Analisi di Jane Eyre, Appunti di Lingue e letterature classiche

Scarica Analisi di Jane Eyre e più Appunti in PDF di Lingue e letterature classiche solo su Docsity! SETTING Jane Eyre takes place in five settings: Gateshead Hall, Lowood School, Thornfield Hall, Moor House, and Ferndean. Each setting encompasses a different stage in Jane's life. Gateshead, where the Reeds live and Jane spends her young childhood days, contains the terrifying red-room, the place in which she undergoes her first truly terrifying experience: a supposed encounter with her Uncle Reed's ghost. Jane's marked change from this encounter prompts Mrs. Reed to send her to Lowood School, a place filled with similarly oppressive circumstances. Brontë modeled the harsh conditions of Lowood School after an English school she attended with her sisters. Just like in the novel, students suffered from typhus and consumption. Scholars note that Mr. Brocklehurst's doctrine of privation matches Evangelical doctrines popular in Victorian England, and many read this section as a critique of those branches of Protestantism. After Lowood, Jane moves on to Rochester's Thornfield Hall, which has a frightening, ominous presence at night, and Brontë uses quite a few other Gothic elements, such as descriptions of the supernatural, to define the setting. Many Gothic novels explore anxieties around sexuality. and accordingly Thornfield is where Jane explores romantic passion with Rochester, Moor House and Ferndean have less developed physical significance, but important names. The word "moor" signifies a mooring, a place where something is docked. Moor House is where Jane receives her inheritance, granting her stability for once in her life. The "fern" in Ferndean symbolizes the new growth Jane and Rochester will experience there, and Jane confirms that she has spent the past ten blissful years there by Rochester's side, as his wife and his equal. GENRE Structurally, Jane Eyre most closely resembles a bildungsroman. The word "bildungsroman" literally means "novel of education" in German, and accordingly, this genre follows the education and maturation of its sensitive and philosophical protagonist. Jane Eyre follows Jane as she literally grows up, and also as she emotionally grows into herself and takes ownership of her ideas and philosophies. From the very beginning, Jane Eyre establishes that Jane's life is profoundly shaped by her struggle against those with more power. Throughout most of the novel, Jane wrestles-struggle with her commitment to her own integrity and desire to satisfy her passions. By novel's end, Jane finally finds freedom by coming to terms with all the conflicting elements of her life. As is typical of the bildungsroman genre, it is this acceptance that reveals Jane's maturity. POINT OF VIEW Jane Eyre is written in the first-person point of view, with Jane serving as the narrator of the novel. Jane narrates from ten years later than the novel's end, meaning that she can both relate to her previous selves and comment upon them in hindsight. In parts of Jane Eyre, she describes events as she experienced them and occasionally slips into present tense. For example, directly after her escape from Thornfield, Jane describes: "The coach is a mile off by this time; I am alone." The sudden switch to present tense creates a jarring impression, which reflects Jane's agonized mental state. The reader can also interpret this switch as Jane reliving traumatic events, emphasizing their lasting impact, she still remembers what she felt like after leaving Rochester. In other chapters, Jane makes use of the distance she has from the events to address the reader, drawing attention to the fact that time has passed, and Jane narrates with the benefit of hindsight. Throughout, Jane has strong opinions that color the reader's opinions of events and other characters. For example, when she describes Blanche Ingram, Jane emphasizes the haughty pride in Blanche's expression, encouraging the reader's dislike. Blanche's eventual behavior justifies Jane's judgment, alerting the reader to Jane's astute point of view. TONE The tone of Jane Eyre shifts between a confessional, philosophical tone and a brooding, mysterious tone that permeates the events of the story. Jane often addresses the reader directly. She speculates as to why others behave the way they do, often pausing to philosophize, and explains herself and her actions. These asides suggest Jane may be self-conscious that her audience could judge her. The reader can also interpret these direct addresses from a feminist perspective. Although Brontë published Jane Eyre under a male pseudonym, her insistence on giving Jane an opinionated voice - in contrast to the Victorian ideal of the docile woman demonstrates the intelligence and value of women's - voices. The more Gothic, brooding elements (like supernatural events) appear in moments of heightened emotion, such as during Jane's punishment in the red-room, her