of the impending
overwhelmed by sadness. Through sobs she speaks of her marriage and warns her off, even though she clearly likes Jane.
love for Thornfield. Then she passionately admits her feelings While Jane is out shopping with Rochester and Adèle, he once

again compares her to a fairy, building a fanciful story around

the idea. Jane feels uncomfortable about making purchases
Analysis
using Rochester's money and, suddenly recalling her uncle's
After accepting Rochester's proposal, Jane begins to realize
letter, thinks how much more at ease she would feel if she had
that the self-sufficient, independent life she has been leading
an independent fortune. She tells Rochester that she wants to
will change. When she is no longer earning her keep as
continue as Adèle's governess and she'll use her pay to
governess, she will be dependent on her husband. The
purchase her own clothing.
shopping trip makes her uncomfortable because she "never
Much as Jane loves Rochester, she doesn't want to fall into a can bear being dressed like a doll by Mr. Rochester." Then she
sentimental type of relationship with him, which, she thinks, will remembers the letter from her uncle and resolves to write to
soon become boring. "Lamb-like submission and turtle-dove him at once. Her desire for independence prompts both this
sensibility" don't suit her personality. Both Jane and Rochester resolve and her determination to continue as Adèle's
enjoy the element of teasing banter that marks much of their governess. Jane Eyre is one resolute young lady.
conversation. The chapter closes with Jane observing
Jane's reflection on the blackened, dead tree adds to the
irreverently that Rochester "stood between me and every
foreshadowing introduced at its destruction. The tree is dead,
thought of religion," adding "I could not, in those days, see God
she says—"the sap could flow no more" and it will "never have
for this creature: of whom I had made an idol."
green leaves more." Yet the two sundered sections still cling to
each other, at least until the powerful gales of the following
Chapter 25 winter will prevail and make the separation complete. The
image—a sign to the reader, if not to Jane—suggests that the
Two nights before the wedding, a disturbing incident occurs end to happiness foreshadowed by the tree's destruction will
while Rochester is away from home. Before Jane relates what soon be complete. That the moon shining on the scene is
took place, she provides another incident. The following night, "blood-red" and gives Jane a "bewildered, dreary glance" only
troubled by what she had seen, she walked in the garden, in adds to the gloomy prospects.
the moonlight, drawn to the lightning-split tree, where she
Jane has disturbing dreams about carrying a small child, trying
reflects on how, though the tree is dead, the two sundered
but being unable to reach Rochester and seeing "that
sections still cling to each other. The moon appears again, but
Thornfield Hall was a dreary ruin"; these dreams foreshadow
this time it is red.
an obstacle they will encounter. The baby might represent
When Rochester returns, Jane tells him about the incident that Jane's hopes and aspirations, which she is trying to protect
had troubled her. Jane had awakened from a disturbing dream and carry forward to the future. When she thinks about
only to see a candle on her dressing table and hear someone in becoming Mrs. Rochester, she refers to her new identity as an
her closet. The figure that emerges from the closet was a tall unborn child: Speaking of "Mrs. Rochester," Jane reflects, "She
woman with a "savage" and "discolored" face. She was wearing did not exist: she would not be born till tomorrow, sometime
the exquisite veil Rochester had ordered for Jane for her after eight o'clock a.m.; and I would wait to be assured she had
wedding day. The figure removed the veil, ripped it in half, and come into the world alive." Until the hour of the wedding, Jane
stomped on it. Before leaving Jane's room, the woman came cannot be sure that she will live as Mrs. Rochester..
close to her bed, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes and
Why does Rochester put off telling Jane his secret until they
blowing out her candle. Terrified, Jane passed out. Rochester
have been married "a year and a day"? He may hope that by
offers an explanation for the mysterious events. The woman,
then, no matter what Jane learns, the bond between them will
he says, must have been Grace Poole. She wasn't recognizable
be secure. He may simply want a year of happiness before
because Jane was experiencing a mixture of fevered dreams
revealing a potentially dangerous secret.
and actual events. He tells Jane that "when [they] have been
married a year and a day" he'll explain why he keeps Grace The incident in Jane's room foreshadows what happens on the
Poole in his house. At Rochester's suggestion, Jane sleeps in wedding day. Just as the mysterious woman shredded Jane's
Adèle's room that night. veil, so will the marriage—and her hopes of happiness—soon be
shredded.

Jane, after the revelations, feels that she doesn't completely

Chapter 26 know Rochester. She fears that what he feels for her is "only
fitful passion." If this is the case, she thinks he will have no
desire for her to stay at Thornfield now that his plans have
Summary been thwarted.
Jane and Rochester go to church without any guests. As Jane

and Rochester are about to say their wedding vows, a solicitor, Chapter 27
Mr. Briggs, appears and objects, saying that Rochester is
already married. With Briggs is Mason, who attests that
Rochester married Mason's sister, Bertha, in Jamaica and that
she is secreted away on the third floor of Thornfield Manor.
Summary
After some resistance, Rochester admits the basic truth of
Jane struggles with what to do next, self-control and moral
Bertha Mason's existence and his entrapment. He takes the
principles contending with passion. When she finally leaves her
priest, Mr. Briggs, Mr. Mason, and Jane to the third-floor room
room, she finds Rochester waiting by her door. He begs for her
to see Bertha for themselves. There, attended by Grace Poole,
forgiveness and she sees that he's truly sorry. In her heart she
Bertha is behaving like a wild animal, growling and running
forgives him completely, but she doesn't admit this to him. He
back and forth on all fours. She attacks Rochester and tries to
says he'll send Adèle to school, shut up Thornfield, and take
bite him. With Grace Poole's help, he ties the madwoman to a
Jane to France, where they can live as a married couple.
chair. When they leave the room, Briggs tells Jane that her
Rochester explains that his father and brother deceived him
uncle in Madeira is dying. He explains that, when her uncle had
when they arranged his marriage to Bertha in Jamaica. The
received her letter about her upcoming marriage to Rochester,
marriage benefited them financially, so they didn't tell him
he happened to mention it to Mason, who knew the truth.
about the madness in Bertha's family. After a few years,
Concerned for his niece, but too near his end to travel, her
Rochester inherited Thornfield. Because no one outside of
uncle asked Mason to stop the false marriage.
Jamaica knew about his marriage to Bertha, he hid her in
Stunned at the turn of events, Jane shuts herself in her room. hopes of finding a new life for himself. Then he began to
She doesn't know what to think of Rochester, but she does search, unsuccessfully, for the ideal woman with whom he
know that she must leave Thornfield. Feeling completely alone, could share a real relationship—the woman who, after he had
she prays for God's help. three mistresses, he found in Jane. Rochester recaps their
early relationship and explains how he fell in love with her. He
begs her to consider staying with him.
Analysis Jane is tempted to give in to Rochester, but in the end says
she must leave him. That night she recalls the torment of the
The mysteries surrounding Grace Poole, the third floor, the
red-room scene recounted early in the book. She sees the
attacks, and the unearthly laughter are finally explained.
moon and it transforms into the vision of a woman who sends a
Rochester had carefully concealed the fact that he was
message to her heart: "My daughter, flee temptation!" Early the
married to the insane woman. Those who knew about the
next morning, she steals away and arranges with a coachman
woman may have believed she was a mad half-sister or former
to get as far away from Thornfield as her last 20 shillings will
mistress.
take her.
Rochester feels that, because he was tricked into marrying a
woman whose extreme insanity prevents her from being a real
wife, he should be allowed to break the marriage bond and Analysis
seek happiness with Jane. Understanding Jane's upright
character, he knows that she would never agree to be with him Rochester clings to the hope that Jane will come to see his
if she knew about Bertha. situation as he does. He wants her to think that, although he
was unfairly tricked into his marriage with Bertha, he has

