Wednesday, December 24, 2008

#16

Tonight is Christmas eve, in the spirit of giving I will gladly return this book back to the school since I have now finished reading it. I am so happy to be done with it. I thought this book was horrible. It was boring, gloomy and old. The movie was pretty much the same gloomy and not very thrilling. If books about times that existed way before anything every involving anyone of this time proud, and a tale of a depressed lonely soul and who is caring and smart but still can't find love interests for the longest time than keeps getting hurt you than you might love this book, other wise I would recommend people to save their time and not read it. I that kind of book interests you than you probably have your own set of issues.. If I had to give it a rating I would give it 1 out of 5 stars just because someone spent time writing it, it at least deserves a star half a star and the other half goes to the publisher for put their time into publishing it (even though I'm not sure why they would want to) I was hoping this book would get better, but it never did...

If Jane just stayed cold, than her problems would have been simplified immensely. 

#15

I think is quote means that Rochester was always held down by his wife Bertha and that he never could do much to change that, so even when he truly was interested in other women he was stuck with her. So Jane was forced to be the girl on the side, and keep a low profile, even if he was more compassionate about her. Jane understands how much stress he must be under having to deal with someone like her, but even if she is understanding it she cannot not handle it, its too much for her. She needs to stay cold and put a wall up and learn when her plate is too full. Just so she will not get hurt anymore.

#14

St. John represents religion in a whole new way, he is very loving and open minded. He is also sensitive and caring. So he represents it in a positive way, kind of like Pastor Dan in the movie Raising Helen, he was a Pastor who was in charge of a Lutheran Religious School in Queens, NY and than falls in love with Helen. (Kate Hudson) So I think St. John knows how to stay positive! Grace Poole and Brocklehurst represents extremes and like the devil, maybe the devil is another symbolic thing in this book along with red and fire. Grace Poole was religous and patient  and a school teach and so is St. John, Rivers and Pooles are both bodies of waters and they are similar people.

#13

St. John's and Jane's new job seems very nice but cliche just like the rest of them. I feel bad for Jane that she never feels like she is good enough for them. The people she works with at her new job she thinks are much more intelligent then them. She does she claim is better at drawing than the other two. I think art is way more important than writing anyways, art takes creativity and intelligence anyone can be book smart and become a teacher. I just feel bad that she feels bad for herself when she is the best out of all of them. The last name is River's because they are cold mean people like everyone else Jane interacts with.

Chapter 27-28 #12

I think Jane decided not to run off with Rochester to France because she doesn't trust or want to be around him. I think he tell Jane the story because its time for him to finally man up to his past, I mean he was going to marry her how long did he think he could on without her knowing the past? I think Jane has a dream about her mother because she is so worried and feels so discomforted and most girls when something like would happen they would go to mother and friends for comfort but Jane has neither. If I were Charlotte Bronte I would name this place "Air Under Ice" because Jane needs to learn that staying cold is the only way she is going to get by, but it is some air away from everything she has been though. 

Chapter 26

The mad woman in the attic is Rochester's Wife. She is up in the attic because she is considered "crazy" so they have someone upstairs taking care of her. If I was Jane I think I would be going crazy too, I can't even imagine how to re-act on your wedding day you find this out. I am not curious about Bertha, I feel like it was nice Rochester has someone taking good care of her and stuff but she needs a better place than a third floor attic. I feel like Rochester is confusing man, I don't know what to think about all of this. 

Friday, December 19, 2008

A15,A16

With stuff that has happened recently, from Jane finding she had cousins to St. Johns awkward proposal things have been kind of hectic for her. I don’t she enjoyed the idea of being married to her own cousin and having to always be by his side entertained her fancy. It scared her a little bit, because once again she would probably have to deal with being pushed around again which is far from what she wants. I think at this point this is when she starts missing Rochester a lot and was going crazy without him in her life despite the things that has happened between them. She finds out that her uncle has left her his fortune and she is very happy about that. She runs away from the Rivers home in search of Rochester because pf the fact that she was missing him a lot. She returns to Thornefield only to find Rochester’s mansion burned. She finds out that after her departure from Rochester, Bertha set the mansion on fire and eventually killed herself and Rochester was nowhere to be found.

