Transcript THORNFIELD - Wallingford-Swarthmore School District

THORNFIELD
By: Amy! Anna! Maude! & Spencer!
LIFE AT THORNFIELD: ADELE
“A lively child, who had been spoiled and
indulged, and therefore was sometimes
wayward.”
“but as she was committed entirely to my
care, and no injudicious interference from
any quarter ever thwarted my plans for her
improvement, she soon forgot her little
freaks, and became obedient and
teachable.”
“…though perhaps not very profound,
affection; and by her simplicity, gay prattle,
and efforts to please, inspired me in return,
with a degree of attachment sufficient to
make us both content in each other's
society.
 Jane’s characterization of
Adele, an upper class
child.
 Jane’s influence on Adele
 Adele’s influence on Jane
LIFE AT THORNFIELD: MS. FAIFAX
I'll see it carried into your room,” she said, and bustled
out.
“She treats me like a visitor,” thought I. “I little expected
such a reception; I anticipated only coldness and
stiffness: this is not like what I have heard of the
treatment of governesses; but I must not exult too soon.”
She returned; with her own hands cleared her knitting
apparatus and a book or two from the table, to make
room for the tray which Leah now brought, and then
herself handed me the refreshments. I felt rather
confused at being the object of more attention than I
had ever before received, and that, too, shown by my
employer and superior; but as she did not herself seem
to consider she was doing any thing out of her place, I
thought it better to take her civilities quietly.
"The equality between her and me was real; not the
mere result of condescension on her part; so much the
better--my position was all the freer"
 Jane is a bit confused by Ms.
Fair fax’s kindness to her, as
she is not of the same social
class. She’s treated with
more kindness than she
should be.
Then she finds out Ms. Fair fax
is the housekeeper.
 Jane finally has an equal.
JANE’S DISCONTENT
“Who blames me? Many, no doubt; and I shall be called discontented.”
“that then I desired more of practical
experience than I possessed; more of
intercourse with my kind, of acquaintance
with variety of character, than was here
within my reach. I valued what was good
in Mrs. Fairfax, and what was good in
Adele; but I believed in the existence of
other and more vivid kinds of goodness,
and what I believed in I wished to behold.”
 Jane wants to meet
someone else. She wants
to live in a wider world,
which is a revolutionar y
thought for someone of
her station: an orphan
governess.
 Similar to the review of
Jane Eyre?
JANE’S DISCONTENT
“Who blames me? Many, no doubt; and I shall be called discontented.”
“Women are supposed to be very calm
generally: but women feel just as men
feel; they need exercise for their faculties
and a field for their efforts as much as
their brothers do; they suffer from too
rigid a restraint, too absolute a
stagnation, precisely as men would suffer;
and it is narrow-minded in their more
privileged fellow-creatures to say that
they ought to confine themselves to
making puddings and knitting stockings,
to playing on the piano and embroidering
bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them
or laugh at them if they seek to do more
or learn more than custom has
pronounced necessary for their sex.”
 This thought would not be
appreciated in Jane’s time.
 She is attacking social
convention, calling people
“narrow -minded.”
 The idea of knitting,
cooking, playing the piano,
and embroidering was
what made a woman
“accomplished.”
* * R E F L E C T IO N O F T H E AU T H OR ' S
P O S I T I O N O N G E N D E R RO L E S I N
R E L AT I ON TO H E R
P U B L I C AT I ON / P S E U D ON Y M S * *
GOTHICISM & MYSTERY: GRACE POOLE
 Grace Poole (especially her
laugh) marks whenever
something impor tant is about
to happen.
“When thus alone, I not unfrequently
heard Grace Poole's laugh; the same
peal, the same low, slow ha! ha! which,
when first heard, had thrilled me: I heard,
too, her eccentric murmurs; stranger than
her laugh. There were days when she was
quite silent; but there were others when I
could not account for the sounds she
made. “
 First Laugh introduces the idea,
 Shortly after mentioning Grace
Poole’s laugh she comes across
Rochester.