treated his insane wife fairly. By taking responsibility for her

Chapter 29
physical care and safety, he has done all that can be done for
her, and he should be allowed to find a fulfilling life for himself. The Rivers siblings nurse Jane back to health at their home
(called both Marsh End and Moor House). Hannah tells her
Jane relates her forgiveness with direct address: "Reader, I
about the Rivers siblings: St. John is the parson at a parish in
forgave him," again foreshadowing her statement in the final
Morton, a nearby village. Mary and Diana are governesses on
chapter. She uses it again at the chapter close, calling forth all
leave after the death of their father. Jane tells her rescuers as
the reader's sympathy over her crushed hopes and dashed
much of her history as she can, without revealing anything
dreams: "Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! ...
about Thornfield. St. John offers to try to find work for her.
Never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to
what you wholly love."
As much as Jane believes that Rochester deserves to be Analysis

happy, she cannot respect herself if she flouts the laws of God
and man. Religious principles and self-control triumph. She will On her first night on the heath, Jane feels God's presence in
not succumb to passion if it means abandoning morality. The nature. She echoes Helen Burns when she says, "Sure was I of
reappearance of the red-room and the moon underscores the His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew
fact that Jane's departure is a moment of crisis. that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it
treasured." Although Jane has always been interested in
religion, she has never embraced it as wholeheartedly as she
Chapters 28–29 begins to do now. She has made a major life decision because
of the laws of religion, and now she is alone in the world. She
clings to that religion in the hope that it will help her heal. Her
resolve is bolstered by the vision she had in Chapter 27.
Summary
Jane's welcome by the Rivers siblings contrasts with the
treatment she experienced from her own family at Gateshead.
Chapter 28 That this trio is later revealed to be her cousins does not
diminish the charity they show when she is a stranger to them.
Jane opens the chapter using the present tense, explaining
that the coach takes her as far as Whitcross, a remote area of Jane's taking of the false name Jane Elliott parallels Brontë's
moors and mountains. She seeks solace in nature and wanders own adoption of a pseudonym in writing the book. It also sets
on the moor, where the narration shifts to the past. She has the up the surprise when her true identity is learned. The name
consoling thought that God will watch over Rochester, Marsh End signifies that the end of her emotional journey is
protecting him, and then sleeps the night on the moor. Having near in this place.
spent all of her money on the coach, she walks to a village
where she tries, unsuccessfully, to find work. She begs for
food and sleeps outdoors at night. On the third night in the Chapter 30
area, in pouring rain, she approaches a house in the woods.
After observing the people inside, Jane knocks at the door and
asks if she can have shelter in an outbuilding and something to Summary
eat. Hannah, the servant, tells Jane to go away. Jane collapses
on the doorstep, where St. John Rivers finds her. He has Jane, Diana, and Mary find that they have many interests in
overheard the exchange with Hannah, and he asks Jane to common, and they become close friends over the next month.
come inside, where she meets his sisters, Diana and Mary. She St. John, more reserved than his sisters, is often away, tending
tells them her name is Jane Elliott, and they give her some food to his parishioners; Jane hears one of his powerful sermons,
and a warm bed to sleep in. which reveals a strict, almost harsh set of beliefs. After a
month St. John explains that his sisters will soon be leaving

and he will return to his parsonage, where he will remain for a romantic tension between them. St. John, however, seems to
year or so before departing it. He then offers Jane a position be trying to resist Rosamond.
as teacher in the school in the village of Morton that he intends
to open; a building has been made ready, but there is no
teacher in place. Her pupils will be the daughters of farmers Analysis
and villagers. Jane gratefully accepts the position, which
comes with a small cottage in Morton. The Rivers siblings then In this chapter readers see Jane beginning an independent life,
receive word that their Uncle John has died and left his fortune the kind of life suitable to her position in society as one who
of 20,000 pounds to an unknown relative. They'd hoped he needs to work but above the station of a servant. As the sole
would leave some of his fortune to them, because he was schoolteacher, she has autonomy. As someone living alone in
responsible for losing most of their father's fortune in a her cottage, she has, for the first time in her life, the
speculation scheme. Soon Diana and Mary go back to the city, opportunity to set up her home as she wants it. That this
Moor House is shut up, and St. John returns to his parsonage. passage is described in the present tense might indicate how
alive and empowered Jane felt at this time—and how vivid and
real the memory remains for her.
Analysis
For someone who has known poverty, Jane initially has little
Diana and Mary share many interests with Jane, and she empathy for her students, although she then resolves to help
admires their intellectual pursuits and accomplishments. She them with their manners as well as their education. St. John is
hasn't had this kind of friendship since Lowood. St. John is a revealed to be like Jane in this chapter in his resolve to help
puzzle, because his spirituality is so different from Jane's. It and improve those whom he considers beneath him. And, like
seems rigid, lacking in gentleness and joy. Yet, unlike Mr. Jane, he suppresses his passion in order to maintain his sense
Brocklehurst, who also had a strict interpretation of religion, St. of morality.
John has a kind, generous heart. Like Rochester, he gives her

