Chapter XVII (Pgs 189-210)

Chapter 17 starts with an upset and restless Jane as after ten days Mr Rochester ‘still’ ‘did
not come’(pg 189). She is forced to face her feelings for him. The word ‘still’ accentuates
her frustration and she is even more disappointed to hear he may go directly to London and
not come back for a long time. At this, Jane began to ‘feel a strange chill and failing at the
heart’. The word ‘strange’ shows she is still a novice to the matters of love and does not yet
know how to define this new feeling of loneliness that created a ‘chill’ in her. She feels
abandoned/ heartbroken and fears she would not gain warmth again – feelings that reveal her
attachment for him.
Like in the previous chapter, Jane chides/ reprimands/ forces herself to look reality by
reminding herself that she is just an employee- ‘you have nothing to do with the master of
Thornfield, further than to receive the salary he gives you for teaching his protegee’ ‘He
is not of your order:  keep to your caste, and be too self-respecting to lavish the love of
the whole heart, soul, and strength, where such a gift is not wanted and would be
despised.’ We are reminded Social Class is a main theme in Jane Eyre and it dictates what a
character is allowed to do or not. Jane reminds herself she is a mere governess in the hope
she’ll be able to quell/suppress her constantly budding/ growing emotions.
(Link on social class - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zsfv34j/revision/3 )
Page 191- The mystery Grace Pool and the door on the third floor intensifies as Jane notices
‘the third-storey staircase door’ has of late ‘always been kept locked’, that Grace Pool
would descend to the kitchen’ only ‘once a day, eat her dinner’ and go back, carrying
her pot of porter with her, for her private solace, in her own gloomy, upper haunt.  Only
one hour in the twenty-four did she pass with her fellow-servants below’. The
strangeness of the situation convinces Jane something odd/ strange is going and this feeling is
heightened when she overhears a servant stating ‘though there's no stinginess at
Thornfield’ when it comes to wages (Mr Rochester pays generously and is not a miser), hers
remains ‘one fifth of the sum Mrs. Poole receives’(pg 192). Also when the servant sees
Jane, she ‘gave her companion a nudge’ to stop the conversation. From her close
observations and from what she has heard, Jane can intelligently deduce a mystery exists at
Thornfield from which she is purposely excluded.
Page 193 – Blanche is seen as the only woman among her female companions riding a horse
( this shows her daring and confident nature) and when she first appears she is seen wearing a
‘purple riding-habit.’ Purple is considered an imperial/ royal colour – it shows class/ status,
nobility, power, extravagance, pride and sophistication. This colour gained such a reputation
as in the past only those who had money and power could afford purple clothes – the dye was
exorbitantly expensive. By making Blanche first appear in that royal colour, Bronte
automatically makes us aware that we are to expect someone who favours the traits
associated with that colour and will be a fierce competitor for Jane. Blanche’s appearance
reminds Jane of her status as a governess.
Page 195- ‘I could not proceed to the schoolroom without passing some of their doors,
and running the risk of being surprised with my cargo of victualage( food); so I stood
still at this end, which, being windowless, was dark: quite dark now, for the sun was set
and twilight gathering.’ While Jane unwilling to appear before the guests without
permission is a reminder that servants/ governesses were meant to be seen only when needed(
social distinction), the reference to the setting sun metaphorically conveys Jane’s emotion as
she feels overshadowed by the newcomers’ presence. As for the guests, they are described
as each coming out ‘gaily and airily, with dress that gleamed lustrous through the dusk’
and their ‘collective appearance had left on me an impression of high-born elegance,
such as I had never before received.’ ‘Gleamed lustrous’ (Twinkled brilliantly ) is set
against the darkness brought by ‘dusk’ as a possible ay to show that Jane(dusk) can never
aspire to rise in status and become like them(lustrous).
Page 200 –Lady Ingram (Blanche’s mother) is described as having ‘an expression of
almost insupportable haughtiness in her bearing and countenance’, features ‘furrowed
with pride’ , ‘a fierce and a hard eye’ that reminded Jane of Mrs Reed. Her voice was
‘deep, its inflections very pompous, very dogmatical,--very intolerable.’  She is dressed in
a crimson(red) robe. The wearing of bright/ flashy colours by both Blanche and her mother
stand in contrast with Jane’s black and grey clothes. The choice of black clothes represents
Jane’s modesty and moral purity.
As for Blanche Ingram, she looks as gorgeous/ beautiful as Jane has imagined while drawing
an imaginative picture of her based on Mrs Fairfax’s description in the previous chapter. She
has a ‘noble bust, the sloping shoulders, the graceful neck, the dark eyes and black
ringlets’ but her face, like her mother's, held ‘the same pride’, though not a ‘saturnine’
(moody/unsmiling) pride. ‘Instead she laughed continually; her laugh was satirical, and
so was the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip.’ Jane’s observation about
Blanche are not positive as possibly she reminds her of her own Reed cousins who constantly
reminded Jane of her status. Also, we can consider the fact that Jane might be a bit jealous as
well as she feels hurt seeing Mr Rochester and Blanche together.
