Jane Eyre Volume 3 Revisited
Jane Eyre Volume 3 Revisited
volume 3 reading guide: chapters 27-38
Welcome to Reading Revisited, a place for friends to enjoy some good old-fashioned book chat while revisiting the truth, beauty, and goodness we’ve found in our favorite books.
Hello, Readers!
I wish you all a lovely October and hope enjoying all things pumpkin — I’m a cinnamon girl myself, but no shade to all you pumpkin spice fanatics. My house has been feeling extra spooky this week as my boys have been playing “Monster Mash” and “Ghostbusters” on repeat… (once children achieve the clarity of speech to be understood by Alexa, the game changes, my friends).
I’m feeling admittedly bittersweet as we prepare to move on from this lovely book. Volume three is a slow burn, but we’re richly rewarded for walking with Jane through the darker days (and listening to the ramblings of St. John)!
As we get in to volume three, let’s just take a quick, final glance at a few Gothic Things in this section:
Jane caught a break in the second volume, but here we are again with the damsel in distress motif:
“A pang of exquisite suffering — a throe of true despair — rent and heaved my heart…Not only the anchor of hope, but the footing of fortitude was gone.” (vol 3, ch 2)
Despite leaving Thornfield, we wind up in a charming little house on the moors which, combined with the still-wild weather, also feels very gothic:
“It was the first of June: yet the morning was overcast and chilly…I heard the front-door open, and St. John pass out…He took the way over the misty moors in the direction of Whitcross.” (vol 3, ch 10)
One interesting element in this section is the fact that Jane, in her weary wanderings, happens to land upon the doorstep of the Rivers family - her nearest family connection in the world. This type of highly improbable coincidence is very romantic/gothic in nature.
Finally, I’ll just touch on the unexplained phenomenon of Jane hearing Rochester’s cries in chapter ten. This sort of mystical experience is one of those moments in gothic literature that “lifts the veil” a bit, and Brontë is perfectly content to leave us in mystery:
“Down superstition!…This is not thy deception, nor thy whitchcraft: it is the work of nature. She was roused, and did — no miracle — but her best.” (vol 3, ch 10).
Volume 3, Chapters 1-4
Amidst her pain, Jane is sure that she must leave Thornfield. She is confronted by Mr. Rochester who, desperate in his grief and longing for Jane, gives an account of his history with Bertha, and begs Jane to leave England and live with him abroad. Jane’s conscience will not allow such a step, so she leaves in the night lest she fall into the temptation of succumbing to Rochester’s wishes. She spends her last penny to travel as far as she can from Thornfield, and spends several days walking and begging from town to town until she comes upon a small house on a secluded moor. She arrives on the doorstep weary and desolate and is eventually admitted and nursed back to health by the clergyman St. John Rivers and his sisters, Diana and Mary. Jane comes to love Moor House and develops a close friendship with the two sisters. She develops a respect for St. John, who offers Jane a teaching post in the small village school in his parish. This she gratefully accepts since Diana and Mary must return to their work as governesses in the city.
a few things to note:
There is much that could be said about the first chapter of volume three. It is such a tragic scene. Witnessing Rochester’s frantic, pleading anguish from the vantage point of Jane’s inner thoughts is truly heartbreaking. This is where, reader, Brontë holds up the mirror so clearly for me. Every time I revisit this novel, I find myself pleading Rochester’s case…falling right into every justification and excuse that he makes for himself. I’m really not sure there’s anyone quite like Brontë for so furtively revealing my own vice.
This chapter is overflowing with the feelings vs. reason motif:
“Jane! will you hear reason? because, if you won’t, I’ll try violence.”
“Sit down; I’ll talk to you as long as you like, and hear all you have to say, whether reasonable or unreasonable.” (vol 3, ch 1).
This scene (and the story at large) also has some serious Beauty and the Beast vibes. Jane’s ability to foresee and placate Rochester’s tumultuous emotions offers yet another image of Jane’s own inner struggle between passion and rationality.
“while he spoke my very Conscience and Reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamored wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “Think of his misery…soothe him; save him; love him…Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?”
then, hearkening back to the words of Helen from volume one:
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God.” (vol 3, ch 1)
Even up to the moment of her departure, when she nearly abandons her intentions and bursts into Rochester’s room, Jane is fighting the good fight.
One last thought here - Rochester’s account of his marriage to Bertha is interesting. I’m not going to open the can of worms here as to the validity or invalidity of their marriage, but if you want to dig deeper in to this I highly recommend a delightful episode from the Fountains of Carrots podcast archives!
, , and Eleanor Bourg Nicholson discuss all things Jane, and the marriage question gets lots of attention.