 The laugh which marks the fire in
Rochester’s room.
 Grace Poole’s “other duties.”
 Grace Poole during the Gypsy
conversation, which is a very
important conversation.
 Jane believes that Grace Poole
is tr ying to kill Rochester and
maybe even be af ter Jane.
GOTHICISM & MYSTERY: GY TRASH
“As this horse approached, and as I watched for it to
appear through the dusk, I remembered certain of
Bessie's tales, wherein figured a North-of-England
spirit, called a “Gytrash”; which, in the form of horse,
mule, or large dog, haunted solitary ways, and
sometimes came upon belated travelers, as this horse
was now coming upon me.”
“…by the hazel stems glided a great dog, whose black
and white color made him a distinct object against
the trees. It was exactly one mask of Bessie's
Gytrash—a lion-like creature with long hair and a huge
head: it passed me, however, quietly enough…The
horse followed—a tall steed, and on its back a rider.
The man; the human being, broke the spell at once.
Nothing ever rode the Gytrash: it was always alone;
and goblins, to my notions, though they might tenant
the dumb carcasses of beasts, could
scarce covet shelter in the commonplace human
form.
 Upon fir st meeting Rochester,
(without knowing it’s him),
she thinks of his horse and
dog as the mystical creature.
 The Gytrash maliciously directs
traveler s of f cour se. However,
the spirits can also show
kindness, giving traveler s
guidance and direction .
This could show Rochester’s role
in Jane’s life.
THE FIRST MEETING
“Had he been a handsome, heroic-looking young
gentleman, I should not have dared to stand thus
questioning him against his will and offering my
services unasked. I had hardly ever seen a handsome
youth; never in my life spoken to one. I had a
theoretical reverence and homage for beauty,
elegance, gallantry, fascination; but had I met those
qualities incarnate in masculine shape, I should have
known instinctively that they neither had nor could
have sympathy with anything in me, and should have
shunned them as one would fire, lightning, or anything
else that is bright but antipathetic.
If even this stranger had smiled and been goodhumored to me when I addressed him; if he had put
off my offer of assistance gayly and with thanks, I
should have gone on my way and not felt
any vocation to renew inquiries; but the frown, the
roughness of the traveler set me at my ease: I
retained my station when he waived to me to go, and
announced, “I cannot think of leaving you, sir, at so
late an hour in this solitary lane till I see you are fit to
mount your horse.”
 This is not exactly a
ser vant woman’s place.
 She recognizes that she
isn’t exactly doing the
right thing since she isn’t
listening to him, but since
he’s ugly it doesn’t matter.
 She brings up the idea of
being a kindred spirit with
Rochester.
THE FIRST MEETING
“Whose house is it?”
“Mr. Rochester's.”
“Do you know Mr. Rochester?”
“No, I have never seen him.”
“He is not resident, then?”
“No.”
“Can you tell me where he is?”
“I cannot.”
“You are not a servant at the hall, of course. You are—
” He stopped, ran his eye over my dress, which, as
usual was quite simple: a black merino cloak, a black
beaver bonnet: neither of them half fine enough for a
lady's-maid. He seemed puzzled to decide what I was:
I helped him.
“I am the governess.”
“Ah, the governess!” he repeated; “deuce take me, if I
had not forgotten! The governess!” and again
my raiment underwent scrutiny. In two minutes he
rose from the stile: his face expressed pain when he
tried to move.
“I cannot commission you to fetch help,” he said; “but
you may help me a little yourself, if you will be so
kind.”
 Rochester essentially fools
Jane
 On class: he can almost
tell her rank possibly by
her dress. (Or the fact that
he hasn’t seen her before.
He knows his ser vants.)
 Foreshadowing his future
reliance on Jane.
