Elena Kaltsidou, Sophie Bell, Eve

March 28, 2011

Book Circles

Jane Eyre

Chapters 1-4 Discussions

àJane is always reminded of her dependent status and the inconvenience to which she puts the whole family

à She is always excluded from family activities

à Jane’s troubles are intensified because she is a convenient victim of the family’s problems

à She fails to conform to expectations of feminine and childlike behavior by thinking for herself and being outspoken and defiant

à She suffers from physical bullying when John attacks her and psychological cruelty when she is locked in the Red Room

à As a result she develops a strong sense of fairness and a powerful reaction to injustice

à She finds consolation in reading and the exercise of her imagination

In the beginning chapters, we were able to see the character of Jane Eyre, and most importantly the cruel treatments she received from her cousins, and from her aunt Mrs. Reed. We also focused on the idea that Jane Eyre can be seen as a Cinderella, the orphan child who was abused by her foster family. Just like Cinderella, Jane Eyre was banished to the nursery and was used by Bessie to accomplish work in the house.

Symbols: fire

• o      

When Jane is sitting in the curtained-off window seat reading, and her cousin John knocks her down with the book, we saw her rebel against this abuse, almost as if she was trying to attack him. We then saw that the immediate consequence of her rebellious outburst led her to be taken to the Red Room, where she was afraid of the ghost.

Character of John Reed

à John Reed was the son of Jane's aunt and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to, because nobody ever suspected him of any faults

à Bothered Jane

In chapter three we saw a different side of Jane Eyre as she spoke to her aunt before going to school: “But I ought to forgive you, for you knew not what you did; while rending my heartstrings, you thought you were only uprooting my bad propensities.” To me this seemed that Jane knew that it was the right thing to forgive those who have hurt you, but deep inside she knew that this hate would always be there.

In Chapter four we see Jane again as she speaks to her aunt: “I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.” Here she expressed everything that she wanted to say all along, knowing that Mrs. Reed would not be able to punish her. She spoke about the lack of love and confidence her aunt gave her. However, the irony to this instance is that before leaving Jane made sure that she will “tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale.”

Other Important things discussed

• o       Jane is always reminded of her dependent status and the inconvenience to which she puts the whole family
• o       She is always excluded from family activities
• o       Jane’s troubles are intensified because she is a convenient victim of the family’s problems
• o       She fails to conform to expectations of feminine and childlike behavior by thinking for herself and being outspoken and defiant
• o       She suffers from physical bullying when John attacks her and psychological cruelty when she is locked in the Red Room
• o       As a result she develops a strong sense of fairness and a powerful reaction to injustice
• o       She finds consolation in reading and the exercise of her imagination

Chapters 5-10

In this section of the book, we see Jane’s first experience at her new school (Lowood), and the reader soon discovers that it is just a continuation of the treatment she received from the Reeds. The only difference was the cold and hunger, as well as the harsh teaching applications of Christianity.

We also discussed the fact that Jane was declared a “liar” in front of the whole school, and how Mr. Blockhurst suppressed almost everything that the girls owned.

Even though Jane encounters all of these hardships, we discover that she really enjoys the companionship of Helen Burns. In the book we saw that Helen is repeatedly punished for inattentiveness and sloppiness and Jane responds much differently than Helen on this matter. Soon enough the conditions at the school improve as the girls start becoming better from the typhus outbreak

à Jane becomes friends with Miss Temple, a teacher whose teaching, personality help Jane become stronger as person and as a student

Symbol: Death àBecause of the public punishment Jane receives in front of the school, she is terribly overcome by humiliation and despair, resulting in wanting to die

We see this exact symbol in Chapter 8 when she talks to Helen

            “No, I know I should think well of myself; but that is not enough: if others don't love me, I would rather die than live-I cannot bear to be solitary and hated, Helen. Look here; 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.”

Chapters 11- 16

Symbols: independence à When Jane arrives at Thornfield, it is clear that the way she acted and the way she spoke was more independent then the very beginning of the novel (could also be a theme?)

