The Dangers of Secrets
In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the characters come to learn that secrets do more harm than good through Edward Rochester’s secrecy after the fire in his room, Mrs. Reed not telling her about the letter from her uncle, and Edward Rochester’s secret marriage with Bertha. First, Rochester, who really knows what happened during the fire in his room, refuses to tell Jane the full truth so as to not hurt her. Secondly, Mrs. Reed and Jane do not have the best relationship; the hiding of the letter only strains this relationship further. And finally, Rochester’s secret marriage with the psychopathic woman Bertha Mason causes a rift in Jane and Rochester’s relationship which never fully heals. In other words, secrets will never end well, as seen by Rochester keeping what happens during the fire secret to Jane.
To begin, Rochester makes sure the fact that Bertha, not Grace Poole, starts the fire in his room secret to Jane. The price that Rochester would pay if the secret of Bertha got out would be immense. For example, Rochester’s main reason for doing this is obviously to keep Bertha unknown to Jane, who has no idea Bertha even exists at this point in the story. Rochester is sleeping peacefully one night when Jane hears a strange laugh. She walks up the stairs and smells smoke from Rochester’s room. Jane quickly puts out the fire and explains to Rochester about the laugh she heard. She says it was from Grace Poole, and Rochester quickly agrees, saying that the “singular laugh” Jane heard was Grace’s (Bronte 157). Jane later wants to talk to Grace about the incident, which happens the next morning. Grace is also heavily involved in this secret, as she is Bertha’s caretaker. Grace claims that “… he [Rochester] fell...
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... relationship that he works dilligently to maintain.
On the whole, it is very evident that secrets cause more harm than good as seen by Rochester’s secrecy involving the fire, Mrs. Reed hiding the letter, and Rochester’s first marriage. Rochester having a good idea of what truly happens during the fire in his room ends with Jane not trusting Grace Poole and not knowing the full truth. Mrs. Reed changes what Jane’s life could be by hiding the letter from her uncle John. And finally, Rochester’s secret marriage with Bertha Mason puts a large strain on his relationship with Jane. Charlotte Bronte exemplifies the idea of secrets causing more harm than good in Jane Eyre, a lesson that many people will learn in their lives the hard way. Keeping secrets is not worth the effort.
Works Cited
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. United States: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1988.
Jane Eyre is about a girl named Jane who struggles to find who she really is and with it what she really wants. “As a model for women readers in the Victorian period and throughout the twentieth century to follow, Jane Eyre encouraged them to make their own choices in living their lives, to develop respect for themselves, and to become individuals” (Markley). One of the reasons why this book gained merit was because of its striking presence within its time period. During the “Victorian Age” woman did not have much say in society, so this novel broke boundaries to societal norms that restricted woman from things they have today. “Brontë is able to enact this tension through her characters and thus show dramatically the journey of a woman striving for balance within her nature. A novel creates its own internal world through the language that it uses, and this fictional world may be quite independent from the real physical world in which we live” (Johnson). Bronte creates another world through her enlightening form of writing that has the reader connected to the novel as much as Riordan has on the readers in The Lightning Thief. “Reader, I married him” (Bronte 457). This line from the novel is one of the most iconic lines in literature because after all the terrible things she had to endure, Jane finally
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.
There are many stages throughout the book in which the reader can feel sympathy for Jane Eyre; these include when she is locked in the Red Room, when Helen Burns dies at Lowood, and when she and Mr. Rochester are married the first time.
Through the baring of Jane’s inner thoughts and emotions, and indeed Emily Brontë’s own feelings, it is evident that she was left with this bitter feeling after this shocking incident underling Jane’s and Emily’s belief that both genders should be treated equally, even though differences do exist. With this quotation, Brontë takes the time to show the emotional side of females and how it affects them. Jane appears as being completely affected by her feelings, while Rochester seems to not have been affected at all. The author is attempting to express, through Jane, her own feminine side. This is one of those specific times in the novel where we’re faced with the reality of the female side that Jane portrays, and we are forced to reevaluate our
Bertha and Mr. Rochester were set up and pressured into marrying each other. Mr. Rochester claims that isolating Bertha in a secret room is a justifiable act because of her mental instability. However, The Bertha that the reader gets to see exhibits an accumulated maniacal rage as a result of her imprisonment. Jane describes her as a savage woman. The very sight of her when she attacked her brother or when she ripped the wedding veil traumatized Jane. However, Bertha impacted more than her safety. When Bertha is revealed to be Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane finds out that despite the love she and Mr. Rochester have for each other; Jane can be nothing more than a mistress because it is illegal to divorce an insane women who is not in control of her actions.
"'The marriage can not go on: I declare the existence of an impediment'" (306). Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, is the story of an orphaned girl who is sent to live at Gateshead Hall with Mrs. Reed and her three cousins, whom Jane doesn't get along with. At the age of ten, Mrs. Reed sends Jane away to Lowood Institution, an all girls' school, where she spends the next eight years of her life. At the age of eighteen, Jane leaves Lowood and accepts the position as governess at Thornfield Hall. Mr. Rochester, the owner of Thornfield Hall, and Jane fall madly in love and plan to get married, but little does Jane know, Mr. Rochester has a terrible secret that could ruin Jane's life. Throughout the novel, the theme of deceit and dishonesty results in unhappiness and suffering not only to those being lied to, but also to those people perpetuating the untruths.
