Comprehensive Study Note on Jane Eyre and Romanticism

Study Guide Overview and Character Analysis

  • Essential Story Knowledge: Mastery of the narrative arc of Jane Eyre is required, including character motivations, plot developments, and subplots.
  • Detailed Locations and Symbolic Meanings:
    • Gateshead: The Reed family residence. Symbolizes Jane’s childhood torture and the beginning of her journey as an abused, outspoken child.
    • Lowood School: A charity institution for orphans. Represents a “low wood” time in Jane’s life, built in a low valley; here she is a confused, quiet adolescent.
    • Thornfield: A manor where Jane serves as a governess. Symbolic of beauty and temptation filled with potential for pain, much like “thorns on a rose.”
    • Moor House (Marsh End): Home of the Rivers family. Represents a “moor” (more) for Jane: family, money, and self-discovery.
    • Ferndean Manor: The final residence where Jane and Rochester marry. Symbolizes unexpected growth and balance between religion and love.
  • The Reed Family:
    • Mrs. Reed: Jane’s aunt; cruel and jealous of Jane. She breaks a vow to her late husband to care for Jane and lies to John Eyre about Jane’s death.
    • John Reed: Jane’s cousin who bullies her; falls into debauchery and commits suicide due to debt.
    • Eliza Reed: Jane’s cousin; becomes a devout, rigid Roman Catholic, eventually moving to a religious house on “the Continent.”
    • Georgiana Reed: Jane’s cousin; a beautiful but selfish socialite who attempts an elopement with Lord Edwin Vere.
  • Lowood Figures:
    • Helen Burns: Jane’s only school friend. She believes in God over earthly desires and dies of tuberculosis (TBTB).
    • Mr. Brocklehurst: The manager of Lowood. An example of religious hypocrisy who starves students while his own family lives in luxury.
    • Miss Temple: A kind, gentle teacher who serves as a protector to Jane and Helen.
    • Miss Scatcherd: A cruel teacher who specifically targets Helen Burns for mistreatment.
  • Thornfield Figures:
    • Edward Rochester: The owner of Thornfield. A Byronic hero who is middle-aged, peculiar, and has a violent family history. He is transformed from a bold, solitary man to a blind, crippled individual reliant on others after a fire.
    • Adle Varens: Jane’s pupil; daughter of Cline Varens. She was born in France and moved to England 66 months before Jane’s arrival.
    • Mrs. Fairfax: The elderly housekeeper at Thornfield; slightly deaf and kind, she is related to the Rochesters by marriage.
    • Bertha Mason: Rochester’s secret wife from the West Indies; described as insane, “mad,” and having a “discolored, savage face.” She is the “ghost” on the third floor.
    • Grace Poole: A servant paid a high wage to guard Bertha Mason; is a heavy sleeper and often drinks black beer (“pot of porter”).
    • Cline Varens: A French opera dancer and former lover of Rochester; she cheated on him with a younger Vicomte.
    • Blanche Ingram: A beautiful socialite who despises Jane and seeks to marry Rochester for his status and wealth.
    • Richard Mason: Bertha’s brother from the West Indies who prevents Jane’s first marriage attempt.
  • The Rivers Family:
    • St. John Rivers: A parson and missionary who is “cold” and “icy.” He views religion as a duty and sacrifice; he asks Jane to marry him for labor, not love.
    • Diana and Mary Rivers: Jane’s kind cousins who provide her with familial love.
    • Rosamond Oliver: A beautiful, wealthy woman in love with St. John; described as a parallel to Blanche Ingram but more charming.
    • Hannah: The rivers’ housekeeper of 3030 years.

Literary Analysis: Themes, Motifs, and Devices

  • Sanity vs. Madness:
    • Jane: Represents sanity; she is calm, rational, and observant.
    • Bertha: Represents madness; suffering from mental illness and locked away for 1010 years, which exacerbates her condition.
  • Blindness vs. Sight:
    • Jane (Sight): Acts as Rochester’s eyes at the end; she is observant and “sniffs out” the truth about “mother bunches.”
    • Rochester (Blindness): Literally goes blind; metaphorically blind to reason when attempting bigamy.
  • Reason vs. Desire:
    • St. John vs. Rosamond: St. John desires her but reasons she would be a poor missionary’s wife.
    • Jane vs. Rochester: Jane desires Rochester but her reason (Christian morals) leads her to flee a bigamous relationship.
  • Fire vs. Ice:
    • Fire (Rochester): Associated with passion and heat. Key events include his bed catching fire and the final house fire. He meets Jane by the fireplace; fire represents passion and knowledge.
    • Ice (St. John): Described as having an “icy gaze,” being cold and unemotional. He is the antithesis of Rochester’s fire.
  • Equality vs. Social Status:
    • Jane’s Belief: She asserts her spirit is equal to Rochester’s, regardless of customs or flesh (“stood at God’s feet, equal — as we are!”).
    • Victorian Standards: Exemplified by Bertha and Blanche, who marry or seek to marry for rank and wealth.
  • Byronic Hero Analysis (Rochester):
    • Features: Cunning, adaptive, sophisticated, mysterious, magnetic, emotionally conflicted, troubled past, and arrogant.
    • Rochester shows a lack of respect for rank when he falls for a governess but shows a troubled past involving his forced marriage in the West Indies.
  • Gothic Elements:
    • Setting: A large, old mystery-filled mansion (Thornfield).
    • Characters: A forbidding master with a magnetic personality; a heroine without family.
    • Atmosphere: Spooky, eerie, with strange sounds like “diabolical laughter,” screams, and moans at night.

