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Summary and Analysis of Volume III, Chapters 7-12
Volume III, Chapter 7 Summary: It snows heavily. St. John comes in, covered in ice. He tells her a story of a poor curate who, twenty years ago, fell in love with a rich man's daughter and married her; her friends disowned her after the wedding. They both died within two years, leaving behind a daughter, who was raised by her aunt-in-law, Mrs. Reed of Gateshead. St. John recounts the rest of Jane's life up until her departure from Thornfield, after which everyone searched for her to no avail. He has just received a letter from Briggs telling him these details. It also appears that Rochester has left Thornfield, most likely for somewhere else in Europe. The reason Briggs sought Jane, St. John says, is because Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre of Madeira, has died and left her his great fortune of 20,000 pounds. Jane is stunned, but also questions why Briggs reached her through St. John. St. John reveals that his full name is St. John Eyre Rivers, that his mother's brother is Jane's uncle, that Jane's legal name scrawled on the sheet of paper before tipped him off, and that they are cousins. Jane is as overjoyed to discover she has cousins as she is by the fortune. Jane decides to split the fortune four ways among the cousins and live to at Moor House with Diana and Mary, but St. John urges her to reconsider; the fortune was left solely to her, and she should not feel obliged to share it. Jane says having close relations is more important to her than the money; she also discards the notion of ever marrying. St. John pledges to treat her as his sister, and Jane says she will stay on as headmistress until he finds a replacement. Eventually, Jane persuades her cousins to share her fortune. AnalysisVarious clues from beforeincluding that of Jane's wealthy uncle John, the fortune the Rivers children were cut out of by their uncle John, and the scrap of paper St. John tore from Jane's papercome together in a satisfying way that allows the reader to overlook one of the more improbable events: that Jane, purely by accident, came across her long-lost cousins. Although the fortune is a deus ex machina plot twist that, as Jane says, gives her a victory she "never earned and do[es] not merit," she has, in many ways, earned it. By being selfless, humble, and eschewing the fortune Rochester would have given her in return for her virtual servitude, Jane is most deserving of a gift that will finally give her true independence. Volume III, Chapter 8 Summary: Jane finishes her duties at the school before Christmas, but promises to visit weekly and teach her students. Jane cleans Moor House in preparation for Diana and Mary's arrival. Jane observes St. John's taciturn, reserved nature, and understands why he and Miss Oliver would not make a good match. Still, even he cannot dampen the joy of his sisters' homecoming. They all soon hear that Miss Oliver is to marry the wealthy Mr. Granby. St. John is stoic and claims that he is glad, as it has cleared the way for his mission. While Jane loves living with her female cousins, St. John continues to treat Jane coldly, treating her more as a servant than as a relative. Jane continues to think of Rochester and writes to Mrs. Fairfax for news, but receives nothing. One spring day, St. John tells Jane that he will leave for his mission in India in six weeks, and asks Jane to come with him as his helper. He says she is intended to be a "'missionary's wife,'" and he will claim her "'not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service.'" Jane resists, saying she is unfit for the position, but he insists she has the right qualities. She tells him she will go as his adopted sister, but not as his wife. St. John says she could only do this as his real sister; otherwise, their union must be consecrated by marriage. Jane grows irritated, and says she scorns his conception of marriage. St. John drops the proposal for now, and says he will leave for Cambridge tomorrow for two weeks, during which time Jane can reconsider. When he says goodnight to Jane, he insists that he is not offended, but Jane wishes "he had knocked me down." Analysis: Autonomy again appears as Jane's main desire. Though the idea of being a Christian missionary appeals to her and would add structure to her lifeand continues her notion of servicing othersshe is unwilling to be imprisoned in yet another marriage. While she disdained Rochester's marriage because, although she would be loved, she feared a status of inferiority, she refuses St. John's proposal because love would not even enter the equation. Jane thus rejects St. John's model of Christianity, as she formerly rejected Helen Burns's and Brocklehurst's. While St. John's Christianity is neither overly meek nor hypocritical and corrupt, his is too dutiful and not emotional enough. As Jane said earlier, he has not found his peace with God, and his religious zeal seems more mechanical rather than human. Volume III, Chapter 9 Summary: St. John waits a week to leave for Cambridge, treating Jane coldly in the interim. However, she refuses to buckle by marrying him, and he rejects taking her along as his unmarried assistant. Jane admits she will seek out Rochester, and St. John leaves. Jane reveals St. John's plans to Diana, and Diana approves of Jane's decision. Later, St. John is his usual polite, aloof self to Jane while reading from Revelationsand through it he hints that Jane will end up in Hell for her refusal to join him. The next morning, he leaves for Cambridge, and in a sincere moment again tells Jane she should reconsider her decision while he is gone. She is so moved by his warmth that she is tempted to yield to his desires. She has a mystical vision and hears Rochester's voice declare "Jane! Jane! Jane!" She announces that she is coming for Rochester. She does not find him, of course, and tells St. John to leave her alone. In her room alone, she prays and feels rejuvenated. Analysis: The continuing debate between Jane's need for autonomy and her desire to succumb to St. John's powers continue, but the outcome is rarely in doubt. Instead, Jane's love for Rochester deepens, and she now has the tools needed for a liberated marriage: self-esteem, the love of others (including relatives), financial independence, and an identity she has carved out on her own. While St. John would most likely batter these traits as he leads Jane through his missionary work in India, a