Jane Eyre Chapter 13 - 18
Mr. Rochester is attended by a surgeon on the first night and takes a few days to recover from the sprain. Thornfield Hall takes on a new character with the owner in residence, as gentlemen callers and tenants regularly stream into its vast halls to fill it with life. Jane enjoyed the new air of activity that accompanies the arrival of Mr. Rochester, however, she doesn’t have an audience with him for quite a while. One evening, Jane is called to meet with the master along with Mrs. Fairfax and little Adele. The meeting is an odd one for Mr. Rochester seems hardly pleased to be meeting her and behaves in an abrupt manner. He asks her to play the piano for him, and when she does, he dismisses her ability to be commonplace, but he expresses his admiration for her artistic ability as he scrutinizes the paintings in her portfolio. He claims to have heard of Jane’s school and so enquires about her feelings towards Mr. Brocklehurst. Jane feels at ease in the presence of the odd Mr. Rochester, and laters enquires from Mrs. Fairfax about his odd conduct. Mrs. Fairfax informs Jane that Mr. Rochester avoided residing at Thornfield Hall due to the troubles he had with his family. Jane learns that Mr. Rochester had inherited the property from his deceased older brother, who during his life had arranged some uncomfortable position for Edward Rochester along with their father to prevent the division of the property and to yet allow the younger Edward to form his fortune. Jane decides not to seek any additional information as she suspects that Mrs. Fairfax doesn’t wish to disclose anything more.
Jane’s second meeting with Edward Rochester arrives sometime later, although she meets him often in the halls of the house, his disposition towards her is rarely pleasant. The second meeting occurs when the presents for Adele arrive, and Jane is called to meet with him along with Adele. The child is immediately occupied by the new toys and trinkets, while Edward invites Jane to sit and converse with him. As they sit close to one another, he observes the manner with which Jane studies his face, and asks her whether she finds him handsome. Jane truthfully tells him that she does not believe that he is handsome, although she confesses that she pays physical beauty little attention. Edward enjoys Jane’s candor and tells her that he has traveled over many seas and has done things that would make him a sinner. He feels that he has never quite been a villain, yet he has done things that he dislikes but he never gives her any details. Jane decides to end the interview because she feels that she isn’t able to comprehend what Mr. Rochester is attempting to say. Before she leaves, the both of them watch Adele enter the room dressed in a new pink frock that makes her look quite similar to her mother.
Following that interview, Edward is a lot more cordial towards Jane and spends a greater amount of time with her, which Jane quite enjoys. She dreads the day he will leave, and when Thornfield will return to its old, quiet, and deserted character. Edward also reveals his connection with Adele, as he tells Jane of an Opera Dancer that he had been obsessed with when he had been a young man. He had spent a fortune on creating a life of comfort for his mistress but had later learned that she had been unfaithful for he had seen her talk ill of him with another man that she had brought to her bed. Edward had immediately ceased all monetary support to the lady, shot the lover in the arm, and sought to put the affair behind him. However, the Varens had found him to inform him that his old lover had abandoned their child, Adele, and eloped to Italy. Edward could not believe that the pretty child was of his parentage but decided that he would support the destitute child. He also expressed his pleasure at the environs of Thornfield Hall, but his reverie about building a life on the estate was marred by a recollection that he did not wish to share. He expressed concern that Jane would find the prospect of being the governess to a child such as Adele as dishonorable, but Jane corrects him. She tells him that she would cling to Adele all the more now that she knew that Adele had been abandoned by her mother.
Jane has trouble sleeping one night for she hears a laugh ring through the halls at two in the morning, and although she dismisses the slight sounds of the house she still has trouble getting to sleep. Just as she is beginning to drift back to sleep, she hears loud laughter right outside her room which then retreats to the third story, she jumps out of bed and opens the door to find a lit candle in the hall. Jane detects smoke in the corridor and follows it to Edward’s room. Edward is lying asleep in a burning bed, and Jane is unable to wake him. She dumps whatever water she can find and extinguishes the fire while waking Edward at the same time. She tells him about what had occurred, and Edward commands her to stay put while he goes to the third story to enquire what had occurred. He returns a long time later with a grim expression, and Jane informs him that she had heard similar laughter before and been told that it belonged to an aid called Grace Poole. Edward doesn’t explain further and tells her to return to bed, but when she does begin to leave he expresses some surprise. He thanks her for saving his life rather tenderly and takes her hand in both of his hands. He only lets her go when she restates her wish to leave.
Jane dreads the meeting with Mr. Rochester the following morning, but the meeting never quite arrives. Jane does meet the enigmatic Grace Poole seated in the very room that Jane believes she had entered the previous night to light a fire. Jane tries to discover Grace’s intentions but only receives cryptic responses that make Jane feel more unsettled and scared as Grace advises her that it is best to bolt one’s door before going to bed. Jane later learns from Mrs. Fairfax that Mr. Rochester had departed that very morning, and was expected to remain with his gentlemen friends for the following weeks. Jane is particularly interested in the ladies that are likely to be present at this gathering of gentlemen, especially the young Blanche Ingram, who had left Mrs. Fairfax quite impressed with her beauty. Later, in the confines of her room, Jane berates herself for looking at Mr. Rochester in any light besides that of being her employer, for a man of his status could not ever experience emotion for one as plain and poor as Jane Eyre. She uses the description of Blanche Ingram to create a miniature along with one of her own, to remind herself of the difference that exists between a potential marital match for Mr. Rochester, and herself.