When Jane figures out where Rochester is, she returns to him and realizes that he has gone blind in both eyes from the fire that happened a while back. When Rochester realizes that Jane has returned to him he is extremely happy and their feelings for each other come back again. Rochester tells her he missed her and thought about her a lot. They catch up with each others lives and Jane tells him about her proposal from St. John and Rochester gets jealous and Jane begins to play with his emotions and tells him that she still loves him and he proposes to her and she accepts. They live off of the money her uncle left her and they lived a good life. I think the book was really good and it explained a lot about Jane’s life. The book talks about the growth of someone who doesn’t have that many resources to learn from. the movie and the book compare just from the extreme scenes that are told in the book such as finding about Bertha Mason.

A12,A13,A14

If I were Jane, I wouldn’t even consider having a relationship with Rochester or better yet a mutual friendship with him either. She doesn’t because she’s still hurt from what has previously happened. She was basically involved with a married man whom she put all her trust in and he still ended up lying to her and hurting her. I think Jane feels that she has no place at Thornefield anymore and that there was no purpose of her still being there if she couldn’t be with the person who she loved. I think Rochester should have explained himself way earlier before he even proposed to her so that things wouldn’t have happened like this and Jane wouldn’t feel like a fool. I think Jane dream of her mother simply because of the fact that Rochester had mentioned Bertha’s mother’s personality and also because of Jane’s curiosity of her own mother and what she was like. Jane ends up leaving Rochester anyway because it’s the only way to help her get better from the shocking situation that she had witnessed. Im not sure what name I would give it, but I know it would have something to do with restarting something right again.

Now that Jane is completely on her own now. She is clueless on her next move and doesn’t know which way to go until she ends up at a house where the Rivers family live. With a clergyman the head of the household and his two sisters living with him they take her in and try to figure out her life. They are a very curious family and ask her many questions about her and how she got to this point in her life. St. John is another one of those mysterious men who have a lot of emotion hidden inside of them. I think he was the most curious about Jane and where she came from out of everyone else. Of course Jane becomes a teacher, which I am not surprised about. Seeing that she was a governess before, she knew what she was doing so it didn’t take long for her to get adjusted to her new title as a teacher. But in the mist of it, she is satisfied of where she is and gets along with the family very well.

Jane finds out some good news that brings her back to life. The Rivers are her cousins from her father’s side of the family and she is excited to know that she finally has family out here for her and that makes her happy. But things take a turn as St. John looks at it differently, he wants to make Jane his wife so that he can travel and she can go along with him on his journeys. Jane is against this and tries to get out of it, but St. John rejects it. To me, that isn’t fair that she is being forced to marry her cousin who doesn’t even love her. Jane isn’t afraid to speak up or voice her opinion so every chance she gets she states her opinion.

A10,A11

I was shocked to see that Ms. Reed asks to see Jane before she dies. It weird that after all these years of treating her bad, she now wants to communicate with her? Of course when Jane sees her and now that she is a more mature woman and doesn’t want anything to come off wrong towards her aunt as she is literally on her deathbed, Jane explains her self and apologizes to her for the things that happened in the past since it’s all out of respect. But of course even when she’s dying she still acts the same way and responds to her very coldly. She dies eventually and so does her mean cousin who abused her as a child. So she feels that she must be there for her cousins Georgiana and Eliza since they really have no one left to help them out and she thinks it wouldn’t feel right to just abandon them like that. Jane and Rochester finally tell each other how they feel about each other and in the end he proposes to her. I am surprised I didn’t think that would happen but it did. She was a little skeptical at first, but eventually agrees to the engagement and is happy about her decision too. I think she writes to her uncle because she knows he would be happy to hear about her engagement and to know she is with someone who makes her happy if he was alive.