first encounter with Rochester, and Bertha's nighttime wanderings. These frightening and dramatic moments add excitement and emphasize Jane's internal turmoil. Throughout the novel, Jane cannot be assured of her place in the world because of her lack of wealth and family connections, and the unsettling tone of these sections externalizes Jane's insecurity. LITERARY DEVICES Jane Eyre is a "novel of education", a genre that follows the education and maturation of the protagonist throughout the novel, both from a literal point of view and from the emotions and her ideas. Jane has been fighting against the most powerful since she was a child and fighting for the desire to satisfy her passions. Only at the end of the novel will she then come to find the freedom that she has always sought and wanted. The style used is descriptive and she tries not to forget any detail, formal, the sentences are long with commas and periods in between and there is also a lot of dialogue. These characteristics of syntax are characteristics of Victorian literature, in fact Jane manages to respect these characteristics because she is educated and philosophical. Brontë makes bible connections and Jane and Rochester's marriage is compared to the relationship between Adam and Eve, Jane describes this moment as becoming one with Rochester's body. Also present are the moral and ethical duties that Jane feels she abandons after learning that he was married. It's a novel written in the first person, and the author can follow the events through a woman's perspective (which was new at the time), it also helps the reader identify with the protagonist. There are some characteristics typical of the gothic genre: - Jane's transition from poverty, hardship and isolation as a child to be happy and married. -The themes of horror, madness, passion and dreams. -The setting is gothic, Thornfield Hall is an old mansion, dark and full of secrets (it gives suspense to the reader of the novel). -presence of supernatural situations (communication in a dream between Jane and Rochester). THEME This novels shows us that marriage only works between like-minded individuals with similar attitudes and outlooks on life. Inequalities of class background or financial situation are no biggie, but characters who marry solely for wealth or status are totally doomed. But a marriage has to have more than common ground; it has to have passion. Characters who try to match themselves up based on rational criteria sin against their own natures... as do characters who try to claim that marriage and love are the same thing. Rochester’s Bertha Mason embodies all the things that threaten the landed Victorian gentry: feminine sexuality, racial otherness, irrational behavior, and overseas wealth. Jane’s outsider status at Gateshead is similar to Bertha’s outsider status at Thornfield. Questions About Foreignness and "The Other" -There are a lot of different countries outside England that play important roles in Jane Eyre, especially France, India, and Jamaica. What is the novel’s tone or attitude toward each of these places? What do they represent or get stereotyped as representing? Gender Relations Jane struggles continually to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. In addition to class hierarchy, she must fight against patriarchal domination-against those who believe women to be inferior to men and try to treat them as such. Three central male figures threaten her desire for equality and dignity: Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers. All three are misogynistic on some level. Each tries to keep Jane in a submissive position, where she is unable to express her own thoughts and feelings. In her quest for independence and self-knowledge, Jane must escape Brocklehurst, reject St. John, and come to Rochester only after ensuring that they may marry as equals. This last condition is met once Jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at Moor House, in a community and in a family. She will not depend solely on Rochester for love and she can be financially independent. Furthermore, Rochester is blind at the novel's end and thus dependent upon Jane to be his "prop and guide." In Chapter 12, Jane articulates what was for her time a radically feminist philosophy: Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. Home and Belonging Throughout the novel, Jane defines her idea of home as a place where she both belongs and can be useful. When the Reeds' apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, questions whether Jane is happy to live at Gateshead, Jane emphasizes that it is not her house because she has no right to be there. In the first chapter, Jane describes herself as "a discord" at Gateshead because her temperament doesn't match that of the Reeds, and “useless” because the fact that she doesn't fit in with the family keeps her from adding to the happiness of the household. Further, Jane’s sense of alienation is compounded