The relationship of St. John and Rosamond provides a parallel
the possibility of employment, which allows her to be
to that of Rochester and Blanche Ingram. Rosamund, like
independent.
Blanche, has her eye set on an eligible bachelor, although in
this case Rosamond already has money—she is not a fortune
seeker. Her regard for him helps establish him as a worthy
Chapter 31 character.
Summary Chapter 32
Jane describes her home, using the present tense. After her
first day of teaching at the village school, she feels depressed
about the task ahead of her. Her students have so much to
Summary
learn, and some are rough and undisciplined. She resolves to
Jane begins to take pride in the positive changes she sees in
focus on the satisfaction she'll feel when her students make
her students. She is accepted and well-liked by the villagers.
progress. St. John visits and, detecting her sorrowful mood,
Rosamond and Jane interact. Rosamond sees and admires
tells her that there was a time when he was unhappy with his
Jane's paintings, and Jane draws her. The heiress introduces
ministry duties and craved a more exciting career. Heaven, he
Jane to her father at their home. Jane's nights are troubled by
says, sent him a solution—he decided to find action by going to
vivid dreams of being with Rochester. Rosamond continues to
Asia on a godly "errand" as a missionary. While Jane and St.
flirt with St. John, and although it's obvious he's attracted to
John talk, the beautiful young Rosamond Oliver appears at the
her, he doesn't reciprocate. St. John visits Jane, and after they
gate. She is the benefactress who funds Jane's school.
talk and he prepares to leave, Jane attempts to play
Rosamond invites St. John to come with her to visit her father
matchmaker by suggesting that marrying Rosamond and
right away, but he declines, "Not to-night." Jane detects a
staying in Morton could make him a happy man. He responds

that Rosamond would not enjoy being the wife of a missionary, lament the loss of the possibility of a relationship with a
and he will not give up his ambition to become one. Before St. relative—she had hoped to get to know her uncle. Her second
John leaves the cottage, he seems startled by something he is to recognize the benefit of such a sum: "independence would
sees on a scrap of Jane's drawing paper, which covers her be glorious," she thinks. Jane asks St. John why Briggs had
sketch of Rosamond (a sketch he has admired). He tears a thought to write to him about Jane. After some persuasion St.
strip off the paper and takes it with him, leaving Jane puzzled John tells Jane that "[his] mother's name was Eyre, and she
about what he found. had two brothers." One brother married Jane Reed (Jane's
mother), and the other was John Eyre of Madeira, a merchant.
Jane is overjoyed to learn that the Rivers siblings are her
Analysis cousins. She immediately decides that she will divide her
inheritance four ways and share it with them and plans to stop
The role of mentor that Jane takes with her students is similar teaching.
to the one Miss Temple played in her life. Some of Jane's
comments about her students reveal that she is not immune to
class snobbery but she begins to overcome it, recognizing in Analysis
just a short while that "some of these heavy-looking, gaping
rustics wake up into sharp-witted girls enough." St. John chides Jane about having misplaced priorities
because when she learned about inheriting a fortune, she was
Jane's dreams about Rochester reveal that life is not complete serious, but when she learned about her newfound cousins,
for her without the passionate, fulfilling relationship she has she was excited. The desire for family and human connection
lost. She recognizes in St. John a passionate nature that he is has always been more important to Jane than the desire for
repressing. A match with Rosamond, she thinks, will channel wealth. She tells St. John, "I never had a home, I never had
his passion into a human bond and give him the kind of brothers or sisters; I must and will have them now." Jane now
happiness that she once had with Rochester. But St. John imagines a new future for herself. She sees herself living at
knows that he is ruled by an ambition "to rise higher" and "do Moor House enjoying her cousins' company and free to pursue
more than others." Seeing this as a defect, he has decided to her own interests, a vision underscored by her pleasure in
channel his ambition into missionary work in order to serve a "independence."
higher purpose.
Chapters 34–35
Chapter 33
Summary
Summary
The following day, in the midst of a whirling snowstorm, St.
Chapter 34
John returns to Jane's cottage. He tells her a story about a rich
man's daughter who married a poor curate and was disowned Before the Christmas holidays, Jane shuts the village school
by her family. Less than two years later, both were dead. Their and prepares to move into Moor House with the Rivers siblings.
infant daughter was taken in by rich relations and raised by She and Hannah prepare the house for the arrival of Mary and
Mrs. Reed. He goes on to tell Jane's own story, up to her flight Diana. St. John is critical of the pleasure Jane takes in
from Thornfield. St. John explains that the scrap of paper he "domestic endearments and household joys." He expects her
had taken from Jane's cottage the previous day contained the to devote her time and talents to higher pursuits. A week later
signature "Jane Eyre," and he had recently received a letter Mary, Jane, and Diana are spending their time studying
from Mr. Briggs inquiring about Jane Eyre. Briggs wants to languages, reading, and drawing. Rosamond has chosen a new
inform Jane that her uncle John Eyre has died in Madeira and suitor; St. John has lost her, due to his self-control. St. John
left his fortune of 20,000 pounds to her. Her first reaction is to persuades Jane to give up her study of German to help him in

his study of Hindostanee, an Asian language. Jane has become

closer to the Rivers siblings; at Diana's urging, St. John kisses
Analysis
Jane, as he would a sister.
St. John is strict and exacting and holds Jane, as he holds
Jane constantly worries that Rochester might have gone back himself, to high standards. Jane begins to feel restricted as St.
to a life of pleasure-seeking. She writes letters to Mrs. Fairfax, John exerts more and more influence over her. She wants to
but there's no response. Six months have passed since please him but knows that if she marries him she will have to
Christmas, and Jane sinks into a kind of despair. One day St. give up all of her freedom, much more than she would have had
John asks her to go for a walk with him. He says he will leave to give up with Rochester. She begins to waver, though,
for India in six weeks and wants her to go with him as his wife. because she thinks perhaps dedicating herself to missionary
Jane objects that she knows nothing about the missionary life, work will help to fill the void in her life. The proposal scene is
but he assures her he will direct her "from hour to hour." Jane also a moving contrast to the one with Rochester: the earlier
knows he doesn't love her—he loves only his work—and he had one was full of talk of love and passion, and the scene with St.
loved Rosamond. She doesn't love him either, much as she John reflects duty and morality.
tries to please him. Jane tells St. John she'll consider going
Jane's experience of Rochester's voice introduces a mystery.
with him as his sister but not as his wife. Their handshake at
Was it a miracle? Jane rejects the notion instantly: "'Down
the end of the chapter reveals his lack of passion and the hurt
superstition!' I commented, as that spectre rose up black by
it causes Jane.
the black yew at the gate. 'This is not thy deception, nor thy
witchcraft: it is the work of nature. She was roused, and
Chapter 35 did—no miracle—but her best.'" What does a reader believe?

