Notes on Jane Eyre

PRACTICA 7: JANE EYRE Chapter XXVII

“Jane, you understand what I want of you? Just this promise—‘I will be yours, Mr. Rochester.’”

“Mr. Rochester, I will not be yours.”

Another long silence.

“Jane!” recommenced he, with a gentleness that broke me down with grief, and turned me stone-cold with ominous terror—for this still voice was the pant of a lion rising—“Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world, and to let me go another?”

“I do.”

“Jane” (bending towards and embracing me), “do you mean it now?”

“I do.”

“And now?” softly kissing my forehead and cheek.

“I do,” extricating myself from restraint rapidly and completely.

“Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This—this is wicked. It would not be wicked to love me.”

“It would to obey you.”

A wild look raised his brows—crossed his features: he rose; but he forebore yet. I laid my hand on the back of a chair for support: I shook, I feared—but I resolved.

“One instant, Jane. Give one glance to my horrible life when you are gone. All happiness will be torn away with you. What then is left? For a wife I have but the maniac upstairs: as well might you refer me to some corpse in yonder churchyard. What shall I do, Jane? Where turn for a companion and for some hope?”

“Do as I do: trust in God and yourself. Believe in heaven. Hope to meet again there.”

“Then you will not yield?”

“No.”

“Then you condemn me to live wretched and to die accursed?” His voice rose.

“I advise you to live sinless, and I wish you to die tranquil.”

“Then you snatch love and innocence from me? You fling me back on lust for a passion—vice for an occupation?”

“Mr. Rochester, I no more assign this fate to you than I grasp at it for myself. We were born to strive and endure—you as well as I: do so. You will forget me before I forget you.”

“You make me a liar by such language: you sully my honour. I declared I could not change: you tell me to my face I shall change soon. And what a distortion in your judgment, what a perversity in your ideas, is proved by your conduct! Is it better to drive a fellow-creature to despair than to transgress a mere human law, no man being injured by the breach? for you have neither relatives nor acquaintances whom you need fear to offend by living with me?”

COMPREHENSION:

What does Rochester want Jane to do?
Rochester wants Jane to stay with him, he propose her to go with him to some place in France where anyone know them and their state.

What is Jane’s reaction when Rochester speaks with gentleness? What does Jane advise Rochester to do?
For a moment, she is disconcerted and loses its fortress because he is suffering trying to convince her about something that has already been decided, what makes her feel guilty and responsible of his misery. Then, she advices him find his redemption on religion and god, she is telling him he has to take the responsibility of his acts and marriage as she as she is doing leaving him and going away.

How does Rochester respond to Jane’s rejection?
Mr Rochester reacts in a violent and selfish manner. He does not think that Jane is suffering as much as he does and blames her for all his misery as if he were not responsible for what happened. In this fragment his strong passionate nature lay bare when he finds out Jane wants to leave him and drive him near frenzy.

ANALYSIS:

Jane’s replies to Rochester’s appeals are extremely terse. What does Jane’s economy of language suggest?
After she discovered Mr Rochester was married she decided to renounce to her great love leaving Thornfield even not having a place to go. The character of Jane is showed through the novel as an example of humility and modesty, but also as a forte spirit character. So, what she wants to suggest with her coldness is her strength and determination, and show him that she is doing the right thing.

Jane draws her strength from two sources: her strong religious beliefs and her ability to endure suffering and hardship. Find examples of how Jane proposes religion and the acceptance of suffering as sources of consolation for Rochester.
“It would to obey you”
“We were born to strive and endure—you as well as I: do so”.
“I advise you to live sinless, and I wish you to die tranquil.” trust in God and yourself. Believe in heaven. Hope to meet again there.”

What information does the dialogue provide about Jane’s moral values and religious beliefs?
Through this dialogue we can see the strict religious code of Jane Eyre, who is determined to leave the only love she ever had to be able to respect herself. In previous pages Jane asks God what to do when she finds out he is married, she look for help and answers in religion and she follows its rules. She is being honest with her beliefs not as Brocklehurst does, who predicate humility while he and his family live a life of luxury.
She trust in her faith in God to be able bare her suffering after break up with Mr Rochester, and advise him – and not imposes as Brocklehurst does - to do the same, as it is the only possible way he can redeem and meet her again. She is being kind and modest, because she does not show her suffering and despite the deception, she has already forgiven him and has the best wishes for him.

How would you describe Jane’s personality as it emerges from this dialogue?
Through this dialogue we deduce Jane is a passionate woman capable of love so much that the idea of not seeing him again makes her feel sick and needs help herself from a chair to stand up. However this passion, she gets recover and carry out her decision, what tell about her she is firm and resolute. Her strength personality is showed in the way she talks to him, she is very straight and cold, which considering her feelings, demonstrate a strong will.
She tells him “it would be wicked to obey you” this sentence is related to religion and her beliefs -as she pray to God for an answer- she will not be able respect herself if she accept to be her mistress. Therefore, we deduced her religious character and her honesty. Furthermore, she trust in God to bare her suffer and advise him to do the same, we can see here she is kind and compassionate because, although his violent reaction and his deception, she forgives him and desires the best for him.
Finally we know she is an intelligent and independent woman. She is intelligent and rational because her answers express her desolation with determination and with the minimum of words “Do as I do: trust in God and yourself”. And she shows her independent spirit deciding to leave him, despite of having no money, and follow her own conscience and her own rules looking for something better.

