EC: Jane Eyre

April 12, 2006

Jane Eyre can be found in the Wrenn Library (off of the Second Floor in the UT Tower) in the MOO.

DESCRIPTION

Type say hi to begin your conversation.  You may have to type activate Jane Eyre.

You can ask Jane Eyre about the people she has known, such as Mrs. Reed or her children, Helen Burns, Mr. Rochester, etc.  She will speak to you about her experiences with death and love and her view of herself as a woman.  Jane can even tell you about her author, Charlotte Bronte, and issues of feminism in the book.  You can ask Jane what she can tell you or ask her about her history.  Any keywords in her responses will be in [brackets].

Here is a list of all of Jane's keywords and responses with citations: http://webspace.utexas.edu/ase96/bump/jane/keywords.html

You can read all of Jane Eyre online here: http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-charlotte/jane-eyre/

KEYWORDS

tell
I can speak to you of many things!  Ask me about the people I have known: Mrs. [Reed] and her children [John], [Georgiana], and [Eliza], Mr. [Brocklehurst] from [Lowood], my dear friends [Helen] Burns and [Bessie], or my darling [Rochester], whom I [love].  I can tell you briefly of my [history].

history
When I was young, I lived with Mrs. [Reed] at [Gateshead].  Later, she sent me away to school at [Lowood], where I met Mr. [Brockehurst] and [Helen].  It was there that I became educated in French, literature, and drawing, as well as the sciences of [physiognomy] and [phrenology], and first encountered [death].  I became a teacher at Lowood, and then a governess at the house of Mr. [Rochester], teaching his ward [Adele].  I fell in [love] with him, but to our misfortune he was married to an insane Creole woman.  I ran away then and became a schoolmistress after a brief period of destitution.  I was lucky to meet St. John [Rivers] and his sisters.  After some months had passed, I learned that Rochester's wife had perished in a fire.  Her [death] allowed us finally to marry and live happily together.

reed
You ask of Mrs. Reed?  That awful woman!  She is no aunt of mine!  It was my misfortune to be raised at [Gateshead] by her.  She has never loved me, and could never forgive me, even on her deathbed.

gateshead
It was because of Mrs. Reed and her vile offspring that I never had a happy childhood, though it was a resourceful one.  You see, Mrs. Reed's husband had her promise on his deathbed to care for me, and so she was forced to take me in.  Still, she has always hated me.  I was a discord at Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage. If they did not love me, in fact, as little did I love them.  In particular, I could not stand [John] Reed, though his sisters [Georgiana] and [Eliza] were also cruel to me when I was a child.

john
John Reed was a cruel little boy when he was young, and I believe he is now an unpleasant young man.  [Bessie] tells me he is not doing so well as Mrs. Reed would like, and that they will probably never make much of him.

bessie
Dear Bessie was the maid at Gateshead when I was young.  When she was gentle, Bessie seemed to me the best, prettiest, kindest being in the world.  She would [sing] beautifully sometimes.  I love her very much. 

sing
Bessie would sing a song about an orphan girl when I was young.  I loved to hear it, though it was so sad and would make me cry.  I like to [sing] it myself, sometimes.
sing (2)
My feet they are sore, and my limbs they are weary; Long is the way, and the mountains are wild; Soon will the twilight close moonless and dreary Over the path of the poor orphan child.

"Why did they send me so far and so lonely, Up where the moors spread and grey rocks are piled? Men are hard-hearted, and kind angels only Watch o'er the steps of a poor orphan child.

"Yet distant and soft the night breeze is blowing, Clouds there are none, and clear stars beam mild, God, in His mercy, protection is showing, Comfort and hope to the poor orphan child.

"Ev'n should I fall o'er the broken bridge passing, Or stray in the marshes, by false lights beguiled, Still will my Father, with promise and blessing, Take to His bosom the poor orphan child.

"There is a thought that for strength should avail me, Though both of shelter and kindred despoiled; Heaven is a home, and a rest will not fail me; God is a friend to the poor orphan child."

georgiana
I lived with Georgiana at Gateshead.  She was universally indulged there, and has grown up quite spoilt.  When I came back to Gateshead to visit Mrs. Reed on her deathbed, Georgiana took a surprising shine to me and would talk at great length of her inconsequential troubles.  When not unburdening her heart to me, she spent most of her time in lying on the sofa, fretting about the dulness of the house, and wishing over and over again that her aunt Gibson would send her an invitation up to town.

eliza
Eliza is walled up alive at a French convent now, and well does it suit her.  She and Georgiana are as different as could be.  Eliza is pious, but cold and passionless.  I do not miss her.

rochester
Mr. Rochester is my own dear husband.  I first encountered him while walking, as he fell off his horse and I stopped to help.  At first I found him changeful and abrupt, and when he asked me if I found him handsome I told him I did not, for it was the truth.

helen
Helen Burns was the first girl I met at Lowood.  Beside her, I felt ignorant, and desired to learn more of the world.  She had an air of tranquility that was also inexpressibly sad.  When the typhus took her, she did not seem unhappy.  Helen told me, when I visited her on her deathbed, that we all must die one day, and that her mind was at rest.  Her words calmed me, and I believe she died in peace.

lowood
I attended the Lowell school until I was grown, and I taught there for several years.  It was an austere place, but a Christian one.

