Jane Eyre - Chapters 18-23:
These are arguably the biggest and most influential chapters in the entire novel thus far. It begins with Jane describing, in-depth, the interactions between the entire group and, specifically, the relationship between Miss Ingram and Mr. Rochester. It becomes very clear that the two are not exactly in it for one another, but rather for more material matters. For Miss Ingram, it was how deeply "lined" Mr. Rochester's pockets are, and for Mr. Rochester, it was her social status and where that positions them in society. I concur with Jane that the interaction between them is almost absurd and a little grotesque, because at this point it has become almost certain that he has feelings for Jane. Also, another member of the party arrives on the scene, Mr. Mason. His arrival first gives the reader insight into more of Jane's personal emotions; then, later on, into the life of Mr. Rochester. Although Mr. Mason is a handsome man, as described, and apparently far more handsome than Mr. Rochester, Jane finds his lack of depth, substance, intellect, and adventuresome nature to be dull. In fact, she finds him highly unattractive. Before Jane even has to say it, I can see that she has fallen completely in love with Mr. Rochester. We now see an incredible paradox: Jane as compared to the other characters (those amongst the wealthy class). Jane sees beyond faces, wealth and societal stature, just as when she was a little girl with Helen Burns. Jane values people for the beauty of their character and the treasures of their soul. She looks for what they contribute to the hearts, minds, and souls of others; which, at this point, I feel makes her far too good for Mr. Rochester. He, at least presently, seems very shallow. He is planning to marry Miss. Ingram for reasons opposite from those which Jane believes he should, and, frankly, he knows this to be all too true. I believe he will somewhere, somehow, eventually come to his senses and realize that to marry for material benefits alone is foolish and will not sustain a happy life. He is a far more intelligent man than to make such a foolish and short-sighted decision. However, sadly, to this point, the tide is not yet turning. Later on in the evening, when everyone believes Mr. Rochester to be away, a gypsy comes to the house and wishes to read palms and tell fortunes of all the single women staying there. As she proceeds through performing readings for all of the young ladies, she leaves Miss. Ingram feeling distraught and almost depressed, while the younger ladies are feeling giddy and even at times frightful. Then, she comes to Jane. Jane enters with a very cautious and stoic air, as she usually does, only to discover that the witch is actually Mr. Rochester. My first question, as I read this, was, " What kind of mind games is he trying to play with her?" He brings her in to try and coerce her to say that she likes him, and then proceeds to tell her that, despite the unhappy marriage Mr. Rochester (himself) and Miss Ingram will have, he is still going to marry that woman. Interestingly, Jane calls him out on this prank and tells him he is being creepy and acting more than a bit strange. He apologizes to her. This is a bit of foreshadowing and a pivotal point, because, in the midst of these interactions, the reader realizes that Mr. Rochester actually is developing genuine feelings for Jane; feelings she does not know of yet, which creates a sense of dramatic irony.
Next, Jane tells him of a man named Mr. Mason who is here to see him and suddenly, Mr. Rochester grows almost ill! He freaks out and begins to send Jane in and out of the room to do his bidding, which she seems to do with joy! Oh, what love will do to someone. Mr. Rochester proceeds to have a long conversation with Mr. Mason. Jane goes to bed; however, later that night, Jane hears a lot of commotion and some yelling that awakes the other house guests, but only she is able to make out what was actually being said. After Mr. Rochester comes and settles all the commotion, he comes to Jane's room and requests her help upstairs with a sponge and strong salts. When she gets upstairs, she hears growling, laughing, and sees Mr. Mason covered in blood! I generally find Jane to be a very intelligent woman with a great deal of common sense, but she still is of the belief that it is Grace Poole who is laughing, growling, and who hurt Mr. Mason. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel with a certainty that no servants maid carries on throughout the day acting completely sane, and then completely transforms, becoming insane during the night, almost killing people! Mr. Rochester requests for Jane to remain with Mr. Mason and take care of him, while Mr. Rochester leaves and goes to seek a doctor. Before his departure, he tells Jane and Mr. Mason that they cannot say a word to one another. At this point, I am wondering why. So, as I am pondering this for a moment, I figure that the only plausible reason is that there is something going on that Mr. Mason knows about that Jane does not. Therefore, Mr. Rochester wishes to keep it concealed from her, because he cares about Jane. I got to considering what it could be that he is hiding from her. So, this may be wrong, but here is my theory: ruling out that the crazy, laughing and snarling woman is Grace Poole, the mystery woman has to be someone that both Mr. Mason and Mr. Rochester know, especially considering that Mr. Mason wished to have an interview with her. So, the truth is one of two possibilities. Option 1: the crazy woman is actually Adela's mother, the opera singer who went crazy for an unknown reason and now Mr. Rochester, because he was in love with her, refuses to put her in a mental institution and is now taking care of her, despite her troubled mind and possible dangers to the household. Also, remember the other boy that she cheated on Mr. Rochester with? That could very well be Mr. Mason, and possibly, he is also still in love with her. Potentially, Adela is his child, and so he is stopping in to discreetly visit her, as well. Option 2: All of Option 1, except Mr. Mason's role. In this scenario, perhaps Mr. Mason is a doctor who, periodically, comes to help with the illness of the woman, and Adela is actually Mr. Rochester's daughter. Either way, I believe Grace Poole may have something to do with the affair of this tortured woman. Not that Grace is she, but perhaps she is her nursemaid, as she often assumes blame for the laughing and noise making. Finally, the question has also occurred to me, does Mrs. Fairfax not know the truth about this woman? She must! Or perhaps is she just oblivious, and she is just as fooled as everyone else is, into thinking that it is Grace Poole?