So in this section of the book, things start to unravel. Well it turns out the madwoman in the attic that Rochester has been keeping away forever is his wife of 15 years, Bertha Mason who is as they say, a madwoman. She has some serious issues of all sorts and she just can’t control them and neither could Rochester which is why he had the help of Grace Poole so she could keep Bertha under control. Jane had to be all the way devastated. Not only did he lie to her but she actually loved him and cared for him too. She felt embarrassed and betrayed, especially because of the fact that it happened on what was supposed to be her wedding day. This would explain why Rochester acted the way he did. He dealt with a lot and still had a lot to deal with.

A8,A9

I think Rochester’s attitude is changing for the worse. But theres really no explanation behind it. He just switches up his moods for no apparent reason, at least in my opinion. He acts like as if Jane isn’t there anymore now that he has found love in someone else. The lady who Rochester has feelings for is from the high class and tends to look down on Jane a lot and Rochester allows that, which is not cool at all. I think the reason why she does that is because secretly she is jealous of Jane in some way because she is always around at the gatherings and she doesn’t like that. And she also looks down on her because she is not at her social level and the fact that she is a governess. I think at some point Rochester has to keep his feelings for Jane and his interactions with her on the down low so that the high class people don’t think he associates with people like Jane who is obviously not high class at all. That isn’t really fair because he’s acting as if he’s ashamed of her when really he’s not. Rochester is just being fake. That’s all.

Charlotte Bronte brings up an interesting situation in this chapter. Now that Jane is witnessing the craziness that happens at night and she suspects that it is Grace Poole at first, but then she realizes that it couldn’t be and it has to be someone else. This can confuse readers because of the type of person that Grace Poole is you would automatically think its her but to your surprise it isn’t. So you are wondering well what other character is doing all of this craziness at night or if it’s Jane’s spirits taunting her. Rochester keeps Jane wondering about the noises she’s hears at night. But he avoids her concerns most of the time. So I would think that she suspects something else that he is not letting her in on and she is very anxious about the matter.

A6,A7

As the story continues on, you start to see Jane mature into a young woman and although she is much more quiet and conservative she stills has some confidence in her and I think that is the start of her turning point in life which is also known as the bildungsroman in stories like this. This is actually is bildungsroman because she has grown into the person she is at this point without any guidance of any other female figures that she could learn from. She has basically lived life on her own and that shows tremendous growth from someone who has lived a very tough childhood. And we also notice that she begins to develop feelings for Rochester which I wasn’t really surprised about. I saw it coming anyway just from the first day they met and how they acted towards each other I knew it would happen eventually. Now we discover that Jane does have emotions especially dealing with love. And im not the least bit surprised that Rochester likes her back and I think that is how we know he also thinks of her too. I think it is a good thing that he has the same feelings about each other, so that they have a better connection with each other.

I think Mr. Rochester has issues. Mad issues. He really does have an attitude and he treats Jane based on his mood sometimes and that is kind of harsh. Jane is taking it in which isn’t fair and even though that’s her boss she still shouldn’t have to deal with his ways of mistreating her bad half of the time and switching up his attitude on her whenever he pleases. She’s already dealt with enough. I know Jane is probably thinking why he acts like this towards her and she just doesn’t understand yet she still likes him. I think Grace Poole is weird too. She like this random lady who grins on Jane a lot in a mean way. She’s this person with a very cold attitude. I don’t even understand why Rochester keeps her around. I guess there are specific reasons why she is there and he probably needs her help with something that has to be crucial or something.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A3,A4,A5

