, Chapter 27.............................................................................................................................................17
Chapter 34.............................................................................................................................................17
Ending (summary)..................................................................................................................................17
Key Facts...............................................................................................................................................19
Plot overview........................................................................................................................................21
Characters.............................................................................................................................................23
Jane Eyre - ............................................................................................................................................23
Edward Rochester - ..............................................................................................................................23
St. John Rivers – ....................................................................................................................................23
Mrs. Reed - ..........................................................................................................................................23
Bessie Lee - ...........................................................................................................................................23
Mr. Lloyd - ............................................................................................................................................23
Georgiana Reed –..................................................................................................................................24
John Reed - ...........................................................................................................................................24
Helen Burns - ........................................................................................................................................24
Maria Temple – ....................................................................................................................................24
Miss Scatcherd – ..................................................................................................................................24
Alice Fairfax - ........................................................................................................................................24
Bertha Mason - ....................................................................................................................................25
Grace Poole – .......................................................................................................................................25
Adèle Varens - ......................................................................................................................................25
Celine Varens - ......................................................................................................................................25
Sophie – ................................................................................................................................................25
Mr. Briggs – ..........................................................................................................................................25
Diana Rivers - .......................................................................................................................................25
Mary Rivers – .......................................................................................................................................26
Rosamond Oliver –................................................................................................................................26
Uncle Reed - .........................................................................................................................................26
Major characters...................................................................................................................................27
Jane Eyre................................................................................................................................................27
Edward Rochester..................................................................................................................................27
St. John Rivers........................................................................................................................................28
Helen Burns............................................................................................................................................28
Summary
Chapter 1
The novel opens on a dreary November afternoon at Gateshead, the home of the
wealthy Reed family. A young girl named Jane Eyre sits in the drawing room reading
Bewick’s History of British Birds. Jane’s aunt, Mrs. Reed, has forbidden her niece to
play with her cousins Eliza, Georgiana, and the bullying John. John chides Jane for
being a lowly orphan who is only permitted to live with the Reeds because of his
mother’s charity. John then hurls a book at the young girl, pushing her to the end of
her patience. Jane finally erupts, and the two cousins fight. Mrs. Reed holds Jane
responsible for the scuffle and sends her to the “red-room”—the frightening
chamber in which her Uncle Reed died—as punishment.
2
, Chapter 2
Two servants, Miss Abbott and Bessie Lee, escort Jane to the red-room, and Jane
resists them with all of her might. Once locked in the room, Jane catches a glimpse
of her ghastly figure in the mirror, and, shocked by her meager presence, she begins
to reflect on the events that have led her to such a state. She remembers her kind
Uncle Reed bringing her to Gateshead after her parents’ death, and she recalls his
dying command that his wife promise to raise Jane as one of her own. Suddenly,
Jane is struck with the impression that her Uncle Reed’s ghost is in the room, and
she imagines that he has come to take revenge on his wife for breaking her
promise. Jane cries out in terror, but her aunt believes that she is just trying to
escape her punishment, and she ignores her pleas. Jane faints in exhaustion and
fear.
Chapter 3
When she wakes, Jane finds herself in her own bedroom, in the care of Mr. Lloyd, the
family’s kind apothecary. Bessie is also present, and she expresses disapproval of
her mistress’s treatment of Jane. Jane remains in bed the following day, and Bessie
sings her a song. Mr. Lloyd speaks with Jane about her life at Gateshead, and he
suggests to Jane’s aunt that the girl be sent away to school, where she might find
happiness. Jane is cautiously excited at the possibility of leaving Gateshead.
Soon after her own reflections on the past in the red-room, Jane learns more of her
history when she overhears a conversation between Bessie and Miss Abbott. Jane’s
mother was a member of the wealthy Reed family, which strongly disapproved of
Jane’s father, an impoverished clergyman. When they married, Jane’s wealthy
maternal grandfather wrote his daughter out of his will. Not long after Jane was
born, Jane’s parents died from typhus, which Jane’s father contracted while caring
for the poor.
Chapter 4
“I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I
live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I
liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick.
. . .”
About two months have passed, and Jane has been enduring even crueler treatment
from her aunt and cousins while anxiously waiting for the arrangements to be made
for her schooling. Now Jane is finally told she may attend the girls’ school Lowood,
and she is introduced to Mr. Brocklehurst, the stern-faced man who runs the school.
Mr. Brocklehurst abrasively questions Jane about religion, and he reacts with
indignation when she declares that she finds the psalms uninteresting. Jane’s aunt
warns Mr. Brocklehurst that the girl also has a propensity for lying, a piece of
information that Mr. Brocklehurst says he intends to publicize to Jane’s teachers
upon her arrival. When Mr. Brocklehurst leaves, Jane is so hurt by her aunt’s
accusation that she cannot stop herself from defending herself to her aunt. Mrs.
Reed, for once, seems to concede defeat. Shortly thereafter, Bessie tells Jane that
she prefers her to the Reed children. Before Jane leaves for school, Bessie tells her
stories and sings her lovely songs.
3
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