because no one loves Jane at Gateshead, and she has no one to love in return. At Lowood, Jane seeks to find work elsewhere after Miss Temple’s departure, mainly because she believes it was Miss Temple that made Lowood homey. Without the person she loves most, Jane’s usefulness is no longer enough to constitute Lowood as home. Later, at Thornfield, Jane shares such a deep emotional connection with Rochester that she declares him to be her “only home,” but she leaves Rochester because living with him would contribute to his sin and damage his soul. After learning about Bertha Mason, she feels morally useless around him. By novel's end, when Jane finally returns to Rochester, she can at last be useful him, in part because he now must depend on Jane for his eyesight. Jane’s desire to belong is connected to her desire to be valuable to another person, and these desires drive her decisions throughout the entire novel. Anxiety and Uncertainty Bronté draws on frightening Gothic imagery to highlight anxiety and uncertainty surrounding Jane's place in the world, especially by describing the supernatural. The reader's first encounter with the Gothic and supernatural is the terrifying red-room. Uncle Reed may not literally haunt the room, but his connection to the room haunts Jane as a reminder of the unfulfilled promise that she would have a home at Gateshead and the reality that Uncle Reed cannot ensure that she will be loved. Later, the storm that splits the chestnut tree where Rochester and Jane kiss creates a portentous atmosphere, as if nature itself objects to their marriage. This occurrence serves to warn Jane that despite appearances, her happiness with Rochester is not truly secure. Further, many scholars have identified Bertha as a Gothic double of Jane, or a physical manifestation of the violent passions and anger that Jane possessed in her younger years. This connection between Bertha and Jane highlights anxieties around Jane becoming Rochester’s bride. Even without knowledge of Bertha, Jane worries Rochester will tire of her, and their marriage would upend rigid Victorian social class structure by having a governess marry her master. In this way, Bertha’s looming presence expresses Jane’s fear about their impending marriage and the ambiguity of Jane’s social position. Love vs Autonomy Jane Eyre is very much the story of a quest to be loved. Jane searches, not just for romantic love, but also for a sense of being valued, of belonging. Thus Jane says to Helen Burns: "to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest" (Chapter 8). Yet, over the course of the book, Jane must learn how to gain love without sacrificing and harming herself in the process. Her fear of losing her autonomy motivates her refusal of Rochester's marriage proposal. Jane believes that "marrying" Rochester while he remains legally tied to Bertha would mean rendering herself a mistress and sacrificing her own integrity for the sake of emotional gratification. On the other hand, her life at Moor House tests her in the opposite manner. There, she enjoys economic independence and engages in worthwhile and useful work, teaching the poor; yet she lacks emotional sustenance. Although St. John proposes marriage, offering her a partnership built around a common purpose, Jane knows their marriage would remain loveless. Religion Throughout the novel, Jane struggles to find the right balance between moral duty and earthly pleasure, between obligation to her spirit and attention to her body. She encounters three main religious figures: Mr. Brocklehurst, Helen Burns, and St. John Rivers. Each represents a model of religion that Jane ultimately rejects as she forms her own ideas about faith and principle, and their practical consequences. Mr. Brocklehurst illustrates the dangers and hypocrisies that Charlotte Brontë perceived in the nineteenth-century Evangelical movement. Mr. Brocklehurst adopts the rhetoric of Evangelicalism when he claims to be purging his students of pride, but his method of subjecting them to various privations and humiliations, like when he orders that the naturally curly hair of one of Jane's classmates be cut so as to lie straight, is entirely un- Christian. Of course, Brocklehurst's proscriptions are difficult to follow, and his hypocritical support of his own luxuriously wealthy family at the expense of the Lowood students shows Brontë's wariness of the Evangelical movement. [Helen Burns's meek and forbearing mode of Christianity, on the other hand, is too passive for Jane to adopt as her own, although she loves and admires Helen for it. Many chapters later, St. John Rivers provides another model of Christian behavior. His is a Christianity of ambition, glory, and extreme self-importance. St. John urges Jane to sacrifice her emotional deeds for the fulfillment of her moral duty, offering her a way of life that would require her to be disloyal to her own self. Although Jane ends up rejecting all three models