Jane Eyre - Chapters 14 -17:
In these chapters, the character of Mr. Rochester begins to really develop before our eyes, as well as his relationship with Miss Jane Eyre. In the previous chapter, he is seen as cold, abrupt, and frankly almost crazy, after he accuses her of "bewitching his horse." Yet, in chapter fourteen, He calls her and Adela down for tea. He proceeds to give Adela a gift and then calls in Mrs. Fairfax to amuse her, so that that will occupy her time, thus buying himself some time with Jane to talk and discover her as a person. This, in my personal opinion and observance, is the first liking I believe Mr. Rochester takes to Jane. After this long discussion, wherein they discuss her opinion of him, his looks, her opinions on being a governess, etc., he thereafter consistently seeks her opinion in many matters. We then begin to see another side to Mr. Rochester, a more open one that is far more vulnerable and likeable. In this chapter and in the following, he discusses the love that he had for a woman long ago. The woman in this case was Adela's mother, a famous opera singer from Europe. He had planned to marry her; however, when he found out she was also seeing someone else, things fell through. Despite his anger, he still loved her afterward, and when he found out she had a child, he felt obliged to care for that child - otherwise known to the reader as the young girl, Adela. Through Mr. Rochester's confiding this heartfelt truth to Jane, it draws them closer, makes them tied and more emotionally connected to one another, and they begin to spend far more time together.
As a result of Jane's and Mr. Rochester's recurring time spent, we begin to see their fondness of one another grow, even turn into a bit of a flirtatious nature. Jane begins to describe how he is not ugly, as she first imagined, but rather charming and handsome. Also, despite the fact that we do not hear this story from the perspective of Mr. Rochester, Jane does describe how he would look at her with forms of endearment. She often utilizes words such as "gaze" and "study" when describing the way he looks at her, which are both pathos-related words which denote love, and further to be mesmerized by another. In the midst of this growing admiration of one another, a crucial moment occurs that, oddly, makes them more connected than ever before. In chapter sixteen, Jane has gone to bed and, in the middle of the night, she once again hears the bellowing laugh that she believes belongs to Grace Poole. She is frightened! Now awake, she leaves her room to check the hall; however, in doing so, she smells a burning scent coming from across the hall - - from Mr. Rochester's room! When she goes to his room, she finds him asleep while everything else is in flames: the floor, the bed, and even the sheets! She vigorously tries to wake him, but, when she cannot, Jane runs to her room and fills up buckets of water from the bath. She returns and throws them all over his room to put out the fire. Finally, when Mr. Rochester wakes due to the commotion, he begins to question Jane as to who did this, and what was happening, as he awoke to a room flooded with a nauseating, burning odor. Shortly after Jane answers his questions, he comes to a realization of who the perpetrator was and asks Jane to remain there. Yet, when he returns, he tells her not to mention it to anyone, and that he will take the blame for all of it. This, rightly, confuses Jane, but in loyalty to Mr. Rochester, she obeys his commands. She believes the perpetrator is Grace Poole. I am not sure if it was Grace Poole, due to the encounter Jane has with her the next day in which Grace asserts that the only person near his room was Jane. Grace acts almost suspicious of her. She does not seem nervous or even quiet, but rather concerned and cautionary, in the very same manner as Jane is.
Additionally, Mr. Rochester's behavior was quite unusual for someone who almost died. Therefore, I have no doubt he is hiding something. Yet, as Jane has begun to truly like him, the fact of this matter only puzzles her for a moment, before she overlooks it to follow the orders of the master of the house.
Shortly after this, Mr. Rochester has left again, but this time he is gone for about a week and his whereabouts begin to concern Jane. She begins to think about him constantly and with a greater personal care and concern than just as her employer. She cannot understand why she feels this way, considering she has never had the opportunity to feel attraction for a man, until this point. She attended an all girls school for the past several years of her life. One day, she inquires of Mrs. Fairfax where he is and when he will be coming back, and Mrs. Fairfax tells her that he has most likely left and is not coming back for a long while. Jane then becomes quite sad and is still longing for him. She finds herself once again perplexed by these emotions and decides to simply push them away, on the notion that she will most likely not see him again for a long time. However, just a few days later, Mrs. Fairfax receives a letter from him in the mail that states that he will be back within seven days and he is bringing some very prestigious guests; namely, he is bringing Miss Ingram. Jane inquires to know who she is and Mrs. Fairfax begins to describe her beauty, elegance, charm, talent, and riches, and Jane then feels she has been foolish the whole time for allowing her feelings to grow for Mr. Rochester. Jane then decides to draw a picture of Miss Ingram, to the very best of her ability, to remind herself that she is not at Mr. Rochester's level. She plans to look at it to continually remind herself she also is not what Mr. Rochester seeks in a wife and to help her put him out of her mind. However, this scheme does not last long, before she is thinking about him again.
Finally, the guests arrive, and they are all indeed very posh and prim. Her heart is light, and she is joyous when she sees Mr. Rochester again. Jane studies them all, but particularly the interactions between Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram. She wishes to be in her place. We get this sense subconsciously, as Bronte portrays to the reader this sensation in Jane's mind that Jane does not yet understand fully nor consciously. Jane is coming to the realization of this quite slowly. Jane intends to stay out of the affairs of the group and remain distant. However, Mr. Rochester requests her presence at dinner one night. I find this very interesting, because it shows that he is obviously missing something, lacking still something, even with this group of high-class people that he seems to find only with Jane by his side. When Jane arrives, they shortly begin to discuss governesses. While Jane sits silent, the women in the elite group describe governesses as "nuisances" and pains to deal with. What is interesting to me is that, during this exchange, Mr. Rochester remains silent. Is this his way of standing up for Jane by not partaking in the banter? Or is he actually a coward for choosing to not speak? Perhaps, there is part of the answer lying in both questions. Later in the evening, Miss Ingram requires Mr. Rochester to sing for the group. Miss Ingram's character is a pompous, arrogant woman, who believes herself the better of a man, not in any way subordinate to any, which was a unique trait during these times. Some of her attributes include money, fame, being an independent ruler of her own life, and even, it seemed, a ruler over Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester agrees to sing and once again, Jane is captivated by him and his performance. Once he has finished and Jane is 'awakened from her trance,' she leaves, as she feels uncomfortable and unsettled knowing that he will not be hers, but no doubt would become Miss Ingram's. Jane stops to tie her shoe, and when she stands, she realizes that Mr. Rochester has come to find her. He asks her why she is leaving and requests for her to stay, but as he does, he begins to notice her sad countenance. He starts commenting on why she is about to cry, to which Jane responds that she is not. However, he is not fooled, and as he continues to question her, she actually does begin to cry. I believe that, in this moment, Jane is crying because, despite her picture drawing, trying to withdraw, and trying to convince herself she will not fall for Mr. Rochester, she now realizes that she has fallen in love with him! She also believes he does not and will not feel the same toward her. I think she is wrong on this matter. As he finally decides to leave her be, he tells her that it is his expectation to have her with them every evening, and just before Jane is about to go, he says to her, " Good night my- - -." This is where that conversation ends. He simply states this, then holds his tongue and does not complete this thoughts. He departs, leaving her stunned. This may leave many readers confused. This act rather reaffirms my original thoughts about Mr. Rochester. He too feels something for her now. Instead of the question of whether they feel anything for one another, a new question presents itself. Will either one do anything about it?
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