Miss Temple is one of the teachers at Lowood who turns out to be very nice to the young girls there. She is known as the teacher who lets the girls off easy and doesn’t have anything negative about her personality. Most of the other teachers at Lowood are harsher to the girls and treat them as if they are dogs or something and sometimes make them look bad. For Jane, she can’t deal with this because in her opinion she thinks its not fair the way the teachers treat the girls and that is the one thing she dislikes about them. And how they beat the children for something that isn’t as serious like for example when Helen gets beat because her fingernails weren’t clean and Jane is completely against that and that makes her have a negative attitude towards the adults. In this situation, Helen teaches her a lesson pretty much saying no matter what negativity the teachers bring always treat them with respect, which Jane thinks of the opposite. I think Brocklehurst’s philosophy of education consist of abusing young girls as discipline hoping that they learn their lesson simply from beatings.

Jane is still living through her young tough life at Lowood and it seems like things just won’t get any better. They still continue to starve her and mistreat her badly. I think Jane is like Cinderella because in the beginning of her story her aunt and cousins treat her like she doesn’t belong in the family like how Cinderella’s step mother and step sisters treated her. I do also think that with her life at Lowood, it reminds me a lot of Annie because of how Ms. Hannigan believes in abuse for discipline when the children act up just like Brocklehurst. I think the way Mrs. Fairfax describes Rochester makes the reader think he is God’s gift to the world or something and is the perfect gentleman who likes to explore and tends to be on long journeys a lot. Bronte achieves this by making it sound like he is the type of person that doesn’t cause trouble and isn’t too hostile or anything like that. But when Jane meets him, he turns out to be the complete opposite and has a real strong presence upon him. He has more of a negative attitude that a positive one. I don’t think he measure up the other romantic heroes at all. Just because of the way he carries himself in the beginning his story when we first meet him.

So far the book is going well, lots of interesting things happening with Jane right now. She’s starting to adjust herself with another new beginning at Thorne field. This is a good thing because theres not a lot of drama here and the people here are not the same kind of people at Lowood. Which I am liking because we start to read more about the Jane who is dealing with less situations as before when her life in her younger days were much more sad. Mr. Rochester starts to open up too, which is kind of surprising because you would think he will be this mean spirited character throughout the whole story and is switched up on us. He starts opening up to Jane and they turn out to be getting along with each other, which in my opinion relieves Jane. Jane is tolerant of Adele because she sees a little girl who is happy with her life and is always smiling about everything and Jane is considerate about that because she has missed out on that feeling in her childhood so she doesn’t want to take that from Adele.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Assignment 16

I was not sure how this book was going to end and I must say; it was not what I was expecting. I thought that something scary might have happened. Despite that, I was glad to see that there was a happy ending, considering all of the craziness all throughout the book. One eerie thing that I thought was kind of cool was when Jane found out that she really did hear Rochester calling her. The only thing that I was little skeptical about was Jane and Rochester's wedding. I thought that because it was such a happy moment in life, they would have had witnesses. In addition, look what happened the first time they didn't have any witnesses. Nonetheless, nothing went wrong. I liked that Rochester started to regain his sight and he was able to see their child. The most interesting thing to me was how she planned to tell her story, because it could be a question of Charlotte Bronte doing that in certain aspects of the story. Jane Eyre was definitely different from what I am used to reading, because there has not been anywhere as much drama. I think after reading this, I will be able to classify books I read as bildungsroman. I think this book has definitely expanded my knowledge of this genre books. I definitely enjoyed reading this story.

Assignment 15

I was very curious to know what would happen next in the story, considering all of the crazy things that have happened up to this point. I wouldn't have had thought Jane would have stayed down In addition things seem to keep changing for Jane, some questionable good and bad, because you don't really know what is about to happen. When Jane "Elliott" actually learns about the search for Jane Eyre, it seemed as if things were about to go sour for her. Following that, she not only gives up her identity, but she finds out that St. John is more related to her than she knows, then she decides to split the fortune evenly amongst her cousins! Also, because the book is nearing an end, I have had to question just about every chapter. These chapters completely surprised me, I was very surprised that St. John had so much control over Jane and he wanted her to marry him(talk about persistent) ! I thought the think that surprised me the most was what happened to Rochester because I think that was the one thing I was not expecting to happen in the story. I think that the main thing I'm wondering now is how Jane feel about seeing Rochester again and how will this affect their relationship with each other. I think that these last couple chapters have been full of surprise, so this ending will be very interesting.

