How Does Jane Eyre Develop Between Chapters 11 and 27 of the Novel?

Jane and Rochester officially meet at Thornfield, the day after his arrival, Rochester invites Jane for tea. His attitude towards Jane is abrupt and quite cold, although he is charmed by Jane's drawings. Jane feels unusually comfortable around

We first encounter this relationship between Jane and Rochester during their first dramatic meeting. She encounters him when he falls off his horse and she is required to give him assistance. Jane’s first impression of his face is that ‘He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow’. This may portray the dimness in his face awaiting to be enlightened by a woman which, in this case Jane. Further on in this chapter, unaware of who he is, on her return home, Jane is amazed to discover that the gentleman she assisted in the road was her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. Jane’s future relationship with Rochester is most clearly set out in their first meeting. Although without any money, reserved and socially dependent, Jane is not

So, Rochester showed the brother (Richard), the priest, and Jane his wife. He explained how Bertha had lit his bed on fire, stabbed Richard, and destroyed Jane’s wedding veil's; she was more a monster than a wife. Heartbroken by learning of this marriage, Jane fled to her room where she stayed for hours upon hours. "Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent expectant woman - almost a bride - was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale; her prospects were desolate (341)." When she finally emerged, Rochester tried to convince her to stay with him. “I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment (363).” This was not something she could not do; as Rochester said, "...[It would] strip you of honour and rob you of self-respect (346)..." The next morning, Jane left Thornfield Hall with some money and few possessions. She did not say goodbye to

When Jane enters Thornfield she thinks she is going to work for a woman named Mrs. Fairfax, but she does not. She works for a mysterious man name Mr. Rochester. This man is going to be an import aspect of Jane’s life. Jane works as a governess to a young girl named Adele. Jane encounters Mr. Rochester when she goes for a walk and runs into Rochester, whose horse is injured. After the encounter Jane and Rochester start to gain interest into each other. Mr. Rochester is a man with a large amount of money and Jane is a woman with very little money, the fact that she works for Mr. Rochester defies their unprofessional relationship. “Like governesses, these marriages between older men and younger women were viewed with great ambivalence during the Victorian period”(Godfrey). Both characters develop strong feelings for one another and become close to getting married but a discovery of a secret puts the marriage to a halt. After

It instead shows Jane’s inner struggle to do what is “right” versus what she desires. The separation between the voice of herself and her thoughts exhibits her helplessness to change her path from what her mind has already decided. This displays the heavy influence society has on Jane, which is further proven by the personification of Jane’s two strongest rivaling emotions. The heavy influence of a patriarchal dominated society is evident in her “Conscience” being a strong male figure, whereas her “Passion” is a weaker, feminine figure. Similarly, the strongest reasoning for Jane to leave Thornfield is driven by the patriarchal demand for a female to remain “pure” until holy marriage, rather than Jane’s own desire to leave, further solidifying the idea that the voice given to her mind is not just her own internal thoughts, but also the demands and expectations of

Though Jane is well educated and possesses the etiquette and training of a person in upper class society, social prejudices limit her because she is simply a paid servant, in their eyes. While at Thornfield, Jane falls desperately in love with the owner of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Jane is Mr. Rochester’s intellectual contemporary, but her social status prevents her from being his true equal. In the novel, Jane proclaims, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart!” (Bronte 637). After Mr. Rochester finally proposes, Jane is hesitant to marry him because she feels as if he would be lowering himself to marry her. This feeling greatly increases after Jane discovers he is married to Bertha Mason, and that he keeps her locked away in Thornfield’s attic due to her insanity. Mr. Rochester proposes that Jane becomes his mistress, which, according to Victorian society, would be more fitting since Jane is a plain governess. Jane realizes that she can never compromise her morals that way and leaves Thornfield. While on her own, Jane still strives to gain independence, discovers new kin, and learns she has a wealthy uncle who has left her a large inheritance. After her loneliness and longing for Mr. Rochester becomes too great, she returns to Thornfield. Jane is

Rochester’s propaganda lingers throughout the rest of the Thornfield section when he informs Jane that he is due to marry Blanche Ingrim, and that she is set for a job in Ireland (250-251). The sole purpose of this fib was to test Janes jealousy and experiment her reaction towards the situation; which is an evident sign of Rochester’s extent of manipulation. Her reaction leads Rochester to reveal that what he truly wants is Jane’s hand in marriage. The night before the marriage, Bertha escapes her room and rips Janes veil in half; this event following the proposal causes Rochester to attempt to convince Jane it is merely a dream. (Bronte.264)