Author Biography and Historical Context

  • Charlotte Bront:
    • Birth and Death: Born April 18161816, died March 18551855 at age 3838 while pregnant.
    • Pen Name: Wrote under ‘Currer Bell’ to avoid gender prejudice in Victorian publishing.
    • Family: Father Patrick was a minister; mother Maria died when Charlotte was 55. Two of her 44 sisters died of TBTB contracted at boarding school (paralleling Helen Burns/Lowood).
    • Career: Worked as a governess; married Reverend Nicholls out of “admiration.”
  • Victorian Era Beliefs:
    • Social Class: Marriage was expected within the same class.
    • Gender Dynamics: Men held power regardless of status; lower-class women had to work (governesses/servants).
    • Disloyalty: Cheating/disloyalty was common but social appearances were maintained.

Detailed Chapter Summaries (I - XXXVIII)

  • Chapters I - X: Jane lives at Gateshead, is sent to the Red Room (where her uncle died), and is later sent to Lowood. She suffers under Mr. Brocklehurst, befriends Helen Burns, survives a typhus outbreak, and becomes a teacher for 22 years before advertising for a governess position.
  • Chapters XI - XX:
    • Jane arrives at Thornfield and meets Mrs. Fairfax and Adle.
    • Jane meets Rochester on the road to Hay; his horse slips on ice and he sprains his ankle.
    • Jane’s Portfolio: Contains three paintings—a seascape with a bird and a corpse, a woman as the evening star (Venus), and an iceberg with a giant head. These paintings represent unreachable ideas and foreshadowing.
    • Rochester tells Jane of Cline Varens and his past; Jane saves him from his burning bed but he blames Grace Poole.
    • Rochester brings guests (Blanche Ingram). Jane realizes she loves him but feels inferior.
    • A gipsy (Rochester in disguise) visits to tell fortunes. Mason is attacked/bitten by Bertha; Jane helps Rochester care for Mason in secret.
  • Chapters XXI - XXX:
    • Jane returns to Gateshead for Mrs. Reed’s death. Mrs. Reed reveals the existence of Jane’s uncle John Eyre.
    • Jane returns to Thornfield; Rochester proposes to Jane under the chestnut tree, which is later split by lightning.
    • The wedding is interrupted by Mr. Briggs and Mason; Bertha’s existence is revealed. Rochester recounts his past and begs Jane to stay as his mistress in France.
    • Jane flees, runs out of money at ‘Whitcross,’ and nearly starves before being taken in by the Rivers family at Moor House.
  • Chapters XXXI - XXXVIII:
    • Jane becomes a teacher at Morton school for poor girls. She discovers she has inherited 20,00020,000 pounds from her uncle John Eyre after St. John spots her signature and reveals they are cousins.
    • Jane splits the fortune equally, giving each cousin (St. John, Diana, Mary) 5,0005,000 pounds.
    • St. John proposes marriage for missionary work in India; Jane refuses because he does not love her. Jane hears Rochester’s voice calling her over the moors (a supernatural event linked to nature and prayer).
    • Jane returns to Thornfield to find it ruined. She finds Rochester at Ferndean, blind and missing a hand. They marry; Jane declares, “Reader, I married him.”
    • Ten years later, they have a child, and Rochester partially regains sight in one eye.

Romanticism and Poetry

  • Romantic Elements in the Novel:
    • Nature above all: Nature serves as a source of wisdom and a catalyst for the plot (e.g., the lightning-struck tree, the supernatural calling across the moors).
    • Supernatural Elements: The Gytrash, Jane’s prophetic dreams of children/fire, and the “calling” from Rochester.
    • Individuality and Imagination: Jane’s artistic nature and her quest for independence/autonomy.
  • Specific Poems:
    • ‘The Tables Turned’ (William Wordsworth): Urges the reader to leave books behind to learn from nature; traditional study is described as “toil and trouble.”
    • ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ (William Wordsworth): Focuses on the beauty of nature and the “inward eye” of imagination.