of religion, she does not abandon morality, spiritualism, or a belief in a Christian God. When her wedding is interrupted, she prays to God for solace (Chapter 26). As she wanders the heath, poor and starving, she puts her survival in the hands of God (Chapter 28). She strongly objects to Rochester's lustful immorality, and she refuses to consider living with him while church and state still deem him married to another woman. Even so, Jane can barely bring herself to leave the only love she has ever known. She credits God with helping her to escape what she knows would have been an immoral life (Chapter 27). Jane ultimately finds a comfortable middle ground. Her spiritual understanding is not hateful and oppressive like Brocklehurst's, nor does it require retreat from the everyday Frenare. world as Helen's and St. John's religions do. For Jane, religion helps curb immoderate sproud passions, and it spurs one on to worldly efforts and achievements. These achievements include full self-knowledge and complete faith in God. SYMBOLS What is the red-room? The red-room is the abandoned chamber in Gateshead Hall where Mr. Reed, Jane’s uncle, died nine years prior to the start of the novel. The red-room has a foreboding, frightening atmosphere that terrifies Jane when Mrs. Reed locks her inside as punishment. In addition to its connection with death and garish red decor, the room is cold and silent, heightening Jane's terror. Her terror climaxes when she imagines Uncle Reed's ghost in the room, and she fears that he has appeared to take revenge on Mrs. Reed for her poor treatment of Jane. The red-room scene brings in some of the gothic elements often found in popular 18th- and 19th-century novels: an elaborately decorated, cold, dark room where someone has died, a mysterious light, and a raging storm. The atmospherics of the storm reflect Jane's tumultuous emotions, as well as contributing to her fright and profound sense of isolation. Fire Images of fire throughout the novel represent passion, destruction, and comfort or regeneration. Fire, like passion, has the qualities of heat and light. When Rochester thanks Jane for saving his life, "Strange energy was in his voice, strange fire in his look." When Rochester is anxious to get to the church for their wedding, he tells Jane, "My brain is on fire with impatience." In this sense fire symbolizes vibrancy—intense aliveness. Fire's destructive force visits Thornfield on three occasions. The first is the fire in Rochester's room, when Jane saves him. While Jane's introduction to the mystery of Thornfield occurs in Chapter 11, when she first hears the strange laughter, it is the fire in Chapter 15 that makes the mystery a threatening one. Jane saves Rochester from this fire, foreshadowing how, at the book's end, she saves him with her love after the final fire. The second instance of fire at Thornfield is the lightning strike on the chestnut tree just moments after Jane and Rochester become engaged to marry. Here the destructive force of fire is an omen. The destruction of Thornfield by fire is the most dramatic representation of fire's destructive force. Jane suffers teasing and punishment at the hands of John Reed and his obnoxious mother. The Red Chamber is the first of a series of literal and metaphorical prisons in the novel. Although Jane's imprisonment in the red room is real, she will encounter spiritual, intellectual and emotional imprisonment throughout the book. Rigid Victorian hierarchies of social class and gender will pose challenges to her freedom of movement and personal growth, and moral and religious corruption will also pose a threat to her ability to achieve her dreams on her own. Jane will even come to fear the "bondage" of her own passions. At the same time, the red room is also the symbol of Jane's feeling of isolation from any community: she is "locked in", but she is also, in a certain sense, "locked out". Again, class and gender hierarchies will contribute to Jane's sense of exile. For example, This section details Jane's experiences at Lowood, from her first day at the school to her last some nine years later. Jane's early years at Lowood prove to be a time of considerable tribulation, as she endures harsh conditions, cruel teachers and the tyranny of Mr Brocklehurst. Furthermore, the harsh conditions she experiences as a student at Lowood show us that despite Jane's intelligence, talent and self-confidence, she is only a burden in the eyes of society, because she is poor. CHAPTERS 5-10 The most important thematic elements in this section are the contrasting modes of religious thought represented by Brocklehurst and Helen Burns. Mr. Brocklehurst is a religious hypocrite, who supports his luxuriously wealthy family at the expense of Lowood students and uses his "pity" as an instrument of power over lower-class girls in Lowood. He claims that he is purging his students of pride by subjecting them to various deprivations and humiliations: for