When discussing the Gothic elements of this book we’ve addressed the way nature, and weather specifically, plays an important role. Something that I loved in this section is the “Mother Nature” imagery that fits right in with the Romantic/Gothic genre:
“Nature seemed to me benign and good: I thought she loved me, outcast as I was…To-night, at least, I would be her guest — as I was her child: my mother would lodge me without money and without price.” (vol 3, ch 2)
Don’t miss the prodigal son imagery in chapter two:
“At the door of a cottage I saw a little girl about to throw a mess of cold porridge into a pig-trough. “Will you give me that?” I asked…”Well, lass, give it her if she’s a beggar. T’pig doesn’t want it.” (vol 3, ch 2)
Only here is a reversal - Jane is not the prodigal, but suffers from the “prodigality” of Rochester. This also evokes an earlier scene in which Jane was given cold, inedible porridge at Lowood.
Finally, we have a third re-naming! Only this time, Jane herself claims a new name: Jane Elliot. This shift from passivity to agency in the re-naming is a mirror of this new phase in her life.
Volume 3, Chapters 5-8
Jane settles in to her new life and home at Morton. She encourages the unspoken affection between St. John and Miss Oliver, though later learns that St. John will not consider the marriage as he fears such a match would deter him from his course to become missionary to India. One evening, St. John arrives at Jane’s door with the news that her uncle Eyre has died and left her heiress to a large fortune. She also learns the equally shocking news that St. John, Mary, and Diana are first cousins to Jane, and were disinherited due to an old family quarrel. Jane, overjoyed to have found near relations, determines to split the fortune equally amongst the four, and live at Moor House with her cousins. They live happily together until St. John asks Jane to accompany him in his missionary endeavors as his wife. Jane reluctantly agrees to labor with him on the mission field, but only as a sister, since she knows he could never love her and that she could not bear a loveless marriage. St. John insists that such an arrangement would be impossible, and when Jane continues in her denial, he becomes cold towards her.
a few things to note…
Let’s talk about St. John. That he is a significant character is undeniable - he literally has the final word in the story! He is set up right away as a foil to Mr. Rochester, even before he becomes Jane’s “suitor”
He’s noted as being very handsome
He is not unkind, but very cool and reserved with Jane (unlike Rochester who opened his heart to Jane almost immediately)
He is resolute and steady - his words are always calculated and precise, and he will not be swayed by his passions.
“Natural affection only, of all the sentiments, has permanent power over me. Reason, and not Feeling, is my guide: my ambition is unlimited; my desire to rise higher, to do more than others, insatiable. I honor endurance, perseverance, industry, talent; because these are the means by which men achieve great ends, and mount to lofty eminence.” (vol 3, ch 6)
We also see in St. John the same kind of puritanical strain we saw in Mr. Brocklehurst, which again shows how far he differs from Rochester:
“I trust that when the first flush of vivacity is over, you will look a little higher than domestic endearments and household joys.”
“The best things the world has!”
“No, Jane, no: this world is not the scene of fruition; do not attempt to make it so nor of rest; do not turn slothful.” (vol 3, ch 8)
The proposal/rejection scene is SO wonderfully layered. First, we see an interesting reversal - Rochester begged Jane to accompany him abroad as an unmarried companion, but with St. John it is Jane who intends to accompany him unmarried.
Both Rochester and St. John resort to manipulation to carry their points. Rochester convinces Jane that her denial will ruin him and lead him to a life of sin and dissipation. St. John, on the other hand claims that for Jane to deny his hand will ruin her:
“I shall be absent a fortnight — take that space of time to consider my offer: and do not forget that if you reject it, it is not me you deny, but God…Refuse to be my wife, and you limit yourself for ever to a track of selfish ease and barren obscurity.” (Vol 3, ch 8)
Something I admire about Brontë is her ability to create characters that remain consistently lifelike throughout an entire story, especially a coming-of-age story like this one. Despite all she has been through, all the ways we’ve seen her grow, there is still something of the child we met at Gateshead in Jane. Many of the scenes in volume three hearken back to volume one, and several characters recognize and comment upon Jane’s headstrong nature and obstinacy. In volume three, not only does St. John allude upon first seeing Jane to a look of “intractability”, but we also see her strong will come out in her insistence on sharing her wealth with the Rivers family which she considers a matter of justice:
“With me, it is fully as much a matter of feeling as of conscience: I must indulge my feelings; I so seldom have had an opportunity of doing so. Were you to argue, object, and annoy me for a year, I could not forgo the delicious pleasure of which I had caught a glimpse…” (vol 3, ch 7)
Volume 3, Chapters 9-12
St. John remains cold and distant in his interactions with Jane while she remains firm in her refusal of marriage. The night before departing for a brief journey, he again tries to convince Jane to accept his proposal. Jane, beginning to falter in her certainty, prays for guidance from Heaven and is startled by a strange feeling and mysteriously hears the voice of Rochester cry out, “Jane! Jane! Jane!” The next morning, Jane departs for Thornfield to find out what has become of him. After the long journey, she is dismayed upon reaching Thornfield to see it in ruins, apparently the result of a fire. Jane immediately retreats to the inn to make inquiries. She learns that only months after she departed Thornfield, Bertha Mason, in a rage, set fire to the place. Mr. Rochester was able to help all the servants escape, but Bertha leapt to her death from the battlements. Rochester escaped the fire, but lost one of his eyes (and went blind in the other), and his right hand. Jane discovered that he was living at Ferndean Manor and rushed there immediately. Rochester, overjoyed, can hardly believe that Jane is real, and the two are married within a few days. They live happily ever after <3 and go on to welcome children and remain close friends with Mary and Diana. The story ends with a report of St. John who serenely approaches his final days after serving faithfully for many years in India.
