Key passages in Jane Eyre that are pivital points in the protagonists life

1. A study of key passages in Jane Eyre

2.  CH2: Red Room
 CH4: Defying Mrs Reed
 CH7: Lowood Punishment
 CH9: Helen dies
 CH12: Rochester‘s first appearance
 CH13+14: Jane and Rochester‘s conversations
 CH15: Jane saves Rochester from fire
 CH20: Mr Mason gets attacked
 CH23: Rochester‘s 1st proposal
 CH25: Dreaming of babies
 CH26: The wedding day

3.  CH27: Jane flees Thornfield
 CH28: Jane gets taken in by the Rivers
 CH34: St.John‘s 1st proposal
 CH35: St.John‘s 2nd proposal
 CH36: Return to Thornfield
 CH37: Rochester‘s 2nd proposal
 CH38: End of the novel

4.  After hitting John Reed, Jane is punished and sent to the
Red Room: the room where her uncle died
 For Jane this room represents terror and death
 Jane tells the story of the red room as a woman
emphasising what a terrible memory it was for her, this
experienced has always stayed with her and whenever she
feels embarrassed or ridiculed the memory of the red room
comes back to her
 As a child she exaggerates things making it worse than they
are, she mixes reality and fantasies together
 It‘s only when Jane faints that she is released from the
terror

5. Denotation of the colour red and
how it reflects themes associated
with the red room passage
death danger
warning
Blood
passion
anger RED
love
destruction
fire embarrassment
Woman‘s
menstrual cycle

6.  ‗mirror‘-looking back on a memory/to her younger self
 ‗stateliest‘ -grand, imposing, sign of wealth –emphasises
Jane‘s poverty
 ‗tapernade‘-associated with death
Gothic/ Supernatural:
 ―strange little figure...coming out of the lone‖ –fantasy and
reality blurred, exaggerated and child-like
 ―Breathed his last‖-gothic, ghost stories

7. Jane‘s fear:
 ―I attached myself to my seat by my hands‖ – fear
 Red repetition ‗red‘ ‗crimson‘ –symbolises the fear taking over,
reality becoming blurred
 Red and white imagery-contrast, representing reality and fantasy
Writing Devices:
 ―crimson cloth‖ ―Bessie...bitter‖-alliteration adding to emotions of
fear and anger
 Use of colons and semi-colons represent Jane‘s heightened
senses

8.  Defying Mrs Reed is a big turning point in Jane‘s early adult
life as she stands up for herself and against an oppressive
authority figure
 Mrs Reed has always treated Jane as an outsider:
 ―From every enjoyment I was, of course excluded‖
 At the start of the chapter Jane feels that she is ―not worthy
of notice‖ and Jane finally bursts
 Mrs Reed is surprised at Jane‘s outburst as showed on pg
21 ― her usually cold composed grey eye became troubled
with a look like fear‖
 Jane‘s outburst would be seen as very unlady-like and overly
passionate from the Victorian point of view

9.  In chapter 7 Jane accidently drops her slate for which
Mr.Brucklehurst humiliates and punishes her for
 Jane is ‗paralysed‘ with fear as she can feel ―their eyes directed
like burning-glasses against my scorched skin‖ (pg 56)
 Mr.Brucklehurst forces Jane to stand on a stool for the rest of the
day and night, and he instructs the children not to speak to Jane
or give her food forcing Jane into isolation
 The punishment is humiliating and torturous which makes Jane
feel belittled
 However there is hope as Helen Burns, one of Jane‘s classmates,
rebels and brings some food to Jane. Helen comes to Jane at one
of her darkest hours and offers kindness: something that the
Reeds never showed Jane.

10.  Soon after Jane‘s punishment, disease strikes Lowood school causing
most of the children, including Helen, to fall fatally ill
 From chapter 8, Helen showed signs that she had fallen ill that Miss
Temple had observed ―Have you coughed much today?‖ (pg 61)
 However it is not until towards the end of chapter 9 that Helen dies
 When Jane enters the room and sees Helen, she is messianic-like as she
lays ―half covered with its white curtains, there stood a crib‖ (pg 69)
 From there on it is clear that Helen is on her death-bed as there is a lot
of death imagery surrounding Helen
 ―I saw her face, pale, wasted, but composed‖ ―her forehead was cold,
and her cheek both cold and thin‖ (pg 69)