Was it indeed a miracle? Was it Jane's subconscious reminding
St. John plans to leave in a week to see friends in Cambridge, her of the need to be certain of Rochester's fate?
and during that time he treats Jane politely but with a certain
coldness and distance. She's deeply saddened that he seems
so angry with her. The evening before his departure, Jane Chapter 36
approaches him in the garden and attempts to patch up their
friendship. He questions her refusal of his proposal. Again she
offers to go with him as his assistant but not as his wife, an Summary
offer St. John rejects "bitterly." Jane realizes that before she
can leave England she must know what has become of The next day, after getting a note from St. John containing a
Rochester. request for her "clear decision," Jane travels to Whitcross and
by coach to the vicinity of Thornfield. A day and a half later,
After dinner Jane and St. John speak again. Jane is on the
she finds that Thornfield Hall is no longer the stately mansion
verge of agreeing to marry him, after receiving encouragement
she remembers; it is a "blackened ruin." Jane returns to the
from Diana earlier, almost hypnotized by his religious "sublime
Rochester Arms (the inn where the coach stopped) and learns
moment." Then something extraordinary happens. As the room
that Thornfield burned down in the autumn, two months after
is bathed in moonlight, she hears the voice of Rochester,
she had fled. Rochester, despondent, had been living "like a
calling "Jane! Jane! Jane!" She runs outside shouting, "I am
hermit" at Thornfield. He'd sent Adèle off to school, and Mrs.
coming! ... Wait for me!" She can't find the source of the sound
Fairfax had gone to live with friends. Late one night Bertha
and concludes that it must have been some quirk of nature.
escaped from her room and set fire to Thornfield. Rochester
Jane tells St. John she needs to be alone, and in her room she
attempted to save her, but she jumped from the roof to her
prays and offers thanks.
death. Rochester helped the servants get out of the building,
but the main staircase collapsed as he came down it. He lost
his eyesight ("one eye was knocked out" and the other became
sightless) and his left hand as a result. Jane learns that
Rochester is now living at Ferndean, his remote manor house.
She immediately arranges for a chaise to go there.

Jane! Jane!" He thought he heard her voice reply: "I am coming:

Analysis wait for me."
Whatever has become of Rochester, Bertha Mason's death is

significant to Jane: it provides hope for her dreams. Bertha's
death removes the huge obstacle to her marriage to
Analysis
Rochester—as her uncle's bequest had made her more likely to
Until now each event that has seemed to have a supernatural
be comfortable with such a match because it guaranteed her
aspect has turned out to have a rational explanation. For
independence.
example, the light Jane saw in the red-room was from a lantern
Rochester's behavior after Jane's departure and his heroism someone was carrying outside; the shrieks from Thornfield's
during the fire attest to the depth and sincerity of his feelings third floor were produced by Bertha; the vampire-like figure
and his strength of character. Fire has played a destructive wearing Jane's wedding veil was Bertha as well. However,
role here, causing Rochester to lose not only Thornfield but there is no rational explanation for how Jane and Rochester
also his sight and his hand. This can be seen as punishment for could have heard each other's voices calling across the many
Rochester's transgressions. Will Rochester now find the miles that separated them. This telepathic experience seems
redemption he'd been seeking? Will he sink further into to convey that the lovers are fated to be together; it shows the
despair? Or will he erupt into anger? strength of their bond. The chapter ends with the pair
reflecting on this. Jane says, "The coincidence is too awful ... to
be communicated." Rochester faithfully praises "my Maker."
Chapter 37 Interestingly, Rochester's reaction to Jane's appearance is that

it "must be a dream." When reality is so wonderful, it can only
be unreal, a dream.
Summary
Jane arrives at Ferndean, deep in the woods, at dusk. Chapter 38
Rochester is living a solitary life, attended by two servants.
Jane interacts with one of the servants and arranges to
surprise Rochester. He seems subdued and resigned when she
first sees him, but when he realizes she is there, he's delighted:
Summary
"I cannot be so blest, after all my misery; it is a dream." Jane
Jane and Rochester marry and settle down at Ferndean. Mary
states her intention to "stay with him" and tells him about
and Diana are pleased about Jane's marriage and plan to visit.
inheriting her uncle's fortune. Rochester thinks his injuries will
St. John never mentions Jane's marriage, but he continues to
prevent Jane from wanting to marry him; she has to reassure
write to her now and then. Jane finds a boarding school nearby
him. They dine together. He says he missed her more than he
for Adèle, who often comes to visit.
cared about his physical condition: "Yes: for her restoration I
longed, far more than for that of my lost sight." A day later, as Ten years after marrying Rochester, Jane writes that they are
Jane narrates her experiences since their separation, happier and closer than ever. They have a son, and Rochester
Rochester assures Jane that he never could have made her his has regained partial sight in one eye. Diana and Mary are both
mistress; he wanted their relationship to be one of equality and happily married. St. John Rivers, who followed his missionary
respect. He compares himself to the chestnut tree and path, never married. He writes to Jane that he expects to be
proposes to Jane again. They decide to marry in three days. called soon to "his sure reward"—he is dying.
Rochester tells Jane that religion has become more important

to him and he's begun to pray, in his own way. On the past
Analysis
Monday night, he says, he asked God to take him from this life
to a world where he might reunite with Jane. He stood by the
Chapter 38 is the only one that has a title: "Conclusion." Brontë
window, with the moon shining in, and suddenly shouted, "Jane!
might be playing with multiple meanings of the word. Not only