Jane’s observation continues when she observes Blanche as being ‘remarkably
self-conscious’ when she entered into a talk ‘on botany with the gentle Mrs. Dent. It
seemed Mrs. Dent had not studied that science’ though ‘Miss Ingram had, and she ran
over its vocabulary with an air’ ‘playing on her ignorance’ , a ‘decidedly not
good-natured(pg 201)’ trait, according to Jane, who finds mocking ones’ ignorance to be
despicable and missing humility and kindness.  
Blanche also seems to dislike children, evidenced through the way she ‘had looked down at
her with a mocking air’(pg 201) when she first addresses Adele and her disapproval of her
being at Thornfield ‘you should have sent her to school( boarding school)’ (pg 204). We
also note from the conversations about Adele that Mr Rochester’s friends do not seem to
know much about Adele’s origins. Possibly, he has not divulged the information he shared
with Jane with them. The fact he has been able to confide in Jane in the brief moment he has
known her and not in his long-known friends makes his friendship with them superficial and
questionable. Does he fear it will make them think poorly of him or be cruel to Adele if they
know there is a possibility she might be his daughter and that of an opera-dancer ( not a well
seen profession at that time).
We note Blanche is also condescending/ arrogant/ demeaning/mocking when she addresses
those she considers to be of an inferior status as well, for instance – governesses. Though
Blanche refers to the cost of having one – ‘I should think it quite expensive’ ‘you men
never do consider economy’(pg 205), her comments show that her dislike goes beyond
costs. After all, Mr Rochester is wealthy enough to afford one. Her comments about
expenses is possibly a cover up for her to be rude about Jane- can it be she feels Jane is a
possible rival for her when it comes to Mr Rochester’s affection? She rudely calls
governesses as ‘detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi(demons)’ when she
knows Jane can hear her and her mother rudely supports her by adding that in Jane she sees
‘all the faults of her class.’ Ironically, though she also says she hated governesses because
of ‘incompetency and caprice’, Blanche mentions ‘tricks’ she played oh hers( pg 205/206) ,
which shows she was the capricious one. Also she helped in ‘prosecuting (or persecuting)’
one of the tutors, ‘whey-faced Mr. Vining — the parson in the pip, as we used to call him.
He and Miss Wilson took the liberty of falling in love with each other.’ Blanche made
‘public’ their liking for each other with an aim of humiliating them and reminding them of
their place while her mother supports her by adding ‘liaisons between governesses and
tutors should never be tolerated a moment in any well-regulated house.’ Blanche and her
mother’s words show that employees are constantly persecuted and by not allowing them to
fall in love, they are desexualized- treated as objects. These disrespectful words by the
mother daughter duo remind us of Mrs Reed’s similar cruel words/ attitudes towards those
she considered inferior.
Blanche Ingram’s vanity and obvious attempt to conquer Mr Rochester is seen when she says
beauty has nothing to do with men – ‘as if a man had anything to do with beauty’ but is
the ‘special prerogative of woman — her legitimate appanage and heritage!’ She states a
man should ‘possess only strength and valour’ and is ‘resolved my(her) husband shall
not be a rival’ (pg208) in beauty. Her words remind us those of Adele’s mother, Celine
Varens, who told Mr Rochester beauty did not matter to her but behind his back talked of his
deformities. Is Blanche playing the same game? If that’s the case, she clearly does not know
Mr Rochester well. Also, Mr Rochester effectively does not fall for her words as he chooses
to marry Jane( sign of growth and maturity for him).
This chapter ends with a focus on a potential relationship between Jane and Rochester. When
Jane cannot bear seeing Mr Rochester and Blanche together, she leaves the gathering. Her
raw emotions come from her belief that her social position makes any possibility of the love
nul/ impossible. As for Mr Rochester, the fact he goes after Jane when he suddenly see her
leaving shows that he has been secretly observing her. His parting words and behaviour -
‘Good-night my—’ He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me(Jane)’ end the chapter
with cliffhanger. A Cliffhanger is a dramatic and exciting ending to an episode of a
serial, leaving the audience in suspense and anxious not to miss the next episode. Bronte
makes readers attempt a guess at what he would have liked to say. Was he intending to say
‘my love’? As for his physical gestures, they show he stopped himself quickly as possibly as
he knows his words could be considered inappropriate and rash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jijvhg0db70
Can we trust Jane’s description? Are her negative descriptions motivated by jealousy? Is she
intolerant because of her own upbringing?