example, he orders that the naturally curly hair of one of Jane's classmates be cut so that it remains straight. Angelic Helen Burns and her doctrine of resistance represent a religious position that contrasts with that of Mr. Brocklehurst. Absolutely passive and accepting any abjection, Helen embodies rather than preaches the Christian ideas of love and forgiveness. But neither form of religion satisfies Jane, who, because of her strong sensitivity to humiliation and injustice, insults the superficial devotional Brocklehurst and fails to understand the passivity of Helen Burns. As Jane herself declares: "When we are hit for no reason, we should fight back very hard again to teach those who hit us never to do it again" (Chapter 6). Helen's doctrine of resistance and love is incompatible with Jane's belief in fairness and self-respect. CHAPTERS 11-16 This section marks the third phase of Jane's life, in which she begins her career as a governess and travels to Thornfield, where the major episodes of her story take place. By linking Jane's developmental stages to the various institutions or geographic locations she is involved with (Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Moor House and Ferndean, in that order), the book positions itself in a literary genre known as the Bildungsroman. The Bildungsroman, a novel detailing the growth and development of a major character through different periods of life, began as a German genre in the seventeenth century, but by the mid-1800s it had also firmly established itself in England. Such important Victorian novels as David Copperfield are based on this form, which continues to be an important literary subgenre today. The Bildungsroman typically told the story of a man growing up from infancy to adulthood; Charlotte Brontë's appropriation of form for her heroine represents one of the many ways in which her novel challenges accepted Victorian conceptions of gender hierarchy, asserting that a woman's inner development deserves as much attention and analysis as that of of a man. However, even though Jane herself and Jane Eyresince novels are often identified as important early figures of the feminist movement, Jane experiences many inner questions regarding her gender role; she is not always a staunch and confident feminist. That is, while Jane possesses immense integrity and a determination to succeed on her own terms, her inability to conform to ideals of female beauty nonetheless troubles her and makes her question herself. Just as Jane's time in Lowood involved a number of elements from Charlotte Brontë's life, so too Jane's career as governess is based in part on Brontë's short-lived position as governess in the late 1930s. Nineteenth century. In many ways, Brontë's exploration of the role of the governess represents the novel's most important and challenging treatment of the subject of social class. Just like Emily Brontë does with Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Brontë makes Jane a figure of ambiguous class. As a result, she is a source of extreme tension for the characters around her. But while Heathcliff (an orphan like Jane) attains wealth and power without gaining education or social grace, Jane acquires the manners, refinement and education of an aristocrat while remaining penniless and powerless. Such was the role of the governess: brought into wealthy Victorian families as private guardians of the children in both academics and etiquette, governesses were expected to possess the demeanor of the aristocracy; but as paid employees, they were in many ways treated merely as servants. Jane begins to feel this tension as soon as she notices her emerging feelings for Rochester. Though somewhat his social equal, she is also his servant. CHAPTERS 17-21 Jane's situation in chapter 17 manifests the awkward position of governesses. Jane, forced to sit in the parlor during the Rochester party, has to endure Blanche Ingram's comments to her mother about the nature of governesses: "half detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all nightmares". ("Incubi" is the plural of "incubus", an oppressive or nightmarish burden.) At this point in the story, the narrative began to focus more and more on Jane and Rochester's potential relationship. The presence of Blanche, who threatens the possibility of a union between the two, adds tension to the plot. Blanche is not only a competitor for Jane, she is also a foil for her, as the two women differ in every respect. Jane Eyre never seems to possess the degree of romantic tension that runs through Wuthering Heights of Emily Brontëbecause signs of Rochester's affection for Jane are recognizable early on. The most telling tip occurs at the end of chapter 17, when Rochester almost calls Jane "my love" before biting his tongue. The tension surrounding Jane and Rochester's relationship comes not from the question of whether Rochester loves Jane, but from whether he will be able to act on his