“The house cleared, I shut myself in, fastened the bolt that none might intrude, and proceeded—not to weep, not to mourn, I was yet to calm for that, but—mechanically to take off the wedding dress, and replace it by the stuff gown I had worn yesterday, as I thought for the last time” (340.) Jane has always been so self composed, so sure of herself. She knows the things that are certain—she is not a beauty, she is not wealthy—and she accepts them with all of her heart. This disaster of a marriage seems to come to her that way as well. Her mood, even though she was rarely present through out the entire scene in the church, seemed almost relieved. With Rochester’s hastened mood and need to quickly move forth with the marriage, Jane was annoyed. When the wedding was interjected the tone of narration seemed to calm. Now, after the day full of a reality shock Jane of course feels “weak and tired” (340) but also surprisingly composed.
I wonder if Jane feels betrayed or loved by her uncle? He is a man she has never known but always heard of. His love comes through when he “implored Mr. Mason to lose no time in taking steps to prevent the false marriage” (340). I wonder when Mason came to the house before if he knew of the connection of Mr. Eyre and Jane. This strange relative that has played a mysterious role in the background of Jane’s life is slowly becoming more clear. As the last ten pages unfolded the entire story of what we have been reading and wondering, there is still this one missing piece. Will Jane finallu persue this small portion of her own reality she has left?
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Interesting quite at the outset. Here, for the first time, Jane has locked HERSELF in (unlike the red room) and rather than an overabundance of passion leading to some sort of fit (again, as in the red room) here we have her almost unnaturally composed (given the events that have just taken place).
Interesting, too, your question about her uncle. What if he hadn't intruded? What if Jane's discovery of Bertha had come only after she and Rochester had tied the knot?
(I'm loving all your posts!)
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