THE FIRST MEETING
“My help had been needed and claimed; I
had given it: I was pleased to have done
something; trivial, transitory, though the
deed was, it was yet an active thing, and I
was weary of an existence all passive. The
new face, too, was like a new picture
introduced to the gallery of memory; and
it was dissimilar to all the others hanging
there: firstly, because it was masculine;
and, secondly, because it was dark,
strong and stern. “
 Jane’s discontent seems to
have been addressed in
this one incident: she was
of help & she met a new
person.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“You examine me, Miss Eyre,” said he:
“do you think me handsome?”
I should, if I had deliberated, have replied
to this question by something
conventionally vague and polite; but the
answer somehow slipped from my tongue
before I was aware: “No, sir.”
“Far from it, sir. You would perhaps, think me
rude if I inquired in return whether you are
a philanthropist?”
“There again! Another stick of the penknife,
when she pretended to pat my head: and
that is because I said I did not like the
society of children and old women (low be it
spoken!). No, young lady, I am not a general
philanthropist; but I bear a conscience;”
 She breaks from her class
& gender roles as well as
social convention, and is
rewarded for it.
 She does tr y to take it
back however.
 She seems to be able to
read Rochester quite well,
which is ver y amusing to
him.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“Whatever you like. I leave both the
choice of subject and the manner of
treating it entirely to yourself.”
Accordingly I sat and said nothing: “If he
expects me to talk for the mere sake of
talking and showing off, he will find he
has addressed himself to the wrong
person,” I thought.
“You are dumb, Miss Eyre.”
I was dumb still. He bent his head a little
toward me, and with a single hasty glance
seemed to dive into my eyes.
“Stubborn?” he said, “and annoyed. Ah, it
is consistent. I put my request in an
absurd, almost insolent form. Miss Eyre, I
beg your pardon.
 Her stubbornness would be
seen as insolence, as she
refuses to answer her
superior, a man.
 This however endears her
fur ther to Rochester who
apologizes. Breaking from
the roles of class.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“Then, in the first place, do you agree with me
that I have a right to be a little masterful,
abrupt; perhaps exacting, sometimes, on the
grounds I stated; namely, that I am old enough
to be your father, and that I have battled
through a varied experienced with many men
of many nations, and roamed over half the
globe, while you have lived quietly with one set
of people in one house?”
“Do as you please, sir.”
“That is no answer; or rather it is a very
irritating, because a very evasive, one; reply
clearly.”
“I don't 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.”
 This elucidates Jane’s view
on class, age, and gender
as she tells Rochester that
he has little right to
command me.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“I was thinking, sir, that very few masters would
trouble themselves to inquire whether or not their
paid subordinates were piqued and hurt by their
orders.”
“Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss
Eyre: remorse is the poison of life.”
“Repentance is said to be its cure, sir.”
“The human and fallible should not arrogate a
power with which the divine and perfect alone can
be safely intrusted.”
“What power?”
“That of saying of any strange, unsanctioned line of
action, ‘Let it be right.’”
so artificial as just now. I keep it rather on the
Roman Catholic principle of expiating numerous
sins, great or small, by one good work. I'll explain
some day. Good-night.”
 She remarks Rochester’s
not a typical master.
 Her Christian values shine
through.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“I want you,” he said: “come this way: take your
time, and make no noise.”
“I want you,” he said: “come this way: take your
time, and make no noise.”
“Just give me your hand,” he said; “it will not do to
risk a fainting-fit.”
I put my fingers into his. “Warm and steady,” was
his remark.
 Rochester is reliant on her
in times of panic, and Jane
is eager to come.
