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Summary and Analysis of Volume I, Chapters 11-15
Volume I, Chapter 11 Summary: Jane arrives at Thornfield and meets the elderly, welcoming Mrs. Fairfax, who Jane later learns is not the owner, but the housekeeper, of the manor. Two servants and Adèle Varens, the girl Jane will tutor and the ward of Mr. Rochester, the manor's owner, live with her. The next day Jane explores the grounds and meets the young Adèle, a garrulous native French speaker who also speaks English. Rochester, according to Mrs. Fairfax, is a "'peculiar'" man who frequently travels. While exploring the house, Jane hears a loud, odd laugh. Mrs. Fairfax chastises Grace, a seamstress employed in the house, for "'Too much noise,'" and bids her to "'Remember directions!'" AnalysisThe introductory chapter to Thornfield plants a few narrative seeds. First, there is an obvious correspondence between Jane and Adèle, both orphans, although Adèle's living conditions are far better. Rochester's background is mysterious, made more so by Adèle's belief that he "'has not kept his word'" to her by constantly abandoning her and Mrs. Fairfax's opaque label that he is "'peculiar.'" The ghostly laugh at the end of the chapter, emanating from an area "like a corridor in some Bluebeard's castle," also ratchets up the Gothic suspense of the novel, as do Mrs. Fairfax's curious commands to Grace. Volume I, Chapter 12 Summary: Life at Thornfield proves pleasant, and Adèle is an affectionate and able, if somewhat spoiled, student. Still, when Jane walks around the attic of Thornfield she yearns for more experience in the world. Here she frequently hears Grace's bizarre laugh and "eccentric murmurs" and observes other strange behavior. One day in January while she is delivering a letter she helps a gruff, nearly middle-aged man who falls from his horse and sprains his ankle; a dog travels with him. He asks her several questions about Rochester before leaving. When she returns to Thornfield, she sees the same dog from before. She discovers that it is, indeed, the dog from the road, and it belongs to Rochester, who has just sprained his ankle while riding his horse. Analysis: Jane's craving for experience apart from stereotypical female experience is explained in a lengthy passage: "It is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures [men] to say that [women] ought to confine themselves to making pudding and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags." She goes on, and the conflict is clear; Jane desires a life of action and independence unavailable to her as a woman. Rochester is further cloaked in mystery in Jane's meeting with him by his refusal to identify himself to her and by his somewhat standoffish manner. Still, Jane asserts some power at the beginning of their relationship, since Rochester is placed in a weakened positionhis sprained ankle from the falland is reliant on Jane for aid. Another physical impediment forcing Rochester's dependence on Jane will arise later in the novel. Volume I, Chapter 13 Summary: With Rochester home, Thornfield becomes a noisier, busier place, much to Jane's liking. He invites Jane and Adèle to dine with him and Mrs. Fairfax. Adèle immediately asks if he has a gift for Jane; Jane asserts that the best gift he can give her is praise of Adèle's progress. Rochester interrogates her about her background with hostility, though he is more full of praise for Jane's watercolor sketches Adèle has shown him. After dinner, Jane and Mrs. Fairfax discuss Rochester. His older brother died nine years ago, whereupon Rochester inherited the estate, though he avoids the place as much as possible; Mrs. Fairfax's justification that perhaps Rochester finds the place "'gloomy'" does not satisfy Jane, and Mrs. Fairfax is evasive about Rochester's other "'Family troubles.'" Analysis: The mystery concerning Rochester deepens, and this constitutes the major dramatic thrust of the novel. Gothic novels usually have a romantic component that revolves around passionate, unrequited love; Rochester's dark, brooding, nature and secretive past makes him an ideal candidate for such a love. Part of Jane's struggle with Rochester will be assertion of her independence and equality. As we can already see, Rochester only begrudgingly admits Jane's positive qualities, criticizing her even when praising her watercolors. Nevertheless, he seems to regard her as his intellectual equal. Volume I, Chapter 14 Summary: Jane sees little of Rochester the next few days as he deals with business and acquaintances. His moods shift rapidly, but Jane cannot figure out their source. One night he gives Adèle her long-awaited gift and is more genial while talking with Jane. Jane keeps looking at him, a fact he notes; he asks if she finds him handsome, but she answers "No." He claims he does not mean to condescend to her, but that his air of superiority comes from his being much older and more experienced. Jane does not believe age and experience should automatically confer authority. He opens up more as they discuss sin and redemption, and he also promises to explain more about Adèle's mother in the future. Analysis: Regardless of what Rochester says about his superiority in regards to experience with Jane, it is clear from his lengthy, involved discussion with her that he views her, at least, as his intellectual equal. Though she has a fraction of his worldly experience, Jane acquits herself well with the complicated topics Rochester brings up, and even earns his approval at points for her thoughts. Their flirtation also unofficially begins, as Jane admits to herself that though "most people would have thought him an ugly man," he carries himself with a charismatic, detached confidence. Volume I, Chapter 15 Summary: One afternoon, while Adèle plays elsewhere, Rochester explains that he was once passionately devoted to her mother, a French opera-dancer named Céline Varens, and that, despite her superior beauty, she seemed to return his ardor. He spent a fortune treating her to a luxurious life in Paris until he discovered he was being cuckolded in a rather humiliating fashion. Rochester shot the other man in his arm and thought he was done with the affair, but Céline claimed that the six-month-old Adèle was his daughter. A few years later Céline abandoned Adèle and Rochester, though he is positive Adèle is not his, took responsibility for the destitute girl. Rochester is still clearly affected by the episode. Jane has more sympathy and affection for Adèle after learning of her background. As for Rochester, these revelations and his confidence in Jane make him handsomer and more amiable to her, and she is worried he will soon leave Thornfield, as Mrs. Fairfax says he always does. In the middle of the night she thinks she hears movement outside her door, then hears a "demoniac" laugh. She finds a candle burning in the hallway, sees Rochester's door is open, and finds his curtains on fire. He is stupefied by the smoky air, but she wakes him by extinguishing the flamesand dousing himwith water. She relates what she knows, and he goes into the attic. He returns a few minutes later and says the cause was Grace, as Jane suspected from the laugh. He tells her not to speak about the matter to anyone, and then thanks her sincerely for saving his life; he is reluctant for her to leave him. Jane is unable to sleep that night, thinking instead pleasurably of the "hills of Beulah" which, unfortunately, she is not able to reach. Analysis: "Beulah" means "marriage" in Hebrew; at Volume I's poetic end, then, Jane is entertaining thoughts of marrying Rochester. However, she feels there is a "counteracting breeze" that makes this impossible. All the allusions to the odd goings-on in the attic come to a head here. Rochester is obviously trying to sweep this episode under the rug, as his desire to pin its blame on Grace comes across as disingenuous. However, there is nothing disingenuous about his thanks to Jane for having saved his life, and his reluctance for her to leave tells something about his wounded heart. After his bitter betrayal by Céline, he is yearning for a constant love based on more than mere physical attraction, and Jane seems to provide that.
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
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