11.  Helen asks Jane if she will stay with her ―don‘t leave me Jane; I like to
have you near me‖ (pg 70)
 As both girls go to sleep, Helen dies in her sleep and in the morning Jane
is carried away from Helen
 Jane doesn‘t fully comprehend what had happened until Miss Temple
explains it to her ―...had found me laid in the crib; my face against Helen
Burn‘s shoulder, my arms around her neck. I was asleep, and Helen was
–dead‖ (pg 71)

12.  It has been 4 months since Jane‘s arrival at Thornfield and her illusive
employer still hasn‘t returned to the estate. Jane has settled now and is
happy with her surroundings and her student
 One day Jane offers to go into town to post some letters, on her lonely
journey encounters a mysterious rider who falls off his horse and injuries
himself.
 Before the horse is visable, a dog (Rochester‘s dog Pilot) appears which
reminds Jane of the story of Gytrash which frightens Jane
 When the rider falls Jane helps him up, even though she is scared of his
horse.
 The man has dark facial features , features which are mysterious,
serious and associated with evil

13.  Rochester slips on the ice; which causes him injury
 He then has to lean on Jane for support –which foreshadows the end of
the novel when Rochester has to depend on Jane
 ―necessarity compels me to make you useful‖ (pg 100)
 The rider queries Jane, yet doesn‘t reveal he‘s true identity. Here
Rochester is playing games and testing Jane

14.  Thornfield is brought back to life when Rochester returns
 On Rochester‘s return he asks to meet with Jane, Jane is told by Mrs
Fairfax to dress in her best clothes but Jane doesn‘t see why she should
–her Jane‘s rebellious side shows as she questions authority
 Rochester seems blunt, stern and distant
 Rochester continuously tests Jane as she is unique and he is trying to
figure out why and what makes her different, as he says ―she has a look
of another world‖ – link to fairytales
 At first Jane doesn‘t expect Rochester to be nice as she associates him
with Mr.Brucklehurst, as she hasn‘t met many men and only knows them
to be stern and cold

15.  Again in chapter 14, Rochester sends for Jane and Adele
 Rochester appears to be slightly drunk, and asks Jane some peculiar
things
 First of all he asks Jane if she finds him attractive, which she answers
‗no‘
 Then their conversation gets into more deeper topics, however Jane is
feeling a little awkward still by the previous question he asked and how
she feels
 Adele mentions her mother, which Jane shows interest in, however
Rochester promises to talk about Adele‘s mother in the future
 Rochester goes on to argue that their relationship is not servant to
master, he explains the way he is and how he doesn‘t want to be inferior
to Jane as he believes they are equals

16.  Jane believes that Rochester‘s age does not make him wiser and she
makes that known – again showing her rebellious side as servants were
not supposed to speak so boldly to their employers
 Rochester talks of his sinful past to Jane, showing honesty to an extent
as he leaves out information about his wife
 After their conversation Jane feels confused about Rochester‘s
melodramatic tone/behaviour, and feels that she has little experience in
life after hearing his stories

17.  Before going to sleep Jane hears ―demonic laugh[ter]‖ (pg 129)-first
appearance of Bertha: Rochester‘s wife
 Bertha sets Rochester‘s bed on fire in attempts to kill him, Jane puts out the
fire and saves Rochester once again
 Jane notices after the fire that Rochester has a ―strange fire in his look‖ (pg
133)
 Rochester goes to the third floor
Analysis:
 The fire foreshadows the destruction of Thornfield which happens towards
the end of the novel
 The fire itself could symbolise a lot of different things, such as passion,
destruction or loss of control
 Jane is either naive enough to believe that it was Grace Poole (one of the
servants) who may have caused the fire and is still being employed OR she
is blinded by her feelings by Rochester that she doesn‘t question him

18.  In chapter 19 Mr Mason (Bertha‘s brother) shows up unexpected which
startles Rochester. Mr Mason stays the night at Thornfield but his time is
shortly disturbed
 There is a scream which wakes everybody in the house, Rochester
assures his guests that it was nothing and they should go back to sleep,
he then asks Jane to come with him –Rochester finally starts to show
that he trusts Jane, however are her feelings still over clouding her
judgement?
 Rochester takes Jane to where Mr Mason is lying bleeding and half-dead
―I saw too that his linen on one side and one arm was almost soaked in
blood‖ ―corpse-like face‖
 Bertha had stabbed and bitten her brother
 Mr Mason is left badly wounded and frightened ―she sucked the blood:
she said she‘d drain my heart‖ –vampire-like