JANE & ROCHESTER
I must keep to my post, however. I must watch this
ghastly countenance--these blue, still lips
forbidden to unclose--these eyes now shut, now
opening, now wandering through the room, now
fixing on me, and ever glazed with the dulness of
horror. I must dip my hand again and again in the
basin of blood and water, and wipe away the
trickling gore. I must see the light of the unsnuffed
candle wane on my employment; the shadows
darken on the wrought, antique tapestry round me,
and grow black under the hangings of the vast old
bed, and quiver strangely over the doors of a great
cabinet opposite--whose front, divided into twelve
panels, bore, in grim design, the heads of the
twelve apostles, each enclosed in its separate
panel as in a frame; while above them at the top
rose an ebon crucifix and a dying Christ."
 Here there is some
religious imager y. The
ideas of what she is
tasked to do is parallel to
the Bible scene por trayed
on the tapestr y.
 There is also the idea of
ser vitude
Amidst all this, I had to listen as well as
watch: listen for the movements of the
wild beast or the fiend in yonder side
den. But since Mr. Rochester's visit it
seemed spellbound; all the night I heard
but three sounds at three long
intervals—a step creak, a momentary
renewal of the snarling, canine noise,
and a deep human groan.
JANE & ROCHESTER
“Jane, will you have a flower?”
He gathered a half-blown rose, the first on the
bush, and offered it to me.
“Do you like this sunrise, Jane? That sky, with its
high and light clouds, which are sure to melt away
as the day waxes warm—this placid and balmly
atmosphere?”
 Acts of romantic interest,
searching for Jane’s
approval.
“I was afraid of some one coming out of the inner
room.”
“But I had fastened the door—I had the key in my
pocket: I should have been a careless shepherd if I
had left a lamb—my pet lamb—so near a wolf's
den, unguarded: you were safe.”
 Protective of Jane, and
when Jane worries for his
safety he claims he can
take care of himself.
“Oh, no! Mason will not defy me; nor, knowing it,
will he hurt me—but, unintentionally, he might in a
moment, by one careless word, deprive me, if not
of life, yet forever of happiness.”
 Foreshadowing the
problem at the wedding.
JANE & ROCHESTER
You are my little friend, are you not?”
“I like to serve you, sir, and to obey you in all that is right.”
“If you have no more to fear from Mr. Mason than you
have from me, sir, you are very safe.”
 He wants to show her
af fection.
“Sit,” he said; “the bench is long enough for two. You don't
hesitate to take a place at my side, do you? Is that wrong,
Jane?”
If you accidently committed an offense in your youth that
prevents you from being happy, “are you justified in
overleaping an obstacle of custom—a mere conventional
impediment, which neither your conscience sanctifies nor
your judgment approves?”
“Sir,” I answered, “a wanderer's repose or a sinner's
reformation should never depend on a fellow-creature.
Men and women die; philosophers falter in wisdom, and
Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered
and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength
to amend, and solace to heal.”
 Extreme foreshadowing in
which he is essentially
asking if it is wrong for
him to marr y her..
JANE & ROCHESTER
“Shake hands in confirmation of the word. What cold
fingers! They were warmer last night when I touched them
at the door of the mysterious chamber. Jane, when will
you watch with me again?”
“Whenever I can be useful, sir.”
“For instance, the night before I am married! I am sure I
shall not be able to sleep. Will you promise to sit up with
me to bear me company? To you I can talk of my lovely
one: for now you have seen her and know her.”
 He sees her as his
companion, and she’s
become ver y impor tant to
him. She has grown to be
more than just a ser vant.
JANE & ROCHESTER
"If you knew it, you are peculiarly situated: very near
happiness; yes, within reach of it. The materials are all
prepared; there only wants a movement to combine
them. Chance laid them somewhat apart; let them be
once approached and bliss results."
“I have told you, reader, that I had learnt to love Mr.
Rochester: I could not unlove him now, merely because
I found that he had ceased to notice me.”
Jane is constantly
struggling to choose between
having her own
independence or submitting
to her love for Rochester.
The portraits of herself and
Blanche Ingram are an
example of Jane trying to give
up her love.
 The conversation between
the Gypsy Rochester and
Jane highlight this struggle
as well.
JANE vs. BLANCHE