Thornfield Herald Summary
Chapters XXV-XXXVIII
Chapter XXV Dreams
235 Why does Jane seek the orchard? What does this show about her spirit? And what does she learn
from the chestnut tree?
236 Check out that moon!
237 Let’s add ‘mermaid’ to the list of weird things he’s called her
238 Now she calls HIM “a dream”
239 Note the veil
240 Witch; child dream
241 Check out her dream about what becomes of Thornfield…Is she Sybil?
242 Grace’s fate
243 Roch’s mystery…
244 Adèle – emblem of her past
This chapter is laced with foreboding dreams, and sets up the dramatic discoveries of the next chapter. It
also continues to develop the key image of the chestnut tree.
Chapter XXVI Wedding
246 First sign of trouble: a couple of figures in the graveyard
246 “I declare the existence of an impediment!”
247 the first marriage
248 Note “bigamy” at bottom
249 Roch describes wife as a mad drunkard
250 huge page: what animal is his wife compared to? Note also that word which is the adjective form of
‘moon.’
251 Note what Jane’s uncle did
252-3 Jane is shattered; all hope dead; wishes she were dead; longs for Heaven
Wow. Some people have skeletons in the closet. Others hide their marriages. In the 3-volume edition, this
chapter brings Volume 2 to a close. We’ve found out some of Rochester’s mysteries, and wonder what
will become of our couple. Note how Nature has taken a larger role in the novel. Next up: Religion will
become an even greater emphasis in Volume 3.
Chapter XXVII
Rochester’s Revelations
253 What does Jane decide?
254 Note the homophone for ‘eyre’ at the bottom of page
255 Note the ‘Dear Reader’ direct address. What’s the effect?
259 Note their differences.
260-1 What’s the dark history of Bertha’s family madness? What’s the possible cause of Bertha’s illness.
262 How was Bertha’s Mom treated? And how did Roch adapt to the climate in the West Indies?
262-3 How did Roch resolve his West Indian crisis?
264 Why was Grace a good hire?
265 Who was Céline Varens?
267 What were Roch’s first impressions of Jane?
268-9 What is Jane’s reaction, and what does her ‘I do’ indicate?
*270 Where do we see Jane’s Romantic struggle?
*272 Analyze this dream!
273-4 What are the timing and significance of her departure from Thornfied?
Better late than never? Rochester reveals his checkered past, and his West Indian inheritance-turned
nightmare.
Chapter XXVIII Jane’s New Existence -Whitcross
275 We’ve had Gateshead, Lowood and Thornfield. Now Whitcross. What does this name indicate?
276-7 What role does nature play? Check out that moon!
278 What indicates feminism?
280 Where does she sleep?
282 Role of fire?
285-6 A new man…
287 Why the alias?
It’s like a new novel has started – new location, new characters. How have religion and nature taken
center stage?
Chapter XXIX Moor House
294 What type of beauty does St. John Rivers embody?
295 Check out his eyes…
295 Yet another interview by a male authority figure!
296 Note Jane’s autobiography
296 How did she end up here at the Moor House?
St. John Rivers becomes a major character this third part of the novel. Jane’s grown up now, however!
Chapter XXX St. John
300 Note the allusion to John Calvin. Who was he?
300 What’s Jane’s take on St. John in the middle of the page?
302 What kind of pastor is he?
302-3 What job does St. John find for Jane?
So St. John comes through with a job, and we see him in action during a sermon. But what kind of partner
would he be for Jane?!
Chapter XXXI Morton School
305-6 What’s the school like? How does she describe the kids?
306 “My duty will be to develop these germs!”
309-310 How would you describe Rosamond Oliver, and how does this alter our perception of beauty?
Oh no, not another beautiful woman with a French first name!
Ch XXXII St. John’s Vocation
312
What type of success does Jane find as a schoolteacher?
Check out the dreams about Rochester…
313
How would you describe Rosamond’s beauty here?
What exactly does it means that St. John shows “Christian stoicism”?
314
Note Jane’s portrait of Rosamond
318-9 How does St. John balance “vocation” against “love”? What is a “vocation”?
320 Who says this line, and what does it mean in terms of our study of Romanticism?:
“Reason, and not Feeling, is my guide.”
Ch XXXIII Jane Heir
323
What does Jane learn about her family?
324
What does Jane learn about Rochester?
325
Jane Heir! How much dough is she due?
327
Where do we see the fire and ice opposition, and what does it represent?
328-9 How does Jane indicate generosity?
330
Would she get married?
Ch XXXIV Let’s go to India!
333
How does Jane feel about working at Moor House?
336
What do we learn about Rosamond?
338
Celebrate Foreign Language Week: What is Jane learning? How about St. John?
340
Jane has Rochester on her mind!
342-3 How does St. John pop the question? And how does his style differ from Roch’s?
343
About a third of the way down the page, how does St. John remind us of Brocklehurst?
344
“Alas! If I join St. John, I abandon half myself; if I go to India, I go to premature death.”
345
What’s Jane’s decision about India?
349
Check out the handshake at the end of the chapter
350
Explain the final line: “I would much rather he had knocked me down.”
Ch XXXV Jane! Jane! Jane!
349
How does the scorned St. John treat Jane?
350
Explain Jane’s ambivalence in saying, “This man, alienated as he now was, had once saved my
life.”
351
St. John tries again!
353
Searching for Rochester…
355
Note the Revelations reference. Where have we seen this Biblical reference before?
357
How does this happen, the “Jane! Jane! Jane!” Cellphone? Texting? IM? ESP?
358
Explain this last line: “I rose from the thanksgiving – took a resolve – and lay down, unscared,
enlightened – eager but for the daylight.”
Ch XXXVI
Bertha’s High Degree of Difficulty Dive
358
Explain the Romantic style at the bottom of the page
360
Towards the top of the page, explain the Jane = bird reference
360
Towards bottom of page, note once again the Romanticism
361
Note the reference at the bottom to ‘blackened ruin.” Where was this image foreshadowed?
363
Note the details of the fire, and how Jane listens to her and Rochester’s stories
364
How did Grace Poole fail? What happened to Mrs. Fairfax? Adèle? How did Rochester help Jane?
365
Read to the tune of Van Halen’s Jump: “Go ahead and….JUMP!”
Really important reference to Divine Justice. What is this concept? Where have
it manifested? What is Rochester’s Divine Justice exactly?
Ch XXXVII Back to the Chestnut Tree
367 What bird does Jane compare Rochester to?
370 “I am an independent woman now.”
378-9 Note reference to chestnut tree. How does this end up being a positive image?
380 “Divine Justice pursued its course.”
Ch XXXVIII Reader, I Married Him
382 Note at least two unusual elements in the first sentence.
384 What changes about Rochester, and why?
385 Why does the book end with a description about St. John Rivers?
385 Why is the last word important?
we already seen