19. Pages 219-226
 Before Rochester proposes, his shadow is cast by moonlight –hiding his
true identity
 Rochester proposes to Jane under the chestnut tree, after they kiss
(which is a public display of affection, which would have been frowned
upon in Victorian Society). Mrs Fairfax, who doesn‘t know about the
engagement, saw the kiss and thought it was scandalous as they aren‘t
married and Jane is Rochester‘s employer
 That night, the chestnut tree is stuck by lightening and ―half of it spilt
away‖
 The Chestnut tree is significant as it represents Jane and Rochester‘s
love, the fact that it is struck by lightening and damaged by the natural
disaster shows that their love isn‘t meant to be

20.  Jane and Rochester‘s wedding plans do not go as planned.
 Mrs Fairfax treats Jane coldly because she doesn‘t realize that Jane was
already engaged to Rochester when they kissed, and Mrs Fairfax
disapproves of the marriage.
 Jane feels unsettled and almost fearful when Rochester calls her, soon to be
name, Jane Rochester. ‘It is Jane Eyre, sir’ ‘Soon to be Jane Rochester’ he
added ‘in four weeks Jane, not a day more. Do you hear that?’ Jane explain
that everything feels un-comfortable as she is clearly out of her comfit zone
'I was not born for a different destiny to the rest of my species: to imagine
such a lot befalling me in a fairy tale- a day-dream.’
 Rochester tries to turn Jane into a Cinderella-like figure, something that she
is not, he encourages her to dress in jewels and the finest which Jane
becomes terrified and defensive.
 She has doubts that the wedding will not happen and decides to write to her
uncle the illusive John Eyre who is in Madeira. Jane reasons if her uncle
were to make her his heir, her inheritance might put her on more equal
footing with Rochester, which would make her feel less un-comfortable
about the marriage.

21. Jane‘s unease with the wedding plans
 Here we see some of Jane‘s rebellious side come out and she objects to
the rich materials such as jewellery and dresses:
 "I will myself put the diamond chain round your neck, and the circlet on
your forehead,—which it will become: for nature, at least, has stamped
her patent of nobility on this brow, Jane; and I will clasp the bracelets on
these fine wrists, and load these fairy- like fingers with ring.‖
 "No, no, sir! Think of other subjects, and speak of other things, and in
another strain. Don't address me as if I were a beauty; I am your plain,
Quakerish governess."
 And she doesn‘t seem so happy to be called ‗Jane Rochester‘ as she is
very dominant and an independent woman who would not like to be
overruled. If she was to be married she wouldn‘t be Rochester‘s equal as
the marriage would be unequal.

22.  Before the wedding, Jane dreams about the destruction of Thornfield
(foreshadowing events to come), in her dream she wonders around the
estate holding a child. As she tries to climb a wall to get sight of
Rochester the child clings to her neck, nearly strangling her.
 When she reaches the wall Rochester vanishes.
 The wall beneath her crumbles and Jane and the child fall
 Then Jane wakes to find Bertha standing there with ―fiery eyes‖ and she
rips Jane‘s veil in half
 Both the ripping of the veil and the dream are warnings that the wedding
isn‘t meant to be and that Jane should probably leave in order to save
herself

23. Analyse of Jane‘s dreams
 Bronte uses dreams to create tension and foreshadowing events to
come an example of this would be in Chapter 25 on the night before the
wedding.
 Jane is dreaming of being married and having a family but she drops the
baby she‘s holding representing doubts and being out of her comfit
zone. The dream is so disturbing Jane awakes from her sleep.
 The dreams reflect her doubts as she is about to set foot into a new life
which is extravagant, new and scary to Jane as well as she‘s always
despised and mocked Rochester‘s world of upper class people.

24.  The day of the wedding and Rochester seems on edge and wants the
wedding to commence quickly, he is ‘on fire with impatience’ (pg 253).
 Jane is both excited and nervous ‘my forehand dewy, and my cheeks
and lips cold’ (Pg 254).
 As the wedding is taking place a stranger objects to the wedding taking
place and claims Rochester already has a wife. Jane is shocked and
Rochester becomes angry and wants to protect Jane but seems slightly
possessive ‘he twined my waist with his arm and riveted me to his side’
(pg 256)
 Rochester takes Mr Mason, Mr Briggs and Jane to see his mad wife,
Bertha Mason.
 Towards the end of the chapter Jane seems heartbroken and locks
herself in her room. She prays that God to be with her.

