Jane Eyre middle 1

"I saw he was going to marry her, for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connections suited him; I felt he had not given her his love."

Social convention - The rigid class expectations of Victorian society, where marriages were often arranged based on wealth and rank rather than personal affection. Jane recognizes that his attachment to Blanche is superficial—not motivated by deep affection but by external factors.

"If I had time, and was not in mortal dread of some prating prig of a servant passing, I would know what all this means."

Direct address - Even in his own house, Rochester fears being seen with Jane alone. It was considered improper to be alone with a governess.

"I have told you, reader, that I had learnt to love Mr. Rochester: I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me."

Retrospective narrative - Enduring love despite feeling it's not requited. Intimacy with the reader as a confidante.

"I was growing very lenient to my master: I was forgetting all his faults, for which I had once kept a sharp look-out."

Ironic - Jane becomes less skeptical and more forgiving of Rochester. Love softens Jane's judgment, foreshadowing Rochester's secret.

"Portrait of a Governess, disconnected, poor, and plain. Blanche, an accomplished lady of rank."

Symbol/motif - The governess is seen as socially inferior, not part of the servant class or family. Jane is marginalized due to her social status and appearance. She doesn't fit traditional ideals of beauty and status. Blanche is seen as the ideal (wealthy, aristocratic, socially accomplished). Highlights inner worth vs. outward appearances.

"As if I had been wandering amongst volcanic-looking hills, and had suddenly felt the ground quiver, and seen it gape."

Gothic element - Something beneath the surface could erupt, signaling disruption and turmoil. Anticipation of disaster, foreshadowing the social repercussions of Rochester's secret.

"I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss."

Jane's independence - Assertion of self-respect, refusal to sacrifice morals for happiness. Jane's inner strength and self-worth sustain her. Foreshadowing Rochester's proposal and what will happen.

"Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms."

Conflict between emotion and reason - Jane's feelings for Mr. Rochester are strong, but when she learns of his past, she uses reason to guide her, choosing to leave him to preserve her self-respect and moral integrity.

"Unseen spirit had been sitting for weeks by my heart watching its workings and taking record of every pulse."

Symbol/motif - Rochester knows Jane's most intimate thoughts, showing the bond between them.

"To live, for me, Jane, is to stand on a crater-crust which may crack and spue fire any day."

Social convention - Symbolizes Rochester's unstable life (volcano waiting to erupt). He fears his past being revealed. Fire represents consequences of hidden secrets. The crater represents Rochester's love for Jane (passionate but dangerous).

"In overleaping an obstacle of custom—a mere conventional impediment, which neither your conscience sanctifies nor your judgment approves?"

Societal critique - Challenges unjust societal norms. The idea that custom is just a formality without real moral value. Highlights restrictions on marriage and divorce in Victorian society.

"A wanderer's repose or a sinner's reformation should never depend on a fellow-creature.... let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend, and solace to heal."

Moral lesson - Jane tells Rochester that if he seeks redemption, he must do it himself. True healing should come from within and through faith, not through another person.

"I believe I have found the instrument for my cure, in—" "... don't you think if I married her she would regenerate me with a vengeance?"

Present tense - Rochester attempts to provoke Jane into jealousy. He hides his true feelings due to his complicated relationship with Bertha.

"I see—Mr. Rochester sitting there...Well, he is not a ghost; yet every nerve I have is unstrung: for a moment I am beyond my own mastery."

Pathetic fallacy - Overwhelming reaction to seeing Rochester. The power of their love disrupts Jane's composure.

"A band of Italian days had come from the South."

Foreshadowing/symbol - Suggests a period of heat and emotion, symbolizing rising tension before the proposal.

"The chestnut tree under which Rochester proposed now ails, 'writhing and groaning' in the roaring wind."

Metaphor - The tree represents Rochester and Jane's relationship. Thunder and lightning foreshadow their split.

"Because," he said, "it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string in you....I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly.

Metaphor - Compares their connection to two strings tied together. If broken, Rochester would be emotionally destroyed. Highlights emotional intensity.

"Do you think I am an automaton?—a machine without feelings? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!

Jane's independence - She rejects the idea that because she is poor and plain, she lacks emotions. Declares her worth beyond wealth and appearance.

"I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit."

Metaphor - Jane asserts that her love is based on equality of spirit, not societal norms.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."

Metaphor - Jane compares herself to a bird, refusing to be trapped or controlled.

"My bride is here," he said, again drawing me to him, "because my equal is here, and my likeness."

Jane as an equal - Rochester sees Jane as intellectually, morally, and emotionally his equal, not just his wife.

"It will atone--it will atone. Have I not found her friendless, and cold, and comfortless? Will I not guard, and cherish, and solace her? It will expiate at God's tribunal. I know my Maker sanctions what I do... For man's opinion--I defy it'.​

Rochester justifies his actions - He sees himself as Jane's protector, but Jane values independence.

"I will myself put the diamond chain round your neck, and the circlet on your forehead. ,—and I will clasp the bracelets on these fine wrists,"

Metaphor - Jewelry symbolizes wealth, possession, and control. Jane rejects being treated as an object.

'I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer, but an ape in a harlequin's jacket—a jay in borrowed plumes.​

Jane's independence - She resents being objectified. Feels degraded by Rochester's attempts to buy her love.

"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."

Self-respect - Jane declares her commitment to her own values, even if it means being alone.