Assignment 16

The first time I read this book I was a few years younger and I wasn’t very interested in it and didn’t give it much though. The second time, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am almost a little sad that the story has ended. I enjoyed every chapter in the book and it was one of those stories that are hard to put down. I think the movie version we watched was very accurate and kept the story line as original as they could. In most cases, the book is always better than the movie, and I definitely agree with that statement. Reading the book provides you with much more detail and allows you to develop a relationship of sorts with the characters. I love that the story had a bittersweet ending, rather than a sugar-coated happy ending. It shows that being in love isn’t always perfect, and that there are obstacles you have to overcome in order to live happily. Rochester and Jane will always be scarred by their past, but now they have each other, which will make life that much easier. This was a beautifully written book that is a perfect example of a bildungsroman. Jane goes through so many hardships in her life, turning her into a strong and independent woman. She grows into a happy and bright young woman with a world of opportunities facing her. Jane is such a strong character that she ends up rubbing off on other characters, making them grow as well.

Assignment 15

St. John is a dangerous person for Jane to be around. His forceful manner is pushing Jane back into her shell that she has finally come out of after all these years. She desperately does not want to be married to St. John; she compares it to committing suicide. He constantly asks her to marry him in a very controlling and manipulative manner. She tells him over and over again how they do not love each other so therefore they cannot be married. St John knows about Rochester and figures she is still in love with him, which makes him extremely angry. If Jane were to get married to St John, it would be the equivalency to being a slave, imprisoned in her own body and mind. She would not be able to speak her mind or act how she wants. She would essentially turn into a mindless machine, obeying his orders and putting up with his controlling demands. Jane is naturally an out-spoken woman who loves being independent from others and giving her two cents on everything. Marrying St. John would be masking her true self and living a life of unsatisfied melancholy.

Assignment 14

Jane has been through so much in her life and it is nice to finally be able to see her settle down and discover family. She has been living with three kind people whom she has come to like immensely, and then figures out that they are her cousins. I think Charlotte Bronte did an excellent job revealing the truth by keeping the reader on edge the entire time. The aspect of religion has always been a negative one in this novel, with the exception of Helen Burns. St John seems to torture himself by following his religion so intensely. He denies himself love, friendship and happiness. St John is in love with Rosamond Oliver, a beautiful heiress who shares the same feelings for him. He will not let himself get involved however, because she would not be the right sort of wife for missionary work. Mr. Brocklehurst was a cruel, hypocritical man who believed in a life of modesty and plainness. He however, stole from the school throughout his time there to help support his secretly lavish lifestyle. Grace Poole was a drunken, haggardly woman who’s only job was to be Bertha Mason’s keeper. She is an intimidating person who looks as though she could easily harm someone, but never does. She does not seem to be a very religious person, not having many personal standards or beliefs.

Assignment 13

The fact that the family who takes Jane in is named Rivers is yet another apparent symbol/motif appearing in the book over and over again. It is a very symbolic name because the family took her in and nursed her back to life. Rivers are known to be fertile in life, hosting many opportunities for things to thrive in them. I believe this is a very good transition for Jane, allowing her time to heal both physically and emotionally. For the first time in her life, she is living with people who are at her social status and is able to relax, no longer having to act above or below anyone else. Jane’s new job as a teaching assistant is just right for her. Her pupils are very poor and mostly illiterate, which is something she is not used to. I think it will be a very humbling job for her, as well as rewarding. St. John seems to be the new mysterious man in Jane’s life, although not in the same context as Rochester. He is a quiet man who mostly keeps to himself, and is sometimes a bit harsh. He is a good man however, who has devoted his life to God and being a missionary.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Assignment # 8