feelings. So far, two obstacles - Blanche and the dark secrets of Thornfield Hall - stand in the way of Rochester. These obstacles, and the potential marriage they prevent, make up the romantic storyline of Jane Eyre. As in many novels, the norms of society and the conflicting personalities of the protagonists must be changed or ignored for marriage to be possible. But Rochester's dark past, especially his secret marriage to Bertha, adds a gothic element to the story. Unlike the wedding storyline, which leads up to the public and communal event of a wedding, the "Gothic storyline" of Rochester's struggle with his past focuses on Rochester's private conscience. The physical world of Thornfield Hall reflects his inner state: the house, the landscape and Bertha can be seen as external manifestations of his dangerous secrets. These gothic elements suggest that the story will lead to death or madness rather than the happy occasion of marriage. Disguised as a gypsy, Rochester wields an almost magical power over Jane and the scene reveals how much he controls her emotions at this stage of the novel. He also controls the plot and his gypsy disguise allows him to overcome the obstacle that Blanche sets. Like the game of charades the group plays earlier, Rochester's cross-dressing appearance hints at his cross-dressing persona. Mr. Mason's unexplained injuries, such as the previous mysterious fire in Rochester's bedroom, reinforce the larger gothic storyline soon to unfold. Allowing Jane to see Mason upstairs, Rochester appears to invite her to help cure Bertha's ailments, and she first attempts to talk to Jane about her past as they take a walk together following Mason's stabbing. Though he speaks to Jane of his determination to redeem himself, his references to a grave mistake and a wasted youth suggest that Jane risks great danger not only by continuing to live in Thornfield but by falling in love with him. His emotional well-being as well as his physical well-being may soon be in danger. Adèle and Bertha already serve as living heirs to Rochester's past licentiousness, and Jane may be next in line, as her prophetic dream seems to suggest. CHAPTERS 22-25 After her stay in Gateshead, Jane comes to fully understand what Rochester and Thornfield mean to her. After being poignantly reminded of the abjectness and cruelty she suffered in her childhood, Jane now realizes how different her life has become, how much she has earned and how much she has grown. In Rochester she has found someone she truly cares about, someone who, despite periodic displays of brusqueness, still continues to admire Jane and care for her dearly. Plus, Rochester gives her a real sense of belonging, something she's always lacked. As she tells him, "wherever you are is my home, my only home." Although Rochester's declaration of love and marriage proposal make Jane extremely happy, she is also very worried about the wedding. His feelings of dread may in part stem from an unconscious insinuation of Rochester's dark and horrific secret, to be divulged in later chapters: the eerie laugh he heard, the mysterious fire he saved Rochester from, the strange figure cries Jane's Wedding Veil and other small clues may have led Jane to draw some subconscious conclusions about what she will only consciously discover later. Another possibility is that Jane's doubts stem from other concerns. She has always longed for freedom and escape, and marrying Rochester would be a way of bonding. Jane may fear that the marriage will encroach on her autonomy and even force her submission to Rochester. Marriage would not only bring her into a relationship of responsibility and commitment to another person, but could cement her in a position of inferiority. Jane's anxiety surfaces when Rochester tries to dress her in women's clothing. She reacts with revulsion, noting that she feels like a toy doll. Jane fears that Rochester is trying to objectify her, that he sees her not as a human being with her own thoughts and feelings, but as a toy designed to satisfy his whims and fancies. Jane also worries about his financial inferiority: she hates the thought of marrying "above her rank", as she does not want to hear that she somehow "owes" Rochester something for the fact that he "deigned" to love her, since they were. She hates the thought that his love could be a "favor" for her. Thus, Jane's feelings and desires for Rochester are closely related to her feelings about his social standing (her employee status and her experiences of economic dependency) and her position as a woman. She is very sensitive to the hierarchy and power dynamic involved in marriage, and despite her claims that she is forced to "give in" to her feelings for Rochester, she does not desire the complete surrender that heroines in romance novels experience. The storybook marriage towards which these chapters seem to lead cannot succeed, for Jane will only be able to fulfill the role of wife under entirely