The following weeks are spent in melancholy as Jane cannot help but think about how decidedly depressing Thornfield Hall has become without the presence of Mr. Rochester. Jane begins to mentally compose new advertisements that she might set out to gain a new place of work, but these thoughts are interrupted with the news of Mr. Rochester’s arrival. Jane discovers that Thornfield Hall will play host to a whole group of gentlemen and ladies that will accompany Mr. Rochester as he returns to his estate. Mrs. Fairfax becomes consumed with the preparations of the house as extra help is hired from the town to supplement the body of servants of Thornfield Hall. No one except Jane seems to pay attention to the mysterious workings of Grace Poole, who irresolutely remains in her chambers on the third story except for the periodic sojourns through the house as she takes her meals. Jane overhears a couple of the servants talking enviously of Garce’s generous salary, but they hush up just as soon as they catch sight of Jane, and whisper that Jane is not aware of the situation with Grace. This comment assures Jane that she has been purposefully kept unawares of Grace’s position and role in the household.
Mr. Rochester arrives with a large group, and Jane notes that he rides with Blanche Ingram at his side. Adele is quite excited at the prospect of seeing the ladies, and being involved with the merrymaking, however, Mr. Rochester doesn’t call for her that first night. So Jane and Adele sneak through the house and look on with a sort of envy as the guests in the house move to and fro in fine silks and jewels. Both Jane and Adele are summoned to the drawing-room the following night, while Adele is welcomed into the fold, Jane is allowed to remain in a corner of the room without the least bit of acknowledgment. She observes the haughty ladies and the charming men, but all of them are pale to her in comparison with Mr. Rochester. She realizes that she loves him that night, as she can find no flaw in him. She remains in the room for quite a while and hears the ladies berate the governesses they have had in the past. She attempts to leave the hall quietly but is discovered by Mr. Rochester who asks her why she did not come to speak with him, and he rightly observes that she is depressed. She expresses her wish to never present herself again to the group while they remain guests at Thornhill but Mr. Rochester wishes her to attend them every night.
Jane follows his command and begins to learn of his close association with Blanche Ingram, but she also discovers that Mr. Rochester does not love the lady in question. She believes that Mr. Rochester is likely to marry Blanche due to the politics of his family and hers, but that she could never capture his heart like Jane herself could manage. One night, the house has two visitors while Mr. Rochester is away for work, the first is a handsome Englishman, Mr. Mason, who got acquainted with Mr. Rochester in Jamaica, and the other is a gypsy Sibyl who wishes to read the fortunes for the unwed ladies of the house. Blanche Ingram is the first to see her and seemingly receives some dark tidings for she returns to the rest of the company and dismisses the ability of the seer. The other women are much impressed with the woman’s ability, however, the gypsy refuses to leave until she has seen all the unwed women in the house, and the footman takes Jane to be that last woman so he conducts her to the old woman.
Analysis
Jane Eyre draws on the common tropes of the Gothic Tradition to highlight important turning points in the plot, and this aspect of the novel becomes most prominent when Jane begins to learn more of Mr. Rochester. The sense of uncertainty and anxiety that Jane experiences are an important theme of the novel, and Brontë masterfully conveys to the reader the unease that Jane experiences when she hears the loud laughter ring through the halls of Thornfield. In addition to religion, love, and uncertainty, Jane Eyre also deals with the issue of social class as it was seen in strictly stratified Victorian England. The main character's low position in the social order is a constant cause of tension, which is further complicated when she begins to deal with Mr. Rochester. The role of a governess was an odd one and this was because they were expected to have aristocratic values so as to instruct high-born children about their culture, yet they were treated like servants due to their role as paid employees.
Jane is forced to come to terms with her complicated status in society as she begins to experience love for Mr. Rochester, who is a highborn man of significant wealth, while she is practically destitute. It was never the author’s intention to encourage the reader to think like Jane, for she is quite flawed in her assessment of several characters, but rather to spark a conversation on the subject. Jane dismisses all characters who lie at either extreme end of the wealth spectrum, as she rarely treats the poor people in the novel with any kind of significant compassion and at the same time believes that all individuals with wealth are morally corrupt. She believes that her cousins are wicked people from the very beginning of the novel, but her contempt for the extremely wealthy becomes especially prominent when she is forced to attend the dinners that are held by Mr. Rochester for his rich friends. Jane looks down on them all for being haughty, shallow, frivolous, and hypocritical individuals without truly ever talking to any one of them. All of the merits in the novel are reserved for characters that occupy the middle space on that wealth spectrum, people much like herself. Miss Temple, Adele, and the Rivers siblings serve as an example of other virtuous people in the novel that occupy the middle class along with Jane.