When Bertha Rochester is first introduced in the novel she is much of a mystery. Her name isn’t stated and it isn’t really clear if she is the one causing trouble. Jane has assumptions of who might be committing all these problems. Bertha tries to kill Mr. Rochester by setting the curtain around his bed on fire. Jane is hearing things inside her room and wished she kept her candle on so she could see. Jane says, “This was a demoniac laugh-low, suppressed, and deep-uttered, as it seemed, at the very keyhole of my chamber door. The head of my bed was near the door and, I thought at first the goblin-laughter stood at my beside-or rather crouched by my pillow: but I rose, looked around and could see nothing; while, as I gazed, the unnatural sound was reiterated: and I knew it came from behind the panels. My first impulse was to rise and fasten the bolt; and my next again to cry out, who is there?” (155) Jane stated that “Something gurgled and moaned. Ere long, steps retreated up to the gallery toward the third-story staircase: a door had lately been made to shut in that staircase; I heard it open and close and all was still.
To begin, when Mr. Rochester secretly returns to Thornfield as a gypsy he tells many fortunes but when the secret comes out there is nothing but distrust for him. For example, when Jane finds out that Mr. Rochester was the gypsy, and Mr. Rochester asks if she can forgive him for his trick, she says ¨[She] cannot tell till [she] [has] thought it all over. … [she] shall try to forgive [him]; but it was not right¨ (Bronte 213). This shows that Jane had lost some trust in her beloved Rochester by such a simple joke and it was that, the secret had been kept from her, that makes Jane really wonder if she could tru...
Mr. Rochester pleaded Jane for forgiveness and that they should marry and forget about Bertha Mason and leave with him to France. Jane deceived him by leaving the Thornfield hall in the middle of the night without saying farewell to Mr. Rochester in person.
In conclusion, Jane Eyre’s painstaking journey to find a sense of acceptance, affection, and family was finally completed, attaining the things she yearned. She eventually discovered everything she was searching for through Mr. Rochester, forgetting her agonizing past and looking to what was ahead. As Jane looked for many different alternatives to make her feel as if she was complete, she found that Mr. Rochester was the only one who could make her feel
The three events that mark Jane as an evolving dynamic character are when she is locked in the red room, self reflecting on her time at Gateshead, her friendship with Helen Burns at LoWood, her relationship with Mr. Rochester, and her last moments with a sick Mrs. Reed. Brought up as an orphan by her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, Jane is accustomed to her aunts vindictive comments and selfish tendencies. Left out of family gatherings, shoved and hit by her cousin, John Reed, and teased by her other cousins, Georgina and Eliza Reed, the reader almost cringes at the unfairness of it all. But even at the young age of ten, Jane knows the consequences of her actions if she were to speak out against any of them. At one point she wonders why she endures in silence for the pleasure of others. Why she is oppressed. "Always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned" (Bronte, 12). Jane’s life at Gateshead is not far from miserable. Not only is she bullied by her cousins and nagged by her aunt, but help from even Bessie, her nurse and sort of friend, seems out of her reach. In the red room scene Jane is drug by Ms. Ab...
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
Charlotte Bronte utilizes the character of Bertha Rochester to interrupt Jane’s potential happy ending with Mr. Edward Rochester. Bertha is announced by Mr. Briggs as a way to stop the wedding and it also shows how hopeless Jane’s situation is. “That is my wife “said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have,’” (312) and “’I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout,’” (312) are quotes that express Mr. Rochester’s reasons for trying to remarry while he already has a wife, meanwhile showing his disposition towards said wife. Had Mr. Briggs and Mr. Mason not been present for the ceremony, Jane may have lived happily in ignorance. Due to Bertha’s involvement however, Jane could never truly call herself Mr. Rochester’s wife. She says, “’Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.’” (323) This quote shows that as a result of Bertha’s exposure, Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester. The influence that Bertha’s brief debut had on Jane’s life was significant enough to hinder the growth of her relationship with Mr. Rochester.
Jane's true love for Roshester becomes appearant during her walks with him at Thornfield. Jane is affected by him so much that "[her] blanks of existance were filled up; [her] bodily health improved; [she] gathered flesh and strenght" (160). She felt like his "presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire" (166). When Blanche - a new woman in Rochester's life - came along, Jane began to grow jelous, which reveals how much she actually really loves Rochester. She begins to hate herself saying "he is not of your order: keep to your caste, and be too self-respecting to lavish the love of the whole heart, soul, and strength, where such a gift is not wanted and would be despised (184). With the presence of Blanche, Jane begins pointing out her insuficiencies and the things she hates about herself. This clearly expresses jelousy, and how much she is actually in love with Rochester.
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.