different conditions. CHAPTER 26 The incident of the "madwoman in the attic" is probably Jane Eyre's most famous, and has given rise to countless interpretations and symbolic readings. For example, Bertha Mason could represent the horror of the Victorian wedding. Rochester claims to have imprisoned her for being insane, but it is easy to imagine an opposite relationship of cause and effect, where years of enforced confinement and solitary confinement have made her violently escapes yet another threat to her freedom and sense of self. Yet the same seriousness with which Jane considers his proposal leads her to an important realization about herself. Part of the reason she fled Thornfield was that she feared becoming a slave to her own passion and sacrificing her principles. By coming so close to marrying St. John, she demonstrates her ability to do the opposite: to sacrifice passion altogether and give herself entirely to principle. Now Jane knows that going back to Rochester wouldn't mean her weakness. Plus, she now appreciates more than ever what Rochester has offered her. Having found herself on the threshold of a loveless marriage, she fully understands the importance of following not only her mind but also her heart. CHAPTER 36 Jane contemplates her supernatural experience of the previous night, wondering whether it was really Rochester’s voice that she heard calling to her and whether Rochester might actually be in trouble. She finds a note from St. John urging her to resist temptation, but nevertheless she boards a coach to Thornfield. She travels to the manor, anxious to see Rochester and reflecting on the ways in which her life has changed in the single year since she left. Once hopeless, alone, and impoverished, Jane now has friends, family, and a fortune. She hurries to the house after her coach arrives and is shocked to find Thornfield a charred ruin. She goes to an inn called the Rochester Arms to learn what has happened. Here, she learns that Bertha Mason set the house ablaze several months earlier. Rochester saved his servants and tried to save his wife, but she flung herself from the roof as the fire raged around her. In the fire, Rochester lost a hand and went blind. He has taken up residence in a house called Ferndean, located deep in the forest, with John and Mary, two elderly servants. Chapter 37 Jane goes to Ferndean. From a distance, she sees Rochester reach a hand out of the door, testing for rain. His body looks the same, but his face is desperate and disconsolate. Rochester returns inside, and Jane approaches the house. She knocks, and Mary answers the door. Inside, Jane carries a tray to Rochester, who is unable to see her. When he realizes that Jane is in the room with him, he thinks she must be a ghost or spirit speaking to him. When he catches her hand, he takes her in his arms, and she promises never to leave him. The next morning they walk through the woods, and Jane tells Rochester about her experiences the previous year. She has to assure him that she is not in love with St. John. He asks her again to marry him, and she says yes—they are now free from the specter of Bertha Mason. Rochester tells Jane that a few nights earlier, in a moment of desperation, he called out her name and thought he heard her answer. She does not wish to upset him or excite him in his fragile condition, and so she does not tell him about hearing his voice at Moor House. Chapter 38 Jane and Rochester marry with no witnesses other than the parson and the church clerk. Jane writes to her cousins with the news. St. John never acknowledges what has happened, but Mary and Diana write back with their good wishes. Jane visits Adèle at her school, and finds her unhappy. Remembering her own childhood experience, Jane moves Adèle to a more congenial school, and Adèle grows up to be a very pleasant and mild-mannered young woman. Jane writes that she is narrating her story after ten years of marriage to Rochester, which she describes as inexpressibly blissful. They live as equals, and she helps him to cope with his blindness. After two years, Rochester begins to regain his vision in one eye, and when their first child—a boy—is born, Rochester is able to see the baby. Jane writes that Diana and Mary have both found husbands and that St. John went to India as he had planned. She notes that in his last letter, St. John claimed to have had a premonition of his own approaching death. She does not believe that she will hear from St. John again, but she does not grieve for him, saying that he has fulfilled his promise and done God’s work. She closes her book with a quote from his letter, in which he begs the Lord Jesus to come for him quickly. Analysis: Chapters 36–38 Jane’s melodramatic discovery of the ruined Thornfield and her recounting of the story of Bertha Mason’s mad and fiery death lead to the novel’s last, brief stage at Ferndean, during which Jane and Rochester are able to marry at last. It is possible to question Jane Eyre’s proto-feminism on the grounds that Jane only becomes Rochester’s full equal (as she claims to be in the novel’s epilogue-like last chapter) when he is physically infirm and dependent on her to guide him and read to him—in other words, when he is physically incapable of mastering her. However, it is also possible that Jane now finds herself Rochester’s equal not because of the decline Rochester has suffered but because of the autonomy that she has achieved by coming to know herself more fully. . <<No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward’s society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together.