25.  Rochester, waiting outside Jane‘s room, apologizes for wounding Jane.
Jane feels faint.
 Rochester asks Jane to leave England and to go France with him; but
Jane refuses as she cannot lower herself to be his mistress
 Rochester explains that it was his family sent him to Jamaica to marry
Bertha for money, even though Bertha‘s family are troubled. Rochester‘s
father and brother died, he had a mad wife and a huge fortune. He even
considered killing himself; but returned to England.
 Since Rochester has moves around a lot, then he retells the story when
he met Jane.
 Jane has a dream where a moon goddess figure appears and advices
her to ―flee temptation.‖ Jane wakes up realising she must leave
Thornfield.

26.  After leaving Thornfield Jane is forced to sleep outside and has to beg in
the nearest town for food, shelter and a job, no one helps Jane apart
from one farmer who gives her a slice of bread
 Jane sees a light shining across the moors she follows it until she comes
to the source: a house
 She sees through the window two young women conversing in German ,
the two young women are called Diana and Mary, there is also another
character called St.John who is the girls‘ brother
 She knocks on the door but the servant, Hannah, refuses to answer. It is
St.John who in the end opens the door to Jane and offers her food and
shelter, as it is the Christian thing to do
 Jane gives the false name of ‗Jane Elliot‘ to her generous hosts –like
Rochester in the first 25 chapters, she is not revealing her true identity

27.  St.John asks Jane to go with him to India to be a missionary with him,
and to become his wife!
 Jane agrees to go to India to do missionary work, but refuses his hand in
marriage as she states that they are not in love
 St.John insists that they are to be married, he says that to refuse his
proposal is just the same as to deny the Christian faith

28.  St.John still tries to convince Jane to marry him
 Jane refuses as kindly as she could; however this just makes St.John
more bitter and cold
 Diana, St.John‘s sister, even tells Jane that she would be a fool to marry
her brother and go to India with him
 At dinner St.John prays for Jane, Jane is so overcome by his prayer that
she feels obligated to marry him
 St.John‘s hex is broken when Jane thinks she can hear Rochester‘s voice
calling for her in the distance and feels the need to return to Thornfield

29.  After hearing Rochester‘s voice the night before, Jane wonders if it was
real and if Rochester was in trouble so she travels back to Thornfield:
back to Rochester.
 When she arrives at Thornfield she finds the estate burnt and in ruins,
curious to find out what happened Jane sets off to a local inn called the
Rochester Arms
 She learns that Bertha set the estate on fire, Rochester saved his
servants and tried to save Bertha, but Bertha jumped off the roof.
Rochester lost a hand and now is blind due to his injuries; he went to a
house deep in the forest called Ferndean where he is staying to recover
from his injuries

30.  After revealing herself to Rochester and talking about her experience
away from Thornfield
 Jane assures Rochester that she isn‘t in love with St.John and promises
never to leave him again
 Now Bertha has died and he is a widower, Rochester asks Jane again to
marry him and Jane says yes
Key Quotes:
 Bronte describes the injuried Rochester to be like ―a royal eagle, chained
to a perch, should be forced to entreat a sparrow to become its
purveyor‖ (pg 389) –this quote here describes Rochester‘s dependence
on Jane
 Rochester to Jane: ―I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-
tree in Thornfield orchard‖ (pg 393) –referring back to Rochester‘s 1st
proposal

31.  Jane and Rochester finally marry, Jane writes to Diana and Mary Rivers
and they write back expressing their good wishes however St.John
pretends that that Jane is not married
 Jane moves Adele from her school to a more pleasant school, Adele
grows up to be well-mannered under Jane‘s influence –almost like Jane
has redeemed both Adele and Rochester‘s souls
 After two years Rochester begins to regain his sight in one of his eyes, so
when they have a child (a boy) Rochester is able to see his child
 Mary and Diana both find husbands
 St.John goes to India to fulfil his missionary work, out in India St.John
becomes sick and eventually dies. Jane closes the novel quoting from
one of St,John‘s letters where he begs that the Lord should come and
take him quickly

32.  There are many ways to interpret the ending of the novel, one: a fairytale
ending and the other: religion
The Fairytale Ending:
 Jane finally marries Rochester and they live as equals in Ferndean with their
child and Adele
 The ‗baddies‘ (aka Bertha and St.John) die
 And all is merry in the end
Jane Eyre a Religious Novel?
 The final chapter is very interesting as it is almost hinted that Jane had
saved Rochester and Adele‘s souls as she makes them better
people/Christians
 Jane also closes the novel with a quote from St.John, a strong religious
character, which is interesting as the quote itself sounds like he is preaching
―Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!‖ (pg 401)