Jane Eyre 229These phrases help remind the pilgrims that suffer-
ing is not meaningless. Instead, it is full of promise:
God is close to his own and is giving them just the
right amount of suffering to draw them closer to
him. Because of this belief, Bradford could “make
a pause” to look out at the New World for the first
time and describe not only its ominous, hard, cold
look but also God’s absolute goodness in protecting
his own (chapter 9). Much later, after the plantation
has been established, Bradford will reflect on the
sufferings God has brought them through and will
begin to view Plymouth Plantation as a place where
migrating pilgrims can rest and become refreshed in
order to gather strength for their own forthcoming
sufferings.
Matthew Horn
BRONTË, CHARLOTTE Jane Eyre
(1847)
Charlotte Brontë’s story is of an orphan, Jane Eyre,
who is ill-treated by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and is
sent to a boarding school, where her best friend,
Helen Burns, dies of consumption. Jane grows up
to be a governess for Adele Varens, ward of Edward
Rochester of Thornfield Hall. During her sojourn
at Thornfield Hall, there are attempts on Roch-
ester’s and Richard Mason’s lives. While Jane sus-
pects Grace Poole, a servant, the mystery is solved
when Mason thwarts Rochester and Jane’s wedding:
The culprit was Bertha, Rochester’s first wife and
Mason’s sister, a madwoman hidden in the attic. To
avoid becoming Rochester’s mistress, Jane flees and
almost dies of extreme hunger and exhaustion. She
is rescued by Mary, Diana, and St. John Rivers, only
to discover that they are her cousins. Their mutual
uncle, John Eyre, has left Jane a fortune, which she
shares with her cousins. Independent, she returns
to Rochester to learn that Bertha has set fire to
Thornfield Hall and in an attempt to save Bertha,
Rochester has lost a hand, an eye, and his eyesight.
Ten years on, Jane tells the readers of her happy
marriage to Rochester: She has given birth to a son,
and Rochester has regained some of his sight. The
novel is intricately complex: It borrows, alludes, and
lends itself to many readings. Many motifs from the
gothic genre, such as Bertha sucking Mason’s blood
like a vampire, are incorporated into the narrative,
which includes allusions to the Bible, fairy tales,
John Bunyan’s The piLGriM’s proGress (1678), and
John Milton’s paradise Lost (1667). Jane Eyre
has also inspired other writings, such as Daphne
du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938) and Jean Rhys’s wide
sarGasso sea (1966).
Aaron HoeducatiOn in Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel of education. After an alter-
cation with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, Jane is sent to
Lowood School, which was modeled after the
Clergy Daughter’s School at Cowan Bridge where
Charlotte Brontë had studied and lost two of her
sisters, Marie and Elizabeth, to consumption. Like
the Clergy Daughter’s School, Lowood is badly run
by a clergyman, Mr. Brocklehurst. The students
at Lowood are often starved, as the food is either
burnt or scanty; they wear ill-fitting clothes because
their cheap and scarce needles break easily; even
in the coldest winter, they have to walk two miles
to Brocklebridge Church on Sundays. The austere
living conditions stem from Mr. Brocklehurst’s
convictions that a frugal existence would improve
“the spiritual edification of the pupils, by encourag-
ing them to evince fortitude under the temporary
privation.” However, his misguided beliefs do not
apply to his wife and daughters, who are splendidly
decked out in ermine, silk, velvet, and beaver hats
with ostrich plumes.
Mr. Brocklehurst is not the only one who mis-
treats the children. Mrs. Scatcherd, a schoolteacher,
is depicted as mean and unreasonable, especially to
Helen Burns, Jane’s best friend. Although Helen is
brilliant, Mrs. Scatcherd sends her to the bottom of
the class. Even when Helen is seated in an obscure
corner of the class, Mrs. Scatcherd constantly picks
on her. When Helen answers the questions her
classmates cannot, not only does Mrs. Scatcherd not
praise Helen, she flogs her for being disagreeable
and dirty. However, Helen does not suffer for long.
The summer wind blows typhus into the poorly
ventilated school, and more than half of the stu-
dents fall ill. The virulent atmosphere, coupled with
semistarvation and neglected colds, hasten Helen’s
death from consumption. Fortunately, hers and