Jane Eyre Study Guide Quotes 31
does the chapter conclude the work, but perhaps she—through

books; you are a dependent, mama
Jane—is offering conclusions about the novel's meaning for the
reader to consider. says; you have no money; your
Rochester finally receives his redemption, as indicated by the father left you none; you ought to
restoration of his sight and the birth of a son. Of course, he
beg, and not to live here with
had to suffer a physical wound for that to happen, and he will
bear the scar for the rest of his life. But he is a happier and gentlemen's children like us, and
better man than ever before. Jane has the love and the family
eat the same meals we do, and
that she has always craved. Far from feeling restricted by
marriage, Jane feels "supremely blest" and "as free as in wear clothes at our mama's
solitude, as gay as in company."
expense."
Some critics see Rochester's injury as a symbolic castration,
an injury that limits his potent masculinity and thus makes him — John Reed, Chapter 1
more acceptable to the spinsterish Brontë as a mate for her
heroine. In this reading he is more than humbled and
This quotation reveals that the reason the Reed family isolates
chastened by his injuries; he is diminished but also made
and despises Jane is because she is poor. It also establishes
threatening. Rochester's blindness fits into a long tradition of
that Jane is in some ways outside of the social class system.
characters who see more clearly after they lose sight. When
Oedipus finally sees the truth of his actions, he blinds himself.
The Duke of Gloucester from King Lear only sees the truth of
which of his sons is loyal when he is blinded. Rochester, "I was a discord in Gateshead Hall:
blinded, has seen the error of his ways. Jane succeeds in
I was like nobody there; I had
finding a physician who can partly restore his sight; that is, it is
through her that he can see more clearly. nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed
That the last words are given to St. John and suggest his or her children, or her chosen
acceptance of his impending death solidifies the religious vassalage. If they did not love me,
theme—and echoes the death of the Christ-like Helen earlier in
the book. Like her, St. John exemplifies the Christian virtues in fact, as little did I love them."
that Brontë cherishes—faith in God, trust in his forgiveness,
and humility. The sanctimonious Mrs. Reed and Mr. — Jane Eyre, Chapter 2
Brocklehurst, on the other hand, reach no such glorious state.
Adèle's path reflects on Jane's early life. She was unhappy at Jane, isolated and punished in the red-room, reveals how
the first school where she was placed—Jane "found the rules rejected, unloved, and alone she feels among the Reeds. Her
of the establishment were too strict, its course of study too physical isolation in the room reflects how emotionally isolated
severe, for a child of her age." Able to spare the girl the misery she feels. In the same speech, she says that, in the Reeds'
she suffered, at least initially, at Lowood, Jane pulled her from eyes, she is "useless" and "noxious." The strong terms reveal
the school and placed her in another. No longer powerless, how deeply and sharply she feels their contempt and
Jane uses her authority to benefit others. disapproval. Considering Jane is only 10 years old, and the
preceding pages showed John Reed unfairly attacking her and
her aunt unfairly punishing her, the passage adds to the
g Quotes sympathy readers feel for her.
"You have no business to take our "I could not see how poor people

make her feel better in a lasting way—an early step in her

had the means of being kind; and
moral education.
then to learn to speak like them, to
adopt their manners, to be
"It is far better to endure patiently
uneducated, to grow up like one of
a smart which nobody feels but
the poor women I saw sometimes
yourself, than to commit a hasty
nursing their children or washing
action whose evil consequences
their clothes at the cottage doors
will extend to all connected with
of the village of Gateshead: no, I
you; and besides, the Bible bids us
was not heroic enough to
return good for evil."
purchase liberty at the price of
caste." — Helen Burns, Chapter 6
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 3 Helen advises Jane that gaining control of her passions will
benefit her both in the everyday world and in the spiritual
world. This quotation relates to the themes of passion, religion,
As much as Jane wants to be free of the Reeds, she knows
and self-control.
enough about the limitations of being poor to decide that she's
better off with them than she'd be living with poor relations.
This quotation relates to the theme of social class and gender.
"Women are supposed to be very
calm generally: but women feel
"I am glad you are no relation of
just as men feel; they need
mine: I will never call you aunt
exercise for their faculties, and a
again as long as I live. I will never
field for their efforts, as much as
come to see you when I am grown
their brothers do; they suffer from
up; and if any one asks me how I
too rigid a restraint, too absolute a
liked you, and how you treated me,
stagnation, precisely as men
I will say the very thought of you
would suffer; and it is narrow-
makes me sick, and that you
minded in their more privileged
treated me with miserable cruelty."
fellow-creatures to say that they
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 4 ought to confine themselves to
making puddings and knitting
After Mrs. Reed calls Jane a liar to Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane
strikes back, expressing the full weight of her bitter feelings
stockings, to playing on the piano
and isolation. Later she reflects on how her outburst did not and embroidering bags. It is

thoughtless to condemn them, or custom, conventionalities, nor

laugh at them, if they seek to do even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit
more or learn more than custom that addresses your spirit; just as
has pronounced necessary for if both had passed through the
their sex." grave, and we stood at God's feet,
equal,—as we are!"
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 12

Discussing the restlessness she felt in the early days at
Thornfield, Jane issues an impassioned protest of the sexist
Jane tells Rochester why she must leave him, despite her
treatment of women. Such strong statements, which show how
feelings, now that she knows about his marriage. In doing so
women chafe at the restrictions placed on them, explain why
she asserts her worth as an individual, despite being a woman
Jane Eyre is seen as a powerful example of early feminism.
and not of the upper class, and she proclaims her moral code.
"Do you think I can stay to become

"In the deep shade, at the farther
nothing to you? Do you think I am
end of the room, a figure ran
an automaton?—a machine
backwards and forwards. What it
without feelings? and can bear to
was, whether beast or human
have my morsel of bread snatched
being, one could not, at first sight
from my lips, and my drop of living
tell: it groveled, seemingly on all
water dashed from my cup? Do
fours: it snatched and growled like
you think, because I am poor,
some strange wild animal: but it
obscure, plain, and little, I am
was covered with clothing and a
soulless and heartless? You think
quantity of dark, grizzled hair wild
wrong!—I have as much soul as
as a mane, hid its head and face."
you,—and full as much heart! And
if God had gifted me with some — Jane Eyre, Chapter 26
beauty and much wealth, I should

Jane describes Bertha Mason, whom she clearly sees for the
have made it as hard for you to first time, after her own wedding to Rochester has been halted.
leave me, as it is now for me to

leave you. I am not talking to you "Gentle reader, may you never feel
now through the medium of what I then felt! May your eyes

never shed such stormy, scalding, "To live amidst general regard,
heart-wrung tears as poured from though it be but the regard of
mine. May you never appeal to working people, is like 'sitting in
Heaven in prayers so hopeless sunshine, calm and sweet'; serene
and so agonized as in that hour inward feelings bud and bloom
left my lips; for never may you, like under the ray."
me, dread to be the instrument of
evil to what you wholly love."
Jane reflects on how she feels about her life as a teacher in
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 27 Morton. Her language reveals some class prejudice, even
though she herself has experienced being reviled for her lack
Jane expresses her heartache at leaving Thornfield. She also of status. The quotation within the quote is from the poem
addresses the reader directly here, a device Brontë uses in "Lalla Rookh" by Irish writer Thomas Moore.
some points of the narrative to heighten the reader's
identification with her protagonist.
"'I am no better than the old
lightning-struck chestnut-tree in
"If you are a Christian, you ought
Thornfield orchard,' he remarked
not to consider poverty a crime."
ere long. 'And what right would
— Jane Eyre, Chapter 29 that ruin have to bid a budding
woodbine cover its decay with
Jane tries to convince Hannah, the Rivers' servant, that she
should not judge people based on their wealth. Jane's freshness?'"
unsteady social status and religious understanding has given
her an appreciation of people's true virtues. — Edward Rochester, Chapter 37
Rochester is telling Jane that, because of his blindness and

