Jane Eyre Reading Response

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that equality within marriage was much more associated with a fairy tale. For one, terrible marriages are depicted all throughout the novel, with the exception of the final few. Marriage seems to be confined by lust, grandeur, or service according to the rest of the novel. Secondly, Rochester has to become physically mutilated and allow his previous wife to commit suicide before he and Jane can begin a happy marriage. Lastly, Ferndean is described as a very confusing place to get to--Jane almost got lost. The setting is filled with trees for miles and it doesn’t appear that the outside world knows of its existence. Free, equal, and happy marriages cannot be sought after without the fantastical graces described above, thus negating any hope such endeavours. Also, the last passage of the novel explains John’s impending death and implied succession into heaven. I believe that this could also undermine the idea of marriage because a righteous escape is more easily achieved than a happy marriage, according to the obstacles between marriage when compared to the obstacles in finding God. Nevertheless, Bronte may be offering an unforeseen piece of satire against the probability of finding a true marriage through those intimations.

Questions:

Factual- What happened to Thornfield Hall?

Interpretive- How are St. John and Rochester foils? Describe actions, characteristics, ideologies, and what is learned from Jane’s interaction with each.

Evaluative- How does each setting in Jane Eyre lead up to Jane’s ability to love freely, fully, fruitfully, and faithfully, according to Christian values?

Significant Quotation: Chapter 36, Pg. 492, Jane narrates.

“-Hear an illustration, reader.

-A lover finds his mistress asleep on a mossy bank; he wishes to

catch a glimpse of her fair face without waking her. He steals

softly over the grass, careful to make no sound; he pauses--fancying

she has stirred: he withdraws: not for worlds would he be seen.

All is still: he again advances: he bends above her; a light veil

rests on her features: he lifts it, bends lower; now his eyes

anticipate the vision of beauty--warm, and blooming, and lovely, in

rest. How hurried was their first glance! But how they fix! How

he starts! How he suddenly and vehemently clasps in both arms the

form he dared not, a moment since, touch with his finger! How he

calls aloud a name, and drops his burden, and gazes on it wildly!

He thus grasps and cries, and gazes, because he no longer fears to

waken by any sound he can utter--by any movement he can make. He

thought his love slept sweetly: he finds she is stone dead.

-I looked with timorous joy towards a stately house; I saw a blackened ruin.”

Jane utilizes the stylistic strategy of speaking in second person point of view to explain her immediate feelings with a vivid story. In summary, the story describes a lover approaching his sleeping mistress with intentions of love, only to find her dead. This story intends to relate directly to the occasion at hand, in which first sees Thornfield Hall after it has been burned down to ruins. As Jane shifts from a secretive, romantic tone to an emotionally impactful one. In a combination of long syntactical sentences and exclamatory phrases, Jane appeals to the reader’s emotion and cadence by slowly rushing the scene with suspense until it results in the stand-still of absolute shock. The illustration of love by the man in reflective of Jane’s love for Rochester.

This passage reveals Jane’s deepest emotions of love toward Rochester. Oftentimes while she was in Whitcross she would reflect on him, but now it is clear that she has intensely loved him all throughout. Additionally, it is revealed that Rochester became depressed after Jane’s departure, and eventually sought distance from the outside world by residing in Ferndean. The state-home and its location are symbolic of marriage’s escape toward freedom and equality. This starkly contrasts the role of women as subservient in the relationship, or marriage out of social class hierarchical standards. Instead, Rochester and Jane are bound in marital union and care for one another, free from the negative influences and restraints of most of the Victorian Era world.

Additional Class Notes: