Chapters 20-24

1. Jane Eyre Chapters 20-24 Kelly Hogan, Connor O’Boyle, Bernadette Wood

2. Chapter 20 • Characters: Jane, Grace Poole, Other Guests, Mr. Rochester, Mr. Mason, Miss Ingram, Carter • Plot: • Jane wakes up to a cry in the middle of the night • Told it was from a nightmare of servant • Mr. Rochester asks Jane to help him • Grace Poole laughing and Mr. Mason bloody in chair • Leaves Jane to stay with him and not talk • Comes back with a surgeon

3. Chapter 20 (plot cont.) • Mr. Mason says she bit and stabbed him • Mr. Mason taken to car and goes to Carter’s house • Jane and Rochester walk through grounds and talk • Rochester tells others that Mr. Mason had to leave early

4. Chapter 20 • Themes: • Gender roles • Jane silenced and kept in dark about Rochester’s secrets • Religion • Rochester seeks redemption

5. Chapter 21 • Characters: Jane, Bessie, Georgina, Robert Leaven, Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Fairfax, Eliza • Plot: • Jane has many dreams about infants • Sign of trouble to one’s self or kin • Mr. Leaven comes to Thornfield • Says John died and Mrs. Reed had a stroke • Mrs. Reed wants to see Jane

6. Chapter 21 (plot cont.) • Rochester gives Jane permission to leave and she leaves the next morning • Arrives at Gateshead • Talks to sisters • Following morning she visits Mrs. Reed and she still treats her icily • Wishes Jane died from fever • 10 days before she talks to Mrs. Reed again • Draws • Talks to Georgiana and Eliza

7. Chapter 21 (plot cont.) • Visits Mrs. Reed again and she says she has done Jane wrong twice • 1. Broke promise • 2. Didn’t give Jane letter • John Eyre, her uncle, wanted to adopt her and have her live with him • Mrs. Reed wrote back that Jane died • Jane forgives her • Mrs. Reed died that night • Neither Jane nor Eliza cried

8. Chapter 21 • Themes: • Social Class • Actions of John • Religion • Forgiveness

9. Chapter 22 • Characters: Mr. Rochester, Georgina, Eliza, Mrs. Fairfax, Adele, Jane, Blanche • Plot: • Jane stays at Gateshead for a month because Georgina dislikes Eliza and does not want to be left alone with her • Georgina goes to London to live with her uncle • Eliza joins a convent in France

10. Chapter 22 (plot cont.) • In a letter, Mrs. Fairfax tells Jane that Rochester’s guests have departed • Also, Rochester has gone to London to buy a new carriage; evidence to marry Blanche • Jane encounters Rochester near the station at Millcote • He asks why she’s been away from Thornfield so long • She tells him how happy she is to be back

11. Chapter 23 • Jane goes on a walk with Rochester • He tells her decision to marry Blanche • He informs her of a governess position in Ireland, which she declines, as it is too far away from himself • The two sit on a bench near a chestnut tree • Jane confesses her love for Rochester • He asks her to marry him, explaining he only discussed marrying Blanche to make her jealous

12. Chapter 23 (plot cont.) • The newly engaged Jane and Rochester go inside and share a kiss • A lightning bolt splits the tree the two had just been sitting under

13. Chapter 22 & 23 • Themes: • After her time at Gateshead, Jane realizes how truly important Rochester and Thornfield are to her • Rochester gives Jane a sense of belonging • Something which, considering her unfortunate childhood, is new to her • Despite her love, Jane is still apprehensive about the marriage and Rochester’s dark secret • She is also wary of marriage because she thinks it may compromise her beloved autonomy

14. Chapter 24 • Characters: Jane, Mr. Rochester, Adele, Mrs. Fairfax, and John Eyre • Plot: • Jane gets dressed in the morning and thinks of the proposal Mr. Rochester had made the night before. • She looks at herself in the mirror and sees a beautiful girl instead of the plain and simple girl she has always been. Even the weather outside was nice and the birds were singing, not the typical sight. • She goes to see Mr. Rochester and on her way she meets Mrs. Fairfax whose is gloomy and sad when she asks Jane if she’s coming to breakfast. Jane also bumps into Adele who is heading to the nursery because Mr. Rochester sent her away.

15. Chapter 24 (plot cont.) • Jane steps into Mr. Rochester’s apartment and he kisses her and talks about how beautiful she truly was. • He then addresses her as Mrs. Rochester and she blushes. She was excited and scared about the future with Mr. Rochester. • Mr. Rochester is saying how he’s going to buy all these jewels for Jane, and how she’ll be dressed head to toe in jewels and lace and satin. • Jane is very uncomfortable with this idea, saying she will look very foolish. She doesn’t want to be pampered. The two of them have this whole scene where Mr. Rochester is complimenting Jane and saying how perfect she is. The entire time she’s saying how plain she is and how he’s wrong.

16. Chapter 24 (plot cont.) • Then Jane changes the subject and asks about his courting of Miss Ingram. • He tells her he was only doing it so he could make Jane jealous enough to admit the love she had for him. Jane yells at him for playing with Miss Ingram’s feeling, but he says she needed to be put in her place anyway. • Jane was all worried about Mrs. Fairfax seeing them last night not knowing they were engaged, so Mr. Rochester goes to her and explains that he proposed to her. • Mrs. Fairfax then lectures Jane to be careful not to be fooled by Mr. Rochester. Jane gets offended thinking that Mrs. Fairfax is saying Jane isn’t good enough for Mr. Rochester.

17. Chapter 24 (plot cont.) • Mr. Rochester takes Jane to Millcote to get a dress and Adele comes along per Jane’s request. • Jane is suspicious now of Mr. Rochester and is worried the wedding won’t happen at all. • She writes to John Eyre (her uncle) and reasons that if her would make her his heir then what she receives from John will equal the playing field with Mr. Rochester. • Jane and Rochester have a fight and in order to get him in a good mood, Jane asks him to sing and play a song for her

18. Chapter 24 • Themes: • The way Jane sees herself when she knows she’s loved is different than when she is not • Jane is skeptical because Mrs. Fairfax scared her into thinking Mr. Rochester isn’t marrying he for the right reasons • There is tension due to the different social classes of Mr. Rochester and Jane