Distrust and Pain in Secrets: Jane Eyre

In the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, secrets cause much distrust aimed at the secret holder and pain to the ones either holding or discovering the secret with examples found in secrets like those of Rochester really being the gypsy, Jane's secret reading spot, Mrs. Reed keeping the letter from Jane, and Mr. Rochester's wife in the attic. When Mr. Rochester is disguised as the gypsy and tells the ladies these mysterious fortunes, it in cases hurts some mentally, but more importantly in Jane's case it leads to distrust of Mr. Rochester. As John finds out Jane's secret reading spot he loses more trust in the so called "naughty child" and causes Jane the pain of knowing she no longer has a safe place in Gateshead. Once Jane finds out that Mrs. Reed had kept the letter from her Uncle away from her, she loses almost all of her waning trust in her. Lastly, when Jane found out that Mr. Rochester is married it is what leads Jane leave him for lack of trust, and it also pains Mr. Rochester with the loss of his beloved Jane. Lets not get ahead of ourselves though and talk in more detail about Mr. Rochester and his time as a gypsy.

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...

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...ost some of the trust of Jane. Once Jane's secret hiding place was found out by John Reed she lost any chance of trust with John at Gateshead and became physically, mentally, and emotionally hurt by her secret. As Jane found out, Mrs. Reed hid the letter from Jane, any hope of trust between the two of them was demolished and Jane was saddened and hurt by the secret as well. Lastly, when Jane had found out about Mr. Rochester's wife on the third floor, the loving and trusting relationship between Rochester and Jane was weakened to the point where Jane had no choice but to leave, and it had brought about a situation bearing deep pain for both of them. All of these thus showing the impact on trust and feelings secrets have have on relationships in this book and in our world.

Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. N.p.: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1988. Print.