"God directed me to a correct dependence, he cannot ask her to spend her youth and health
choice: I thank His providence for tending to him.
the guidance!"
"Reader, I married him."

Settled now at Morton and teaching in her little school, Jane
reaffirms the wisdom of her decision to adhere to morals and
This breathtakingly short transition not only tells readers of the
law and leave Rochester, despite the heartache she feels.
key event they have been waiting for but also reminds readers
that Jane has completed her journey toward being a strong,

Jane Eyre Study Guide Symbols 35
independent woman. Fire's destructive force visits Thornfield on three occasions.

The first is the fire in Rochester's room, when Jane saves him.
While Jane's introduction to the mystery of Thornfield occurs
"'My Master,' he says, 'has in Chapter 11, when she first hears the strange laughter, it is
the fire in Chapter 15 that makes the mystery a threatening
forewarned me. Daily he one. Jane saves Rochester from this fire, foreshadowing how,
at the book's end, she saves him with her love after the final
announces more
fire. The second instance of fire at Thornfield is the lightning
distinctly,—"Surely I come quickly!" strike on the chestnut tree just moments after Jane and
Rochester become engaged to marry. Here the destructive
and hourly I more eagerly
force of fire is an omen. The destruction of Thornfield by fire is
respond,—"Amen, even so come, the most dramatic representation of fire's destructive force.
Lord Jesus!"'" The image of a fire in a fireplace conveys a feeling of warmth

and comfort and signals a pleasant experience, as when Helen
— St. John Rivers, Chapter 38 Burns and Jane take tea in Miss Temple's room: "How pretty,
to my eyes, did the china cups and bright teapot look ... on the
little round table near the fire." In shock after her wedding has
Jane quotes one of St. John's letters in the last lines of the
been abruptly halted, Jane experiences the regenerating effect
book. St. John is revealing his acceptance of impending death.
of fire; Rochester takes her to the library, where she feels "the
By giving him the last words, Brontë gives added weight to the
reviving warmth of a fire." The fire that destroys Thornfield can
message these words communicate. St. John's calm
also be viewed as a regenerative force because it was the
acceptance of death reminds the reader of Helen Burns's
beginning of Rochester's redemption.
acceptance earlier in the book, and the double appearance of
this point of view underscores its importance. By closing the The red-room, which is the color of fire, provides another set of
book in this way, Brontë suggests that Jane, too, has come to symbolic meanings of fire. The room is cold and unwelcoming
this way of thinking. While she is happy in her life now, she "because it seldom has a fire." The absence of fire is the
understands that death will come into her life again and she will absence of comfort. Jane's sense that the room is, or may be,
be prepared for it. haunted gives another reading to its coldness. It is a room of
death, without the fire of passion, of life. The light that Jane
sees and is disturbed by is reflected lantern light. Thus, what
should be a positive—firelight as a guide to where to move and
l Symbols a way to ensure safety—becomes instead strange and
threatening.
Ice or coldness serves as a symbolic counterpoint to fire's

Fire passion and vibrancy. Early in Jane's life, when she is isolated
and alone, she faces the coldness of the red-room and of
Lowood, where Mr. Brocklehurst—a man without
Images of fire throughout the novel represent passion, passion—forces the students to live in a place where they
destruction, and comfort or regeneration. Fire, like passion, has awaken to find pitchers with water that have turned to ice. St.
the qualities of heat and light. When Rochester thanks Jane for John's coldness contrasts with Rochester's—and Jane's—fiery
saving his life, "Strange energy was in his voice, strange fire in passion. While that passion can be destructive, so can its
his look." When Rochester is anxious to get to the church for absence. St. John is described as being "cold as an iceberg,"
their wedding, he tells Jane, "My brain is on fire with and his kiss makes Jane think of "marble kisses or ice kisses."
impatience." In this sense fire symbolizes vibrancy—intense With him Jane "felt daily more and more that I must disown half
aliveness. my nature, stifle half my faculties." His ice is stifling the fire of
her passionate nature.

Jane Eyre Study Guide Themes 36
Later, after Jane and Rochester are engaged, she has more
The Madwoman disturbing dreams of children. In the first she is holding a child
as she and Rochester walk, but he is ahead of her and gets
farther and farther distant; she can never catch up. In the
Bertha, the madwoman on the third floor, represents hidden, second she is clutching a baby while walking in the ruins of
shameful secrets. Because of her Creole heritage, her Thornfield, Rochester barely visible as he again moved away
marriage to Rochester was outside the bounds of class from her. The child might represent the still-young hope of
conventions, and her madness could be seen as the price that happiness, her not-yet-real new identity as Mrs. Rochester, or
both she and Rochester pay for ignoring convention. It is also a her desire for motherhood—a chance to be the parent she lost.
forced marriage. Rochester's father and brother trap him in it, Clearly, though, the image of losing Rochester, so central to
meaning it is a loveless marriage, one based on financial both dreams, is the disturbing presentiment that weighs most
concerns. Bertha represents the destructive force of unbridled heavily on these dreams. The newly engaged Jane isn't
passion, of the absence of self-control. Without self-control, dreaming of happily ever after here but of being abandoned
humans are violent creatures. When she escapes from her and alone—with the added responsibility of motherhood—once
third-floor confinement, she does not attempt to gain her again in her life.
freedom but attacks others.
After the wedding fiasco and Jane's departure, she dreams of
Bertha is the opposite of the maturing Jane—completely Rochester from time to time, but these dreams are more
dependent, confined, angry, unreasoning, and violent. She is hopeful. Seeing herself in his arms, "the hope of passing a
Jane's double, the figure that mirrors Jane in negative ways. lifetime at his side, would be renewed, with all its first force and
Indeed, in her dependence, the limits placed on her, and her fire."
anger, she is like the young Jane. If she is of mixed race, that
provides yet another contrast to Jane, who is thoroughly
British.
Moonlight
Dreams Moonlight often signals a change is about to take place in