My feelings about Mr Rochester are changing because of the way that he is treating Jane. He used to always want her around but now he's acting like she isn't even in exsistance anymore. This makes me very mad because he acting very fake towards Jane now. This makes everything so much different for Jane because she was so used to being called down by Mr Rochester to be with him and now its like she is only being called down to entertain guests. Now she has the idea in her head that she is not good enough for him, which isn't true at all. She is just as good as anybody else in the room. I don't like the issues of social class here because Mr Rochester's friends act very rude to Jane just because she's a governess and she doesn't have as much mony as them. I think that the social issues in the reading is also very strong. For example when Jane came in and bowed to tell the visitors that dinner was ready only one or two people even acknowlaged that she did was "talking" to them and the rest of the people just looked at her like she was crazy. Another thing i noticed was that just because she's a governess, some of the people, when they were playing charades thought that she was to dumb to play. I also feel that Mr Rochester should've corrected the way that the people were talking about/to Jane because if he truely loved her he would not have been able to listen to people tlk about her.

assignment # 7

i think that mr. rochester in the beginning is a cruel man but as the book goes on you find out that that is just his outer shell and when you get to know him, well when jane gets to know him you find out that he actually has feelings and is a nice man and he loves jane with all his heart and he wants to be with her and when he asks her to marry him i think its because he really does love her. and when they cant get married because of his wife i believe he is really hurt by that. i think that jane really likes mr. rochester. in fact i think she loves him. it makes me really mad that they cant get married. i was happy when they did in the end. grace poole scares me. i think she is crazy, well i thought she was. until i saw why she is so strict and why she dosent like jane. she see's that mr. rochester is falling in love with jane and mabey she is friends with bertha mason and dosent want her friend to get hurt. i think that mr. rochester keeps grace poole around to help take care of his wife. who has her some issues and has to be locked on the attic.

Jane Eyre assingment 16

Basically, my thoughts about Jane Eyre are that Charlotte Bronte managed to pull of something that William Shakespeare would do, she managed to turn something that was being written hundreds of years ago to be able to relate with real life situations happening in the present day. The story is this dark, dramatic, and suspenseful story about a girl that you see grow up from a little girl that's angry at everyone, to this caring, loving woman with a family she she ends up extremely rich. This book sounds a lot like a Hollywood film, in the sense that there's this little girl that grew up being mistreated and grew up alone and growing up to have a lot of money and this nice family that cares a lot about her. What I found a little shocking is that St. John knew that Jane was his cousin, and still wanted to be her husband and he had absolutely no problem with being with her even though they were related. The movie was off a couple times on the order of things, like when Jane left Mr Rochester, the director put when Jane woke up on the grass, not knowing who she was at all before Jane actually left Mr Rochester, but they put it in as a memory, and that makes the movie more interesting to watch because they make you wonder, well what exacly happened to Jane? and how did she get to where she is?

Jane Eyre assignment 15

Really, all i can say about that quote is, wow... Jane really does think about everything that she does and goes to a really deep level with whatever her choices are. I think that what Jane is saying is that she loves Mr Rochester, but in order to be his wife, she's going to have to be extra nice to him, and be more calm and subtle, and she says that she is going to be "forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low" and I think that, that makes Jane think of being trapped in a cage, or in like a cold place where she doesn't have space to do anything, like Bertha Mason. She was Mr Rochester's wife and she ended up being locked up in this room where she couldn't see anyone but Grace Poole, and the man that locked her up. I think knowing that Mr Rochester has done that before makes her think that if she doesn't take care of him all the time every single day that Mr Rochester might do the same with Jane, and it comes back to this sense that Jane is this wild untamed girl, and she doesn't want to be tamed, but to be able to let out the flame that's burning inside of her soul.