a few things to note…
Let’s first draw our attention the end of chapter nine, and particularly the moment in which Jane hears Rochester’s voice. The scene is set for this powerful moment:
“All the house was still…The one candle was dying out: the room was full of moonlight. My heart beat fast and thick: I heard its throb.” (vol 3, ch 9)
The moonlight imagery as well as her intensity of feeling brings us right back to the red room in volume one - but this time Jane is not overcome.
She responds to the call:
“I am coming! Wait for me! Oh, I will come!”
And then we have the triumphal moment in which Jane, no longer a damsel in distress, no longer weak and powerless to the will of others, prepares to act:
“It was my time to assume ascendancy. My powers were in play, and in force…I mounted to my chamber; locked myself in; fell on my knees; and prayed in my own way…I seemed to penetrate very near a Mighty Spirit; and my soul rushed out in gratitude at His feet. I rose from the thanksgiving — took a resolve — and lay down, unscared, enlightened — eager but for the daylight.” (vol 3, ch 9).
This section is so full of biblical imagery - here are some of the allusions we get in this last volume:
First, let’s peek at a few of the direct references we’ve gotten in the novel, particularly in volume 3:
Paul and Silas being released from prison:
“I recalled the voice I had heard…The wondrous shock of feeling had come like the earthquake which shook the foundations of Paul and Silas’s prison: it had opened the doors of the soul’s cell, and loosed its bands.” (vol 3, ch 10)
Samson/Deliliah - we see this one in both volumes two and three:
“The caged eagle, whose gold-ringed eyes cruelty has extinguished, might look as looked that sightless Samson.” (vol 3, ch 11)
Nebuchadnezzar, who was driven away to be humbled by God due to his pride and grew wild-looking hair like eagles feathers:
“It is time some one undertook to re-humanize you, for I see you are being metamorphosed into a lion, or something of that sort. You have a ‘faux air’ of Nebuchadnezzar in the fields about you” (vol 3, ch 11)
Now, here are just some of the many indirect references:
the aforementioned “Prodigal Son” image from chapter two
Perhaps the most obvious and important biblical imagery in volume 3 is found in the nature of Mr. Rochester’s injuries after the fire:
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30, RSVCE)
Jane’s response to Rochester telling of his experience of calling out her name in desperation and realizing that it was these very calls which she heard on the last evening at Moor House:
“The coincidence struck me as too awful and inexplicable to be communicated or discussed…I kept these things, then, and pondered them in my heart.” (Vol 3, ch 11)
As I said above, we are finally rewarded with a share in the joy of Jane and Rochester. The final chapter which gives us the “happily ever after”, also, significantly, ends with words of St. John, who approaches his death on the mission field:
“My master has forewarned me. Daily he announces more distinctly, — ‘Surely I come quickly;’ and hourly I more eagerly respond, — ‘Amen; men so come, Lord Jesus!” (vol 3, ch 12)
Brontë’s choice to end here with St. John’s words draws our mind back to the allegorical current of the Christian life that has run all throughout the story, and closes the curtains on the ray of hope which has sustained Jane throughout all of her trials.
Thank you for reading along with us this month! In case you missed the earlier sections of the reading guide, you can catch up here. Stay tuned next week for discussion questions.
Until next time, keep revisiting the good books that enrich your life and nourish your soul.In Case You Missed It:
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Also can we talk about her grave!? I cry every time at that line!
It struck me this time around that Jane finds a beacon of hope in Helen when she is at a low point, and then as her life continues she becomes more and more Helen-like. I can't help but think of it as a sort of cruciformation.