Before she can become Rochester 's wife, Jane must prove her acceptability based on class. Does she have an upper-class sensibility, despite her inferior position at Thornfield? For example, when Bessie sees Jane at Lowood, she is impressed because Jane has become "quite a lady"; in fact, her accomplishments surpass that of her cousins, yet they are still considered her social superiors based solely on wealth. The conversation emphasizes the ambiguities of Jane 's family 's class status and of the class system in general: Should a lady be judged based on academic accomplishments, money, or family name? The novel critiques the behavior of most of the upper-class characters Jane meets: Blanche Ingram is haughty and superficial, John Reed is debauched, and Eliza Reed is inhumanely cold. Rochester is a primary example of upper-class debauchery, with his series of mistresses and his attempt to make Jane a member of the harem. In her final view of Thornfield, after Bertha has burned it down, Jane

Context: This is towards the middle of the book, Mr. Rochester and Jane are talking and he asks her to marry him.

”[244] Jane is more troubled that the concealment of Rochester’s secrets is poor for him, and thinks more on the ill effects they have on him than the issues themselves. Jane is not nearly as inquisitive as she was as a child, and the discovery of Bertha is shocking for Jane simply because she had not tried to figure out what Rochester’s secrets were. Jane has an internal conflict between her heart and her self-respect; this drives her away from Rochester and Thornfield

Jane Eyre is a coming of age story following a young woman and her journey of self-growth. At the start of the novel Jane is living with her aunt and three cousins. They continuously abuse her, treating her like a stranger rather than a family member. At the age of ten Jane leaves her aunt's house and attends boarding school. It is at this school where she learns lessons of forgiveness and hope from a meek young woman named Helen Burns. Subsequently studying and teaching at the school for eight years Jane decides to become a governess at the mysterious Thornfield mansion. She falls in love with the owner of Thornfield and the two make plans to marry. Nonetheless on the day of there wedding Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester is already married and that he keeps his insane wife Bertha trapped away in the attic of Thornfield. Devastated by this information, Jane flees Thornfield and nearly dies from cold and starvation. Soon after she is taken in by the Rivers, two sisters and one brother. The passing of Jane's uncle reveals that she and the Rivers are cousins. It is also revealed that this uncle has left Jane all his fortune. This in turn leaves Jane extremely wealthy. Her cousin St. John Rivers ask Jane for his hand in marriage. However Jane comes to the conclusion that she still loves Mr. Rochester. After declining St. John's proposal Jane journeys back to Thornfield. When she arrives at Thornfield Jane discovers the mysterious mansion in burnt ruins. It is revealed that the

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the title character’s journey is full of challenges that shape her development. These are constructed of times spent as four main places; Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, and Ferndean. At Gateshead Jane is too quick-tempered but only to lose her lively spirit at Lowood. At Thornfield she become overly passionate and guided by her emotions but balance is achieved at Ferndean. Jane Eyre becomes as complete character as she learns to find the balance between the intellect and the passions. In doing so, she touches the life of Edward Rochester and in fulling herself helps Rochester humble himself and achieve a perfect balance by example.

“Jane Eyre” is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their “womanly duties,” Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality & sexuality, passion & sensibility, and conformity & insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also used to relate many of the characters to the titular Jane. In “The Mystery at Thornfield,” Valerie Beattie makes claims that the character Bertha Mason’s insanity is a representation of rebellion toward the limitations of Victorian women. Not only is

This novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë is about the life a woman named Jane Eyre undergoing many changes that wound up shaping the person she had eventually grown up to be. This type of novel which accounts for the psychological development of the protagonist as they grow up is known a bildungsroman. One particular moment or action, which accounts for Jane’s psychological development, that is described in this novel is the adoption of Jane by her relatives known as the Reed family (Chapter 3).

Similarly, Bertha faces oppression and suffocation in her life at Thornfield, with a similar negative perception by society. She is forced to stay in her room on the third floor throughout her days while having no contact with the outside world, only having the opportunity to leave when Grace Poole falls asleep. Jane describes Bertha’s laugh to be “mirthless” and “suppressed”, highlighting Bertha’s disdain at her constant state of entrapment (Brontё 107, 147). Bertha is also referred to as a “lunatic”, demonstrating how, similar to Jane, she is viewed as useless and crazy and is therefore unwanted by society (Brontё 295). Sandra Gilbert asserts that the problems faced by Jane and Bertha are “symptomatic of difficulties Everywoman in a patriarchal society must meet and overcome” (Gilbert 1). Through exploring how Jane and Bertha are comparably oppressed in their respective settings, Brontё appears to suggest that Victorian women were often suffocated by the restraints of society.