temple
Mrs. Temple was a very good and kind teacher at Lowood.  She would try and better our lives a little when she could.  She was tall, fair, and shapely, and her [physiognomy] was agreeable as well.  I recall her refined features; a complexion, if pale, clear; and a stately air and carriage.

physiognomy
I am not a learned scientist, but, like many of my time, I know that the branch of science called physiognomy holds that a person's character is reflected in their features.  Kind Mrs. [Temple], for example, from [Lowood], had a sweet face and a clear complexion.  My dear Rochester, a loving but grim man, accordingly has a decisive nose, full nostrils, denoting choler, a square forehead, and a grim mouth, chin, and jaw.  I could see at once that Mr. Rochester was very serious fellow, though I suppose a person more erudite in physiognomy could tell you more.  Would you like to know about [phrenology] as well?

phrenology
Phrenology was developed by the physician Franz Joseph Gall, who discovered the correlation between the shape of a man's head and his character, personality, and even criminality.  Every mental faculty has its own organ.  I know that I have a considerable organ of veneration, for example.  Many will consult a phrenologist when choosing which maid to hire.

brocklehurst
Mr. Brocklehurst is the director of the Lowood school.  He is a Christian man, but not a charitable one.  I disliked Mr. Brocklehurst, and I was not alone in the feeling.  He is a harsh man, at once pompous and meddling: he cut off our hair; and for economy's sake bought us bad needles and thread, with which we could hardly sew. 

death
My first experience with death occurred during the typhus epidemic at Lowood.  My good friend, [Helen] Burns, was afflicted.  I was with her when she passed on.  I remember one day during the epidemic, while wandering in a garden, it entered my mind for the first time: "How sad to be lying now on a sick bed, and to be in danger of dying! This world is pleasant -- it would be dreary to be called from it, and to have to go who knows where?"  I shuddered at the thought of plunging into the abyss.  How I had changed!  A number of months earlier, when Mr. [Brocklehurst] asked me whether I knew how to avoid hell, I glibly replied that the best method was to keep in good health, and not die. 

love
When I was young, I believed I was not fit for love, being too plain and little to be found fit for love by anyone.  After I left Rochester, too, I despaired of ever finding love, instead turning to duty.  I would have gone with St. John to India as his sister, if he had let me, or even as his wife, and lived a cold, hard life, but I was blessed to rediscover my Edward.  I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth.

charlotte
It may seem strange to you for a character to talk about her author, but you see, I am a ghost!  You might say that I know her better than most, for it is said that I am based on her to some extent.  Charlotte Bronté, lived from 1816 to 1855.  Much like myself, she had an unhappy childhood as the daughter of an Anglican clergyman.  She and her sisters and brother would listen to stories to escape from the unpleasant reality of their lives.  Perhaps it was because of this upbringing that the sisters all became writers, despite the obstacles for women writers at the time.  When Charlotte asked a friend, Robert Southey, about her prospects as a writer, he told her that "Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life and it ought not to be."  Fortunately, she published my book under a false name (Currer Bell) in 1847, and much to my surprise, I was an instant success.

feminism
My story is sometimes considered "proto-feminist."  I believe that women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.  This statement of equality for women was considered radical at the time of publication.  However, though I do not think women ought to be confined to cooking, I am certainly aware of my obligations as a young woman!  I may value my learning and drawing, but the happiest moment of my young life came when I married my dear Rochester.  In that sense, my story is not a feminist one.

genius
Genius is said to be self-conscious.

adele
Little Adele was Mr. Rochester's young ward and a child of one of his mistresses, Celine Varens.  I was her governess once, but I have since found her a good school.  A sound English education has corrected in a great measure her French defects.  I love her very much. 

beauty
Most true is it that "beauty is in the eye of the gazer."  My Rochester's features may not appear beautiful to most, but to my eye his heavy brow and strong features are full of an appealing influence.

oliver
Rosamund Oliver is a lovely girl I met when I worked as a schoolmistress.  She is a perfect beauty, to be sure, and she has been fortunate also to be born the only daughter of the rich Mr. Oliver.  She would visit me sometimes, and say that I was a [lusus naturae] as a schoolmistress.  Rosamund's beauty caught the eye of Mr. John [Rivers], my cousin, but his implacable nature did not allow him to succumb to her affections.  I encouraged him once to marry her, but he replied, I think now rightly, that Rosamund would not make him a good wife; that she is not the partner suited to him; that he should discover this within a year after marriage; and that to twelve months' rapture would succeed a lifetime of regret.  John never did marry.

rivers
St. John Rivers saved my life once, when I appeared at the Moor House, utterly destitute.  However, I feel he spoke truth of himself when he said he was hard and cold. The humanities and amenities of life have no attraction for him -- its peaceful enjoyments no charm.  He is in India now, a missionary, but I fear his life will not last much longer.  He asked me to come with him as his wife, but he had no love for me, instead prizing me only as a soldier would a good weapon.  He is a good and a great man; but he forgets, pitilessly, the feelings and claims of little people, in pursuing his own large views. It is better, therefore, for the insignificant to keep out of his way, lest, in his progress, he should trample them down.

lusus (naturae)
Oh, a lusus naturae is a creature or specimen that defies classification because of its unusual nature.  I suppose I am one, as is Edward, and St. John [Rivers].

WORKS CITED

The Gutenberg Project's version of Jane Eyre.