marriage to Rochester would no longer squelch these qualities. With such assurance, Jane can now also turn to religion in a positive, healthy manner, one different from all other models she has observed: "I...prayed in my way a different way to St. John's, but effective in its own fashion. I seemed to penetrate near a Might Spirit; and my soul rushed out in gratitude at His feet." Jane's spirituality that has neither the hypocritical postures of Brocklehurst's evangelism, the meekness of Helen Burns's forgiveness, nor the detachment of St. John's proselytizing, but attains a transcendence of love and connection lacking in the philosophies of those three. Volume III, Chapter 10 Summary: The next morning, St. John leaves a note for Jane requesting her decision when he returns from Cambridge. But Jane's mind is on Rochester, and she leaves that afternoon for Thornfield. Two days later she arrives, only to find the house has burned down. At a nearby inn, she talks with the innkeeper who was Rochester's father's butler, who tells her that one night Bertha Mason had escaped from Grace's watch (since Grace frequently drinks) and set fire to the governess's old bed. Rochester got all his servants out of the house, but Bertha jumped to her death from the roof. Rochester was blinded by a falling beam during the fire, and is relegated to Ferndean, a nearby manor house. Jane asks him to drive her to Ferndean immediately. Analysis: While the fire at Thornfield destroyed both Rochester's estate and his eyesight, fire continues to be a positive force, even through destruction, in at least one respect: it has killed Bertha Mason, thus opening the door for Rochester's remarriage to Jane. In another sense, the fire levels the playing field more between Jane and Rochester; while she has recently gained her own fortune, he has lost much of his. That Rochester's eyesight is gone seems no impediment to the love between him and Jane, since it was never founded upon physical attraction. As the innkeeper says about Rochester and Jane, "'nobody but him thought her so very handsome.'" Volume III, Chapter 11 Summary: Jane travels to the desolate Ferndean. She sees Rochester come out the front door and reject his servant John's help to reenter. He goes in on his own, and Jane knocks. John's wife, Mary, answers, and brings Jane in. Jane brings in a tray of candles to Rochester, and he eventually figures out who she is. He is overjoyed by her return, and she tells him that she is now independently wealthy and offers to stay with him as his nurse; she contends she does not care about marrying anyone. He thinks she would be revolted by his blindness and by the loss of one of his hands, but she is not. She starts tending to him, reviving his spirits, but teasingly refuses to tell him whom she has been with the past year. The next day, Jane tells Rochester of the last year, and he insists he would not have treated her as his subjugated mistress, but as his equal. Rochester is obviously jealous of St. John and disheartened by the news of his marriage proposal, but Jane assures him that she does not love her cousin, and that her heart belongs to Rochester. He asks her to marry him, and she agrees. He wants the ceremony to take place in three days. Rochester reveals a new spiritual side, and says that four nights ago he prayed to God for a reunion with Jane, and involuntarily recited Jane's name three times. Jane says that she heard his voice in her own mystical vision that night, and Rochester tells her that he seemed to hear her reply to him. Rochester thanks God for this gift. Jane helps him home. Analysis: Jane's search for religion culminates with the mystical union between her and Rochester. Their bond is based on a profound, spiritual connection that passes through God. Jane's independence is asserted here, both in her own words ("'I am an independent woman now'") and by a symbolic action at the end of the chapter: "I took that dear hand, held it a moment to my lips, then let it pass round my shoulder: being so much lower of stature than he, I served both for his prop and guide." Though Jane is of "much lower stature" than Rochestershe comes from humbler originsshe now has sufficient strength and independence to lead Rochester and, indeed, he is dependent on her for it. Her quest for autonomy is complete, and it does not exclude a happy marriage to someone she leaves. Volume III, Chapter 12 Summary: Jane and Rochester have a quiet marriage. She writes to Moor House and Cambridge and tells her cousins the news; the females are joyful, but she does not hear from St. John until six months later, and he does not mention the marriage. Finding Adèle unhappy at her strict boarding school, Jane enrolls her in a better school closer to home, and she blossoms there. After ten years of marriage, Jane is still enthralled with her union with Rochester. Two years into their marriage, Rochester's vision improved slightly in one eye, enough to see their newborn son. Diana and Mary are both married, while St. John tirelessly continues his missionary work in India and remains unmarried, as he always will, since he is a "faithful servant" to God. Analysis: Two major themesJane's desire for love and her search for religionmingle with her greatest preoccupation, her need for independence, in different ways. As we have already seen, she has blended love with independence in her marriage with Rochester: "To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company." However, Jane is also able to maintain a spiritual relationship with God without sacrificing her independence. St. John, on the other hand, is not, as his letter to Jane reveals: "'My Master,' he says, has forewarned me. Daily he announces more distinctly, Surely I come quickly!' and hour I more eagerly respond, Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!'" Brontë ends the novel on this note to underscore the connections between St. John's religious devotion and her concern with female subjugation. Unlike St. John, Jane fears yielding her will to her "Master" (or husband), and Brontë has used Bertha's imprisonment in the attic and Jane's imprisonment in the red-room as symbols for the ways in which Victorian society can confine women in marriage or in any other regard. Thus, Brontë concludes the novel on a critique of religion while demonstrating that marriage need not incorporate its restrictions of individual will.
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
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