>> See Important Quotations Explained Another problem that troubles some critics is the fact that Jane finds happiness in the novel only through marriage, suggesting that marriage constitutes the only route to contentment for women (after all, the “happy ending” for Diana and Mary, also, is that they find husbands). It could be argued that, in returning to Rochester, Jane sacrifices her long-sought autonomy and independence. Another way of looking at Jane’s marriage is that she doesn’t sacrifice everything, but enters into a relationship in which giving and taking occur in equal measure. Indeed, in order to marry Rochester Jane has had to reject another marriage, a marriage that would have meant a much more stifling and suppressed life for her. Moreover, in declining to marry St. John, Jane comes to the realization that part of being true to “who she is” means being true to her emotions and passions; part of what makes her herself is manifested in her relationships with others—in the giving of herself to other human beings. By entering into marriage, Jane does indeed enter into a “bond,” but in many ways this “bond” is also the “escape” that Jane has sought all along. In providing a happy ending for Jane, Brontë seems to suggest that individuals who manage to navigate the pressures and hypocrisies of established social and religious structures can eventually enter into lasting love. A woman who refuses to bend to class and gender prejudices, or to accept domination or oppression, might still find kindred hearts and a sense of spiritual community. Lastly, Brontë seems to suggest a way in which a woman’s quest for love and a feeling of belonging need not encroach upon her sense of self—need not restrict her intellectual, spiritual, and emotional independence. Indeed, Brontë suggests that it is only after coming to know oneself and one’s own strength that one can enter wholly into a well-rounded and loving relationship with another. Chapter 38 is the only one that has a title: "Conclusion." Brontë might be playing with multiple meanings of the word. Not only does the chapter conclude the work, but perhaps she—through Jane—is offering conclusions about the novel's meaning for the reader to consider. Rochester finally receives his redemption, as indicated by the restoration of his sight and the birth of a son. Of course, he had to suffer a physical wound for that to happen, and he will bear the scar for the rest of his life. But he is a happier and better man than ever before. Jane has the love and the family that she has always craved. Far from feeling restricted by marriage, Jane feels "supremely blest" and "as free as in solitude, as gay as in company." Some critics see Rochester's injury as a symbolic castration, an injury that limits his potent masculinity and thus makes him more acceptable to the spinsterish Brontë as a mate for her heroine. In this reading he is more than humbled and chastened by his injuries; he is diminished but also made threatening. Rochester's blindness fits into a long tradition of characters who see more clearly after they lose sight. When Oedipus finally sees the truth of his actions, he blinds himself. The Duke of Gloucester from King Lear only sees the truth of which of his sons is loyal when he is blinded. Rochester, blinded, has seen the error of his ways. Jane succeeds in finding a physician who can partly restore his sight; that is, it is through her that he can see more clearly. That the last words are given to St. John and suggest his acceptance of his impending death solidifies the religious theme—and echoes the death of the Christ-like Helen earlier in the book. Like her, St. John exemplifies the Christian virtues that Brontë cherishes—faith in God, trust in his forgiveness, and humility. The sanctimonious Mrs. Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst, on the other hand, reach no such glorious state. Adèle's path reflects on Jane's early life. She was unhappy at the first school where she was placed—Jane "found the rules of the establishment were too strict, its course of study too severe, for a child of her age." Able to spare the girl the misery she suffered, at least initially, at Lowood, Jane pulled her from the school and placed her in another. No longer powerless, Jane uses her authority to benefit others.