Jane Eyre Chapter 25 - 30
Jane and Edward are resolved to leave Thornfield Hall within half an hour of their marriage, but two nights before that date, Jane wakes to find a mysterious figure in her room. She is horrified by the sight of the creature's deformed and discolored face as the figure examines and then dons the veil that Mr. Rochester had gifted Jane for the wedding. She tells him of the scene that she had witnessed and he convinces her that though the veil had been torn, the figure had been colored by her nightmares and had been Grace Poole. He tells her that he will soon explain the reason why he allows the woman to live in the house, but that he would do so later onwards. Jane is reassured and sleeps in Adele’s room that last night before the marriage upon her soon-to-be husband’s request. The next morning, Mr. Rochester hurries her to church in manic haste, however, the marriage is interrupted by the arrival of a solicitor from London. The solicitor explains that the wedding cannot take place since Mr. Rochester was already married and his spouse was in residence at Thornfield Hall. To support this claim he brings forth the recently departed Mr. Mason, who seems terrified to be in the presence of Mr. Rochester, yet supplies that Mr. Rochester is indeed married to his sister, Bertha Mason, who continues to live at Thornfield Hall. Mr. Rochester admonishes Mr. Mason for his part in preventing him from finding joy and commands the priest, the two gentlemen, and Jane to accompany him so that he may introduce them to his wife. He ushers them all into the third-floor room hidden behind a tapestry in which a creature roams on all fours as Grace Poole sits nearby. The creature attacks Mr. Rochester, but he wrestles it to the ground and introduces them all to his mad wife. He then tells them all to leave, and Jane is accosted by the solicitor who tells her that Mr. Mason had hired him upon the insistence of her uncle John Eyre. Her uncle had recently learned of her existence by letter in which she had also mentioned her upcoming marriage to Mr. Rochester. It so happened that Mr. Eyre was being visited by a recovering Mr. Mason as he journeyed home to Jamaica. Presently, Mr. Eyre was extremely sick, and the solicitor advised her to remain in England for it seemed that her uncle would pass before she could travel to him.
Jane shuts herself up in her room, as she attempts to process what disasters had ruined a life that had promised to fulfill all of her wishes. She lifts herself in the afternoon with a resolution to quit Thornfield Hall at the soonest to be away from Mr. Rochester but finds him seated right outside her threshold. He conducts her to a fire-lit room, apologizes for lying to her, and tells her of his plans to quit Thornfield at once so that they can begin their life anew and put the past revelations behind them. Jane tells him that she cannot be with him given his status of a married man to a living yet mad wife, despite the love they both feel for one another. Jane is adamant in her refusal to be with him, and he accuses her of being interested in him only for the status of his wife and not the feeling of love. He explains to her that he had been tricked into marrying Mr. Mason’s wife by the Mason family who had hidden her condition from his father. Mr. Rochester’s father had arranged to have him marry the daughter of an old acquaintance due to the prospect of the dowry that he offered. Mr. Rochester had been prevented from meeting his wife alone and had learned of the family’s history with mental illness after the marriage. After four years of residing in a hell induced by his wife, Mr. Rochester had decided to return to England where he planned to deposit his wife, and then attempt to find another who would understand him and truly love him. His character had prevented him from abandoning his hateful charge, and he had only truly learned of solace in the presence of Jane. She cannot help but feel for his piteous position in the world but she was resolved to leave, and no threats or submissions of reason served to bend her will. She departed Thornfield in silent secrecy before the sun had risen, and took a random coach to a location far from Thornfield. Throughout her walk, she had been haunted by her decision to abandon her love, but she could not make herself turn back.
Jane is dropped off in a little village by the coachman since she has no further money to cover the distance, and in her hurry or misery, Jane forgets her parcel of belongings leaving her destitute. She sleeps out on the heath that night and worries about the state that she has left Mr. Rochester in, but the sight of the milky way reminds her of God’s mercy and she trusts him to keep Mr. Rochester safe. For the next two days and nights, Jane roams the countryside unable to find a charitable soul who would offer her work or little more than a morsel of bread. Alas, she finds aid at Marsh End, a small grange that is the home of the Rivers siblings, who are now mourning the death of their father. Saint John Rivers is a preacher, while his sisters Diana and Mary rivers are governesses to wealthy houses. The three of them treat the famished, and beggarly Jane with the utmost kindness. They do not press her for too many details as they give her shelter and nourishment. In three days, Jane recovers and tells them of her background, however, she refuses to tell them her real name, instead preferring the false moniker, Jane Elliot. Furthermore, she tells them neither the name of Mr. Rochester and Thornfield Hall nor the reasons that forced her to leave in a hurry and secrecy. St John agrees to help her find a position of employment while allowing her to remain at his home, and the sisters educate her given their superior education and experience.
She stays a whole month with the family, during which time she grows close to the sisters, but is unable to penetrate the mind of the beautiful, dedicated yet restless minister, St John. The time for the Rivers sisters to resume their employment soon arrives and St John offers Jane a position as the mistress of a school for the children of farmers and laborers in the village. Jane gladly accepts although both of them are aware that the position would not stimulate her higher gifts. He also tells Jane that he intends to shut the home and leave Morton to become a missionary, given the reduced state of his family’s fortune. One night John tells his sisters that he had received word of his uncle John’s death, but none of the siblings express any significant grief but only a vague sense of disappointment. Diana informs Jane that her uncle John had been the reason why her father had lost most of his money and though uncle John had remade his fortune, he had left all his wealth to another relative.
Analysis
In this section of the book, the reader is finally given an introduction to the mad Bertha Mason. Several literary scholars have argued that Bertha Mason is the representation of Jane's suppressed passion and anger. The author foreshadows the relationship that Bertha shares with Mr. Rochester through the visit that Bertha makes to Jane's room. Jane watches her don Jane's wedding veil, and then tear it into two, indicating that Jane cannot be married to Mr. Rochester for Bertha is his wife. It is also important to note that Jane is reluctant to marry Mr. Rochester even before she learns of Bertha, and this is because of their unequal positions in society. In this way, Bertha's actions are favorable for Jane even though they may appear to be antagonistic at first as they prevent Jane from entering into a relationship that she doesn't quite want yet. Jane rightly believes that her marriage with Mr. Rochester would be severely unbalanced due to her meager status, and so she seeks to better her position by writing to her uncle.
St John is another important religious figure of the book that helps Jane define her understanding of religion. Jane has been unable to find her religious path thus far as she has failed to resonate with any of the other religious figures in the book. She found Mr. Brocklehurst's outlook to be inconsistent, and Helen Burn's devotion too meek. St John has neither of those traits, but Jane cannot quite herself to understand the kind of martyrdom that St John aspires towards.