Jane's life. Jane dresses by the light of a half-moon just before
leaving Gateshead. Moonlight carries her to Helen Burns's
Jane mentions her dreams often, and these dreams may reveal room on the night she dies. Jane, out for a walk, watches the
her subconscious wants and fears, the passions that she is moon shining on a village just before she meets Rochester.
working so hard to control. When Rochester disguises himself The moon shines the night Rochester proposes to her and
as a gypsy to tell Jane's fortune, she feels her mind clouded, as again the night before their interrupted wedding. The night St.
though in a dream. When she realizes he is the gypsy, she John pressures her to marry him, moonlight fills the room just
wonders if she had been dreaming. Jane recognizes that before she hears Rochester's voice. While the moon does not
dreams have significance. She says that she never laughs at always bode well for Jane, when it appears, her life is about to
"presentiments" (premonitions) "because I have had strange change.
ones of my own" and then proceeds to recount the disturbing
dreams she had after the attack on Mr. Mason. Before doing
so, though, she confirms the potent meaning of dreams. Bessie
Lee, she said, believed that dreaming of a child was an ill omen, m Themes
a belief that was strengthened when Bessie dreamed of a child
the night before learning of her sister's death. Jane's dreams
were also of children, of her with a baby that sometimes laughs
and sometimes cries. The next day Bessie Lee arrives and tells
Jane that Mrs. Reed is dying.

when he led a life of dissipation in Europe. When he meets

Passion Jane, he allows his passion for her to overrule his judgment. To
be with her, he tries to defy law and religion; as a result, he
loses Jane. After this loss his passions take a dark turn, and he
Brontë explores the theme of passion through several of the becomes "savage" and "dangerous," walking the grounds of
characters. Those who channel and control their passions are Thornfield "as if he had lost his senses." It's only after
rewarded; those whose passions run wild are punished. Thornfield burns down and he suffers physical injury that
Rochester begins to deal with his disappointments, not by
lashing out at the world but by looking inward. During that soul-
Jane Eyre searching he finds peace in the acceptance of God's will. Of
course, it helps that he and Jane are also reunited.
As a child at Gateshead, Jane is able to nurture her passion for
learning by spending long hours reading. Because she is
isolated by Mrs. Reed, Jane represses her passionate desire
for love and acceptance until the day she is pushed too far and Gender and Class
erupts into an angry outburst against her aunt. After an initial
feeling of victory, Jane feels let down and regretful. As Jane
grows and matures, she constantly struggles to control her In Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë delves into the hypocrisy and
passions. At Lowood, with the help of Helen Burns and Miss injustice of 19th-century conventions regarding gender and
Temple, Jane learns how to govern these feelings. Passion is class roles. Gender and class determined what opportunities
also associated with love, and that is a passion with virtue. people could expect to have in life, whom they could marry,
When Rochester tells Jane that he will marry, letting her think and how much education would be available to them.
he means to Miss Ingram, she speaks with "something like
passion" of the necessity of her leaving Thornfield: "Do you
think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am Gender
an automaton?—a machine without feelings? and can bear to
have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop Brontë's choice of a first-person female narrator allows her
of living water dashed from my cup?" To have passion is to be readers to experience firsthand what it was like to be a female
human. St. John's desire for marriage is passionless; her and in Britain in the early to mid-19th century. Even though Jane is
Rochester's mutual love is a deep, abiding passion. educated, her opportunities are limited, as she finds out when
she tries to find work near the town of Morton after fleeing
Thornfield. As an educated woman, her best options are to
Bertha Mason become a teacher or a governess; other professions aren't
open to her because of her gender. Had St. John not found
Bertha Mason, Rochester's insane wife, represents the Jane a teaching position, she would have had to find more
extreme of uncontrolled passion. It can be argued that her menial, less intellectual work, perhaps as a servant, like Bessie,
mental condition excuses her from responsibility for her or as a housekeeper, like Mrs. Fairfax. Women who worked in
behavior, but according to Rochester the excesses Bertha the theater, like French opera dancer Céline Varens in the
indulged in when she was young are at least partially novel, were assumed to have loose morals. Other jobs open to
responsible for the early onset of her insanity. Bertha's women at the time included seamstress, laundress, baker, and
uncontrolled passion has resulted in her complete lack of shopkeeper. By supporting herself through teaching, Jane has,
freedom. to an extent, more independence than even an upper-class
married woman. She may not have much money, but she
doesn't need to rely on her husband to supply her with food,
Mr. Rochester clothing, and shelter. While on a shopping spree with
Rochester during their engagement, Jane begins to realize that
Rochester has allowed his passions to run wild in the past, with marriage comes a certain loss of independence. In the

end Jane's unexpected inheritance allows her to maintain her passion could reflect this reading—many British felt superior
independence when she finally does marry Rochester. In toward people of color around the world. This reading adds
keeping with the conventions of the times, marriage is the associations to Bertha's character but may not reflect that
happy ending that Brontë supplies for most of her female strongly on the theme of class. She is, presumably, kept on the
characters. In addition to Jane, Bessie, Miss Temple, Mary and third floor because she is mad, not because she is of mixed
Diana Rivers, and even Georgiana Reed are happily married at race. When Mr. Mason—her brother—appears, no mention is
the end of the novel. The too-passionate Bertha Mason is the made of him having any mixed-race characteristics, and other
exception. In settling into the role of wife, these women characters interact with him in perfectly normal ways,
exemplify the Victorian idea of domesticity, in which men were suggesting no race-based prejudice.
allowed to act in the public sphere but women were relegated
to overseeing domestic life. Their charge was the family,
seeing to its physical, emotional, and, to a degree, spiritual
needs. Religion and Self-Control
Class The themes of religion and self-control are somewhat

