Assignment 9

This chapter sort of served as a turning point in the book. It has been gradually building up to the mystery of Grace Poole and now Jane is suddenly thrown into this whirl of insanity. She is woken in the middle of the night by a blood-curdling scream, and is then taken to the frightful 3^rd story where she encounters Mr. Mason, who is bleeding profusely. She is instructed to tend to his wounds while Rochester fetches a surgeon and in the meantime, she can hear Grace’s harrowing cackle in the next room. All this time she has been suspicious as to Grace’s sanity, but was always informed that everything was fine. She now has living proof that Grace is in fact totally insane and has even gone so far as to bite and stab a guest in the house. After the early morning drama subsided, Rochester told Jane a hypothetical story about a man wishing to marry a woman that tradition wards against, but wants to know that if he went through with it would his action be justifiable. This is yet another sign of a relationship forming between the two, yet Rochester is able to throw it back at her when he asks if she would be willing to advise him throughout his marriage to Blanche because she is the only one he can talk to about it.