Jane Eyre assignment 14

I think that this new twist to Jane Eyre makes my suspicions right, because i always had a feeling that something was going to happen with Jane and the Rivers. This isn't necessary a bad thing because now she knows someone from her family! This is a new exciting shift in the way things are in Jane Eyre, and i like the way that Charlotte Bronte had a subtle way of showing that Jane and the Rivers were related to each other. I feel this way because she could have just had the Rivers say "Oh by the way you're my cousin," but instead she had you wait a little bit until some big event happened to make the Rivers say "Well your uncle in my uncle, meaning you're my cousin." I think that St. John thinks very strongly about doing the will of God and he believes that you are always meant to do something with whatever you're dealt with a blessing. For example, he asked Jane why she thinks she was meant to be with the Rivers and he believes that the reason is because he's about to be a missionary and she is meant to travel to Africa with him. I don't think this way is either positive or negative, just very extreme because he thinks that God has a plan laid out for you and you're meant to follow that plan in order for God to bless you. I like the new changing that's happening in Jane Eyre and now, I'm ready for any new surprises.

Monday, December 15, 2008

#16

These last chapters were some of the best and probably the only happy ones in the entire book. I absolutely love the ending though, and can not believe that after everything Jane has gone through, she has finally found happiness in a life with Mr. Rochester. I am glad that even after everything he did to her she still went after him; her love for him never faltered through all of the time they were apart and even though he has changed a bit physically from the accident, she still has unconditional feelings for him. This proves that what they have is real, and not just some lusty infatuation they have for each other. The fire which took all of Mr. Rochester’s fortune and sight is tragic, but without it Bertha Mason would still be alive and Mr. Rochester would not have been able to marry Jane as he wanted to for so long. The story makes this seem like everything happens for a reason. At the same time, Jane now has the fortune and is able to support the two of them as well as her extended family (with the exception of a stoic St John who runs away to Africa to do his missionary work). Her life finally seems so complete and every aspect of it seems to brighten up; Mr. Rochester regains some sight in one eye and they have children together. Although I greatly enjoyed the book, I feel that the movie depicted the characters in a better way than the book did. This may be because we actually get to see them, their facial expressions, and get a greater sense of suspense if we can actually see something lurking amongst the shadow. All in all, the book and the movie were quite similar with the exception of a few scenes that were placed in a different sequence and my opinion is that it did the book justice and if anything made it more suspenseful and appealing.

Jane Eyre Assignment 16.

Jane Eyre Assignment 16.
Chapters 37-38.
Jane travels to Ferndean, where she see’s Mary again and takes a plate with a candle and water on it to Rochester. Rochester’s dog, Pilot is extremely happy to see Jane and starts barking. Rochester’s what’s wrong and is responded by Jane’s voice. When Jane touches Rochester he is amazed. The next day, Jane and Rochester are walking in a meadow behind his new home and Jane tells the story of her travels. When he hears about St. John’s proposal, he instantly becomes jealous. While he whines and stuff, Jane assures him that she loves no other man than Rochester. So Rochester proposes to Jane and she accepts.

Later in their life together, Jane and Rochester are happily married. Jane writes to the Rivers telling them what happened and they both approve, except for St. John who is dying. At that time Jane has found Addele who is now a skinny beaten and pale girl and Jane immediately takes her out of the school. Mary and Diana are happily married and over the years Rochester has slowly regained his site in time to witness the birth of his first son and now they have a second child.

I loved this book. It was so good.

Jane Eyre Assignment 15.

Jane Eyre Assignment 15.
Chapters 34-36.
In chapter 34 of Jane Eyre, Diana and Mary come home after learning that Jane is their cousin. As they rejoice and spend their next hours happily together St. John surprises Jane with a tour de force. St. John asks Jane to marry him and to go with him to India. Jane says she must think about his proposal. Later in the week Jane is home with a cold and St. John makes her give up German for an Indian Language. When Jane says she will go to India as St. John’s sister and not his wife, St. John says that to refuse him is to refuse god.