intertwined, just as the self-control issue is related to the
As a protagonist, Jane is the perfect choice for Brontë to
theme of passion.
explore the effects of class roles on people's lives. Jane is
poor, but she's not working class. She's educated and
accomplished, but she's not upper class. She's outside of or in
Religion
between class. This is a particularly lonely, isolated position:
the upper class scorns her poverty, and she's not really As a child at Gateshead, Jane has only a vague sense of
comfortable with the working class. As a governess, and later religion. She's familiar with the Bible, but when her cousin
as a teacher in a village school, Jane interacts with people of bullies her, she responds impulsively without thinking of the
all classes. This gives Brontë the opportunity to shine a light on consequences. At Lowood she is exposed to Mr.
the inherent hypocrisy and injustice of the class system. Even Brocklehurst's harsh version of religious morality that
after becoming engaged to Rochester, Jane is troubled by the emphasizes sin and punishment. Contrasted with that is the
differences in their social standing; Mrs. Fairfax warns her to gentle, very spiritual Christianity of Helen Burns.
be careful because it's unusual for gentlemen of Rochester's
standing to marry their governesses. Helen Burns teaches Jane that belief in a higher power can
help her endure indignities without lashing out. Helen's
Later in the novel, Jane shines that light on herself as she interpretation of Christianity appeals to Jane, but it's a little too
struggles with her own class prejudice when she begins spiritual for someone as rooted in the natural world as Jane. At
teaching the village children in Morton. She tells herself, "I must Thornfield, and later at Moor House, Jane seems to have
not forget that these coarsely clad peasants are of flesh and developed a relationship to religion that's comfortable for her
blood and as good as the scions [children] of gentlest and supports her through trying times.
genealogy [nobles]."
St. John represents yet another attitude toward religion. For
While there is nothing explicit in Brontë's text on the point, him, religion is an outlet for his ambition and craving for glory
some critics have suggested that race might be another theme and heroism. He is conscientious, self-sacrificing, and puts
related to gender and class, as it, too, is a social construct. duty to God above all else, but his approach to religion is
These critics have interpreted Bertha Mason as being of mixed joyless.
race. For example, Bertha's parents are said to have desired
her marriage to Rochester because he was "of a good race," Rochester comes to accept his fate as God's punishment for
meaning that he was white. There are also references to her his ill-advised attempt to marry Jane while he was still married.
black hair and dark complexion, and Jane typically sees her at He shows no contrition over the betrayal of his vows to Bertha
night and in shadow. Her portrayal as a figure of uncontrolled Mason. Rather his guilt stems from the sense that such a

Jane Eyre Study Guide Suggested Reading 39
marriage would have tainted Jane. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar, eds. The Madwoman in
the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century
Eliza Reed also finds satisfaction in religion but feels she must Imagination. 2nd rev. ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 2000. Print.
withdraw from society to fully express her spirituality. Jane
manages to more successfully integrate her religious beliefs Glen, Heather, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Brontës.
with her emotional and social life. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.
Harman, Claire. Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart. New York:

Self-Control Knopf, 2016. Print.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: Norton, 1992. Print.
Jane learns to control her passions. She values self-control for
three reasons. First, self-control is a path to moral behavior. Simpson, Vicky. "'The Eagerness of a Listener Quickens the
Second, it is a way to demonstrate the supremacy of reason Tongue of a Narrator': Storytelling and Autobiography in Jane
over passion. While Jane is clearly a passionate character, she Eyre." Nineteenth Century Gender Studies 4.3 (2008): n. pag.
values reason—good judgment—over feeling. Third, self-control Web. 7 June 2016.
relates to social position and gender. Jane's dual status as an
outcast from society and a woman makes her vulnerable. By
controlling her passions, she protects herself from taking
actions that will expose her to risk. In perhaps her most
powerful expression of self-control, Jane foregoes her
passionate love for Rochester to maintain her moral code and
protect herself from the social disgrace that would fall on a
mistress. The decision is a wrenching one, but she has to stay
true to her beliefs.
Jane has some self-control from the beginning of the book. An

orphan, despised and mistreated at Gateshead by her cousins
and by Mrs. Reed, she grew up aware of the need to move and
speak carefully to avoid punishment. While the book opens
with her revolting against this ill treatment, Bessie Lee points
out it was the first time Jane had ever behaved in such a way.
This is a self-control born of survival instinct. What she must
learn is self-control as a moral imperative. Helen Burns teaches
self-discipline as the way to avoid punishment and to avoid
bringing shame on loved ones. Jane, loved by no one, must
develop this control for different reasons. She wants self-
control so she can have self-respect.
e Suggested Reading
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. 3rd ed. New
York: Norton, 2000. Print. Norton Critical Editions.
Gaskell, Elizabeth. The Life of Charlotte Brontë. Ed. Elisabeth

Jay. London: Penguin, 1998. Print.
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sections of present tense.

m Themes ...................................................................................................... 36 they decided to use pseudonyms: "without at that time

Victorian Britain inspired many churchgoers to travel abroad as missionaries to

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Mrs. Sarah Reed

St. John Rivers

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Bertha Mason Adèle Varens

St. John Rivers

Other Major Character

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Full Character List Eliza Reed is one of Mrs. Reed's

Georgiana Reed is one of Mrs.

Hannah is the elderly servant at

John Eyre is Jane's paternal uncle

Mrs. Reed of Gateshead Hall is the

St. John Rivers is a parson in the

Miss Abbot is another servant at

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Gateshead Hall for Lowood school.

Orphaned shortly after her birth, 10-year-old Jane Eyre lives at

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Jane flees Thornfield and finds herself on the outskirts of a

Jane goes back to Thornfield only to find the manor in ruins; it

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Rising Action Falling Action

4. Jane saves Rochester's life in mysterious fire.

5. Jane goes to her dying aunt at Gateshead.

8. St. John Rivers proposes, asks Jane to go to India with him.

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Jane stands up to her bullying cousin and aunt's unfair

January, 3 months later

Jane leaves Gateshead Hall for Lowood Institution, a

October, 8 years later

Jane arrives at Thornfield as governess for Mr.

January, 3 months later

Jane meets Mr. Rochester for the first time.

May, 5 months later

Jane goes back to Gateshead to be with Mrs. Reed, who

June, 1 month later

Rochester asks Jane to marry him.

July, 1 month later

Jane flees Thornfield and is taken in at Moor House by

November, 4 months later

Jane learns she has inherited John Eyre's estate and

May, 6 months later

St. John asks Jane to marry him.

June, 1 month later

Jane reunites with Rochester and marries him.

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as well as Anne's second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Preface success—albeit pseudonymously. It was not until her 1850

In responding to criticism of Jane Eyre, the preface reveals

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courage to confront Mrs. Reed about how she has been

When Brocklehurst leaves (after giving Jane a pamphlet, the Chapter 5

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unjust punishment Helen suffers at the hands of Miss

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