• o       In these chapters, our groups agreed that Jane Eyre was almost a completely different girl, especially when we saw her making her own decisions to leave Lowood School
• o       We also saw that she left completely away from her comfort zone, when she showed that she was strong enough to travel in order to take up a post in a distant and unknown location

Mr. Rochester: Jane describe him by showing us that he is cynical and ugly, and how at their first meeting, Mr. Rochester asks Jane if she finds him good looking and surprisingly, Jane disagrees. à Power

• o       It seemed that he encourages her to express her feelings and is fascinated by what her drawings say about the quality of her imagination

Chapters 17 -21

• o       We see that Jane shows great feelings for Rochester
• o       Blanche Ingram will be the wife of Rochester
• o       Jane then accepts that he is marrying Blanche not out of love, but "for family, perhaps political reasons; because her rank and connections suited him”
• o       Rochester disguises himself as a gypsy? à in order to see if Jane truly loved him
• o        Mason is stabbed, Jane helps Rochester
• o       Rochester describes, in vague language, the situation of someone whose entire life is ruined because of an error in judgment àà This is his own life
• o       Jane dreams of babies several times
• o       Find out that he cousin has committed suicide
• o      

Chapters 22-25

Jane feels conflicted between her past life and current life. Although she is happy with Rochester’s proposal, she seems to be cautious because she has bad feelings about the wedding and feels as if he is keeping something from her.

Jane is conflicted about the fact that she is separated from Rochester by money and status so she is cautious about marrying him

Chapter 26

In this chapter Jane and Rochester’s wedding occurs and a complication is introduced when Jane finds out about Rochester’s secret. Rochester tries to give reasons why he should be allowed to marry Jane even though he has a wife already.

• •   We asked: Are any of Rochester’s arguments that his relationship with Bertha isn’t really a "marriage" persuasive? Why or why not?

We felt bad for Rochester because he was tricked into marrying Bertha and was mesmerized by her attractiveness. We think he shouldn’t be punished by having to be married to her for the rest of his life. So his arguments were persuasive because he says how she always hurts him physically and emotionally and we think he shouldn’t have to go through that.

We thought Bertha Mason could be a symbol for Jane to be cautious about marrying Rochester. Also she could be a symbol for Jane’s subconscious feelings. Jane acts like she wants to marry Rochester on the outside but on the inside she has many doubts. She has a desire to rage against the feelings of the impossible “imprisonment” that marriage could bring because she thinks she will not have her freedom anymore.

Chapters 27-28

We thought that Jane went through the worst trials at this point in the book because she has to leave Rochester even though she loves him and she also is homeless after she leaves Thornfield.

These chapters are a good example of a life lesson that people need to learn how to be independent and appreciate themselves before they can love anyone. Jane shows this is an important step in her life where she begins to have more self-respect when she leaves Thornfield.

Chapter 29-32

-We noticed that Jane Eyre’s character seems to be making a metamorphous- it seems that she’s fitting in and has found friends with ideals similar to hers. She also realizes that relationships exist where one can give and receive love without sacrificing freedom.

St. John states that he will not marry Rosamond. He claims he doesn’t want world matters, such as Rosamond, to hinder him from completing his holy duties. We talked about how one could also speculate that he fears love/commitment. Perhaps that is why he is a missionary, so that he never gets too close to anything.  We found it ironic that he’s supposed to be someone close to God and ignoring worldly things when he actually is only using his faith as an excuse to distance himself from others.

Although St. John says that he will not marry Rosamond, the fact that he loves her shows that he is closer to “world things” than he likes to think.  We believe that his love for Rosamond versus faith to God represent his conflict between his ideological beliefs and his affection for the worldly.

Chapters 33-35

We discussed how St. John’s reaction to Rosamond’s engagement is ironic because he insisted that he would not marry Rosamond and yet he is angry when she finds someone else who will marry her.

We believed St. John’s reaction to Jane’s rejection of his proposal ironic. A true Christian believes that love is for marriage and therefore him proposing to a woman he is not in love with would be sacrilegious.  Then he attempts to force her to marry him and compares her refusing to marry him to rejecting the Christian faith.  This also is sacrilegious because St. John is trying to use his faith for his personal worldly gain.

We then discussed what Jane “escaped” when she rejected St. John. Jane gets to keep her independence and sense of identity. With Rochester, Jane feared forfeiting her morals for passion.  After St. John, though, she realizes that sacrificing affection for morals is just as bad.  She realizes that she not only needs to think with her mind, but with her heart.

Chapters 36-38

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. “

We thought this quote is significant because it shows that Jane, at last, feels like an equal to Rochester after finding her self identity and independence.

We questioned why end the book with a “happy ending”. We came to the conclusion that Bronte might have been suggesting that women can find love and independence without having to sacrifice their independence/sense of self.  Jane does not marry Rochester until she has truly become her own person.  Through this, Bronte implies that one cannot have a relationship with someone else until one is comfortable in “their own skin”.

We believed Jane choosing Rochester over St. John was significant because it is a sign of her choosing passion over principles.  Jane realizes that her identity not only consists of her ideas, but of her emotions.  She also realizes that the company she keeps defines her as a person.