Do you admire Jane for standing by her principles and refusing to stay with Mr Rochester even though she really does love him?
What she did in her time is admirable, she refused to the only possibility ever had to be happy with the only man she ever loved, and to enjoy a life without economic problems. It is not easy control passion and she did since the very first moment. But the most admirable in Jane Eyre is her courage and decision of being and independent woman in an era where women did not have any right or possibilities of being successful by their own in life.

Questions for discussion:
Take a close look at Jane's first meeting with Rochester. In the typical Gothic novel, or in the typical fairy tale, how do the man and woman typically meet? How do they act? How does Bronte violate these conventions in this scene?
The first meeting with the main characters either in fairy tales or Gothic novels is distinguished by having a young woman in troubles who is helped by a mysterious man who suddenly comes from nowhere, the woman always plays the role of the weaker character who needs to be save, and the man is the stronger character able to solve any problem. The first meeting with Mr Rochester and Jane Eyre has some similarities, she is alone and he suddenly appear in the mist, we know that she is not in trouble but we also know that she felt lonely, as she does not identify herself with no one in Thornfield, and her life is routine and monotonous "utter solitude and leafless repose." Then we could deduce he is the one who will change her state of loneliness and monotony. But contrary to this idea, in that very moment of their meeting he falls off the horse and is she who rushes to him and helps him to ride back again, and later we will know that from the moment he leans on her shoulder he felt save with her. Therefore, what we have in this first meeting is an equality of forces between man and woman.

How do Rochester's behaviour and character change during the course of the novel?
Mr Rochester has a passionate character that has led him to commit many mistakes in his life. When he met Bertha he hardly knows her and accepts to married her because her beauty, later he discovers she is a horrible person. The same happens with Celine, he knows she is immoral but his passionate character makes him fall in love with her, and again he is cheated.
Later, when he meets Jane he had decided to change his life and look for a good wife who help him to change, he leaves his mundane life and begins to spent more time at home, he also spent more time knowing women in order to make the right decision. He chooses Jane because her intelligence, purity and kindness. But then, his passion again led him to lie Jane, try to commit bigamy or make her his mistress. She refuses him and he breaks out on fury.
The last change in his personality is when Bertha provokes the second fire, he helps all his servants to escape, and tries to help Bertha too, but finally she dies, the house is burned and he loses all his fortune, his sight and one hand. The fire is the representation of his passionate character that has led him to lose all he had, this is the way he pays for all his sins, is his redemption (Romanticism) and then, he is ready to be with Jane.

How do Jane's feelings for Rochester develop and change over time? How does Jane try to deny and resist her feelings for him?
Jane’s feelings grow as the novel unfolds. Mr Rochester never treats her as a servant, he does not follow the rules of social classes and he enjoys talking to her because she could have an intelligent conversation. He is the first person to treat her as an equal and she begins to see him as a friend "as if he were my relation rather than my master."
When he leaves Thornfild for three weeks she misses him so much that is forced to confront that her feelings for him are more fully.
When she knows about Blanche she is jealous for first time, and later when she arrive to Thornfield, Jane is always aware of Mr Rochester comparing his behaviour with Blanche and with her. Now we see that her love for him is passionate as she needs prove that Mr Rochester is not in love with Blanche.
Jane tray to deny her feelings by panting two pictures, one of herself and one of what she think is the appearance of Blanch, and she compares de difference between them and who match better with Mr Rochester. These two pictures are a representation of women from different social classes, and pretend show the unbridgeable gap that Jane senses between herself and the upper class.
Love is important in Jane Eyre because a woman is equal partner in a romance. Through the description of Jane’s feelings we realised that is she the first to fall in love, and this is revolutionary in Victorian times, until then men were the active suitor, a woman never could be the first to feel emotion.

Why doesn't Jane tell Rochester right away how she feels about him?
As we said before, Jane is the first to fall in love and her love is not revelled until we know that Mr Rochester feels the same for her. It is through parts of the story, as the gypsy scene or the fact that he wants Jane to be in every party, that we realised Mr Rochester love her too. Only then they face each other on equal terms and lastly as lovers, and Jane is ready to admit her love for him.

In Victorian society, it was assumed that men were crude and active; women were passive, pure, and spiritual. Do Jane and Rochester fit into these stereotypes?
Mr Rochester is an active person occupied in his business and travels, and is also active in the search of love and in the relation with Jane. He is rude, moody, and very sardonic too. In these aspects he fit perfectly into Victorian stereotypes, nevertheless, Mr Rochester has other aspects that do not fit into Victorian stereotypes, as the fact that he does not take seriously the limits within social classes as in any moment he seems to be worried about the difference social between him and Jane.
Jane is also the perfect Victorian woman, she is pure and spiritual and fallows the rules of society, however, as Mr Rochester, she breaks stereotypes too, she is not passive, she is revelled since the very first moment, first she revels to Mrs Reed when she tells clearly and openly her feelings to her; later she revels also to Mr Rochester when she does not accept the to be kept by him, she wants to be autonomous and independent. http://www.litcharts.com/files/pdf/printer/janeeyre-LitChart.pdf
Does the novel have a “happily ever after” ending?

Jane Eyre begins as a penniless orphan, and ends up with a very good life. How does she gain the personal power that leads her to happiness?
All Jane gets is through hard work due to her Spirit of accomplishment and perseverance. Her strength spirit and the respect to herself and her values make her move looking for something better. In Jane Eyre is reflected the spirit of that time, you have to be successful in life. It is a bildungsroman story in which a poor little girl begins a journey that will form her personality through the events of her life; she gets to be successful through hard work. The difference is that she, as a woman, gets to be successful by her own in an era where women only could be successful by marring a successful man.