Thornfield Jane Eyre

Secret of Thornfield
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre at first gives off as a romantic novel. But there are multiple parts in the book that shows that Jane Eyre is also in the gothic/mystery genre. In Jane Eyre, after Jane entered Thornfield, there were many current of events that led me to believe that Mr. Rochester has a secret hidden in Thornfield Hall. What is this mystery? And how does it connect with Edward Rochester?
The first event that led me to believe Rochester had a secret was when his bed is set on fire and Jane put out the fire. Jane had told him that she heard a strange laughter which led her to his room. Jane initially wanted to go ask for help but he refuses saying he needs to pay a visit to the third floor to which he leaves
the room for a while. When he returned, ‘paled and very gloomy’, he said, “I have found it all out.” “It is just as I thought” (Bronte, Jane Eyre, 140). Right after he recollected himself, he asked Jane if she saw who the culprit was to which she replied no to his satisfaction. He reminded her of the odd laughter that she heard and questioned if Jane had encountered it before to which she agree to and claim it was Grace Poole’s laughter. Mr. Rochester responds to her claim, “Just so. Grace Poole – you have guessed it.” “You are no talking fool: say nothing about it. I will account for this state of affairs” (141). A supernatural-like event had just occurred in Thornfield Hall but Mr. Rochester does nothing about the event. Instead of finding help immediately he went somewhere else in quietness. Not only that, Rochester had demanded that the cause of the event be unknown in Thornfield. Though he claimed he knows the culprit, the person at crime wasn’t punished for its work. His way of handling the state of affair leaves me with many questions, making him look suspicious, as if he is hiding something.
The next event is when Mr.
Mason first arrived at Thornfield Hall and gets attacked that same night. When Jane gave news of Mr. Mason’s arrival, Mr. Rochester froze. His ‘troubled and dreary look’ seems to show that he didn’t expect such a visit from this Mr. Mason. A little bit after, Rochester questioned if Mason said anything odd during his absence to which Jane said Mason was just laughing and talking with the rest of the guests. His anxious tone when asking about Mason’s activity shows offensiveness of Mason’s presence there; as if afraid of something being revealed. Later that night, a ‘shrilly’ sound was heard. Guest were panicking and demanding answers from Rochester. He only told the guests that a servant of his had a nightmare to which they all believed in and returned back to their chambers. Right after everyone returned, Rochester asked for Jane’s assistance. Jane described that they were “approaching one of the small, black doors, he put it (the key) in the lock…” (196). “I shall have to leave you in this room with this gentleman…” “You will not speak to him on any pretext…” (197). Although demanding Jane to not converse with Mr. Mason is understandable, Rochester’s tone and action shows otherwise. Also, the fact that Mr. Rochester left an injured person in a room where only he had access to is already questionable. Being very quiet and cautious of what he is doing gave me the impression that Rochester is indeed keeping something unknown to the
world.
The last event is when Jane told Rochester of a mysterious woman who entered Jane’s room at night and tore her veil in two. As Jane described the event and features of the woman to Rochester, he constantly asked her questions. Jane had concluded that it was no Grace Poole who had entered her room that night, but Rochester insists it was. “…I’ll explain to you all about it. It was a half-dream, half-reality. A woman did, I doubt not, enter your room: and that woman was – must have been – Grace Poole” (271) Rochester continued to give Jane reasons to believe the woman definitely was Grace Poole – literally forcing an answer to Jane’s question about the woman. Explaining this to Jane shows that he knows something about this mystery and doesn’t want anyone to know thus he continuously insists that it’s Grace Poole even when Jane is convinced it isn’t. Through this event, it reveals to me that there is, without a doubt, some secret in Thornfield. The way that he explains his solution shows that he undeniably has something to hide from Jane.
As Rochester and Jane’s relationship became closer, the mystery became more and more extreme. Not only that, this secret that Rochester wanted hidden from the world was slowly surfacing. This only became clearer as Rochester acted eccentrically around Thornfield Hall. The secret that Mr. Rochester, for years, hid from the world was that he was a married man. He had a wife, named Bertha, and she was indeed the woman with the strange laughter. Rochester’s bed set on fire, Mr. Mason getting attacked at night and Jane’s veil torn in two were all caused by Bertha Rochester. But it all probably wouldn’t have been known if Jane never became the governess of Adéle at Thornfield.