A bit of a twist occurs in the story now. Jane receives a visit from the coachman from Gateshead, in which he informs her that her cousin John has died, that the family is not doing well, and Mrs. Reed is gravely ill and requests her company. She requests leave, and Mr. Rochester at first does not wish to grant it to her. He finally does, exemplifying to the reader that he truly does care for Jane and fears losing her, as he makes her promise to stay no longer than a week. Yet, due to the illness of Mrs. Reed, Jane stays an entire month. Although beautiful writing, imagery, and character depth and development occurs during this part of the story, besides a letter that Jane receives, not much occurs that is vital to the story line in this part of the novel. We see Jane become more accepted, grow closer to her cousins, Eliza and Georgiana, and we see the vast character contrast between the two sisters. The main thing that occurs is that first, we see Jane has finally overcome her hatred for Mrs. Reed and has come to love her, despite Mrs. Reed's disdain for Jane. Secondly, Jane receives a letter which Mrs. Reed gives her from Jane's uncle, who wished to give her all of his possessions and adopt her as his own child, three years ago. The amazing thing is that Jane, instead of immediately writing back to him, because Mrs. Reed told the man Jane had died at Lowood, decides to think no more of it at the time and return home to Thornfield. Jane is focused, almost singly, on the Hall and on Mr. Rochester. The girl has just been told she has money waiting for her and a way to start a grand life on her own, yet she returns to a man who is destined to be married to a woman who is not his love, while she is clearly in love with him. So, once Mrs. Reed has died, and Jane has seen her cousins off to better and more stable places and lives, she returns to Thornfield. However, she does not wish to make her presence known immediately to anyone. So, she decides to walk from Millcoat. As she walks, she ponders her feelings about Mr. Rochester and her return to Thornfield. She thinks about how, although she will be excited to see Adela and Mrs. Fairfax, the person who she is truly longing to see is Mr. Rochester. Jane imagines he does not even think about her.
When she arrives, she smells his cigar and decides to go by way of the garden, instead, in order to make it into the house. However, Rochester follows her. So, she slips away where she believes he will not know she is there. When he is turned away, Jane decides to try to slip out, but just as I figured, he knew of her presence the whole time, and, without even glancing at her, asks her opinion of a moth he has just found. Jane stays and their conversation continues, and he begins to discuss with her how he will soon be married to Miss. Ingram, how Adela will be sent away to school, and how Jane will be sent to Ireland. Jane naturally begins to sob, and Mr. Rochester continues to talk, as if it is not happening. He was either quite daft or quite strategic! Luckily, it ends up being the latter. Eventually, through a long push and pull of conversation, argument, and strong emotion, he finally confesses his love to Jane, who, rightfully, does not believe him and thinks he is "patronizing her." He finally asks her to marry him, and she realizes he is telling the truth. At this point, she says yes! My heart is very happy because it has been this long, and an overdue notion of them finally confessing their love to one another. I am gleeful he is finally snapping out of any idea of marriage to Miss Ingram, who is simply using him for money. They finally return inside, and Mrs. Fairfax sees them kissing. She even hears Mr. Rochester address Jane as " darling." The poor thing!. She must have been mortified, as she, along with every other servant there, could have sworn Mr. Rochester was going to marry Miss Ingram. Well, he was! However, Jane only flees to her room and, although perplexed for a moment on whether she should have discussed the occurrence with Mrs. Fairfax, quickly returns to her joyous state, as the future Mrs. Edward Rochester. I assume at this point that they will most likely keep Adela, and, although I hope it will be smooth sailing ahead for the two of them, with so many things left unresolved, such as: Mr. Mason, the creepy laughing woman in the attic, and even the status of the relationship between Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram, I have a feeling that, sadly, turbulence lies ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment