Jane Eyre Blog # 3

Jane is beginning to feel bored with her new job and decides to go on a walk where she finds a man who had been riding his horse with his dog, but now had fallen on a patch of ice. She helped him back on his horse and offered for him to stay at Thornfield hall, but he declined the offer. When Jane returned home that night she saw the familiar looking dog and found out that the man on the horse today was Mr. Rochester. Jane's first meeting with Mr. Rochester consisted mostly of his strict orders and demanding questions. As harsh as Mr. Rochester was Jane began to enjoy his company and he enjoyed hers. One night, Jane woke up to the smell of fire. She walked to Mr. Rochesters room and saw this his curtains and bed sheets were inflamed, and Jane ran to find as much water as she could to put out the flames. When Mr. Rochester woke up he held Jane's hand rather affectionately and to her that he must repay her for saving his life; and it is from this gesture that Jane realizes she is falling in love with him. Jane had suspicions that a servant, Grace Poole, had started the fire in an attempt to murder Mr. Rochester, which she found out later was true, but for some reason this was being kept a secret. Mr. Rochester had left for a few weeks to attend an elegant party which disappointed Jane deeply. When Mr. Rochester returned he brought many ladies and gentlemen for a party at Thornfield, which Jane did her best to stay out of the way until Mr. Rochester ordered her to participate in the event. The majority of the time the ladies were talking of how they hated governesses and all they do. Needless to say, soon after this Jane felt the need to leave the party; however, Mr. Rochester expressed to Jane how much he wanted her to be there, which shows that Mr. Rochester could be falling in love with Jane.

There is such a variety of characters in this novel, which makes it so interesting. The way that the author tediously describes them both directly and indirectly is excellent because I can picture every one of these characters as I reading. I can even hear how they say things in dialogue. The characterization is one of my favorite elements of this novel. Jane is still my favorite character. She has such a strong sense of herself and is so earnest in everything she says and does. I find her to be very intelligent because she seemed to be so calm when Mr. Rochester was asking her so many questions, she was able to handle herself well and answer quite cleverly, even to a difficult question. For example, Mr. Rochester asked Jane if she thought it was fair for him to so commanding an abrupt. This was Jane's response, "I don' think, sir, you have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have--your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience." Mr. Rochester is a newly introduced character, and he is just as Mrs. Fairfax describes him, peculiar. He is so abrupt, strict, demanding, and bossy and yet at times he can actually be a decent human being. I think that his character is actually very interesting because he is not always predictable. I had a feeling that him and Jane would have a possible love connection, but because of his harshness I began to doubt that. I think that the theme is these particuliar chapters is that beauty is only skin deep. Jane is described as plain and even ugly and so is Mr. Rochester. However, Jane has feelings for Mr. Rochester despite what he looks like, but because of his character, and indefinitely so does Mr. Rochester for Jane. this theme is also shown when Mrs. Fairfax says that many ladies take a liking to Mr. Rochester even though he is not a goodlooking man. There are also many beautiful ladies in these chapters, but they have such a conceited and proud personality that they do not seem attractive. I think that the love interest between Jane and Mr. Rochester is most definitely going to complicate the story and their lives very much. They will have to keep it a secret which can create many conflicts in the story and I am hoping that the story turns out the way that Jane wants it to, with Mr. Rochester returning the same feelings towards her. This novel suggest that people in general, obviously do care about what people look like, but in some particular cases, what is inside a person can overcome their appearance on the outside. It also suggests how people can change who they are to conform to a specific group. Here is Jane thinking of how Mr. Rochester acts differently around his "friends" than he does around her. "'He is not to them as he is to me, I thought: 'he is not of their kind. I believe he is of mine;--I am sure he is,--I feel akin to him, --I understand the language of his countenace and movements: though rank and wealth sever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart in my blood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him." This novel suggest that this time period is based very much on social classes. From the interaction at the party I noticed that the upper class does not converse with the lower class and the servants do not speak to barely anyone unless it is about their chores. I have learned that the way that people discrimanate against other people existed even back then, and also that your so called class can override your personality and intellectual abilities. Even in these times people are judged unfairly because of their social status in life. I am looking forward to seeing how the novel progresses and how the possible relationship between Mr. Rochester and Jane unfolds.