In Chapter 35, St. John postpones his trip for a week, and during that time punishes Jane for not marrying him. Jane then pleads with St. John to not pressure her to marry him and that he is killing her with his icy chill. Then realizing they have fought, Diana talks to Jane about St. John. They talk for a while and later while St. John is praying for Jane and everything, Jane feels temptation toward marrying St. John but hears Rochester saying her name over and over again.

In chapter 36, St. John early in the morning slips a note into Jane’s room, again asking her to marry him. Jane leaves the house and catches a carriage to Thornfield. When she reachs Thornfield, she finds it in a blackened and burnt state. Later in the day she meets a man who tells her what happened. It seems that Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife has started the fire and Rochester saved two of his servants and he tried to save Bertha, but she jumped from the roof and died. Rochester now lives in a secluded home deep in the woods.

Assignment 16 -- Chapters 37-38

THE END! Write a 250 word journal wrapping up your thoughts about the book. Did anything in the end strike you as particularly interesting or compelling? How do the movie and the book compare?

Assignment 15 -- Chapters 34-36

Read chapters 34-36 and write a 200 word blog. Consider picking apart this quote from chapter 35:
Jane says
"[B]ut as his wife—at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked—forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital—this would be unendurable."

Assignment # 6

yes i would categorize this as a bildungsroman. the growth she goes through is you see her grow physically and mentally. physically because you see her come from a little girl at gateshead. to a teenage student at lowood. to a woman who is a teacher at lowood. to a governess at thornfield. you see change mentally from really head strong and at sometimes out spoken child to a quiet gentle woman. another change she goes through is going from somebody with no friends to 1 friend. then back to no friends. then to a 1 or 2 friends. then at the end she has alot of friends and she has children and she has family that actually likes her. i think in this book jane eyre makes alot of dramatic changes for the better.

Assignment # 5

i thought that the book was okay. it was not the book i would automatically go to in borders or in the library. but i am glad that i read it because in my opinion it was worth reading. i liked it because it shows that women can be strong with out men. and that even though we fall in love we don't need you to survive. in chapter 14 Rochester becomes a nice almost human person. the outcome of their discussion is that they get to know each other a little better. because she see's why she acts that way. the reason that Adele acts the way she does is because her father is barely home and she does not have that much parental guidance in her life. and also Jane is starting to like Mr. Rochester.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

CD 11 and 12

Bertha is the mad woman in the attic and she is there because she is Rochester’s wife. I feel really bad for Rochester because of this because he was tricked into marrying her. If I was Jane my thoughts would be over whelmed and I wouldn’t know what to think. I am a little curious about Bertha, but not that much. I like Rochester even more now and I feel a great amount of pity for him. I think Jane doesn’t go to France with Rochester because she is hurt and doesn’t want to be just Rochester’s mistress. She won’t destroy her dignity because it’s basically all she has. I think Rochester’s story is perfect for him and I think he made the best choices possible with what to do with Bertha. When I read the part about Jane talking to her mother I didn’t really feel it was her birth mother she was talking to. I think that she was talking to Mary the Mother of God and all. Being raised in the religious setting of Lowood Jane is Christian and we believe Mary is everyone’s mother. We are all her children and she is the kind, loving mother we turn to for guidance in times of trouble. In fact the Hail Mary and The Memorare mention this exactly along with many other prayers to her. I might call Jane’s new home Quietvalley.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Jane Eyre Assignment 14.

Jane Eyre Assignment 14.
Chapters 31-33.
In the beginning of these chapters Jane has moved into her new home at the cottage next to the school where she teaches after Diana and Mary leave for work. Jane’s class has 20 student in it, only 3 can read and none of them can write or do math. While some are nice and docile others are loud and rude and her work is trough and grueling, and Jane feels degraded by doing this. Jane then begins to wonder if she wants to stay here or go back to being in the service of Rochester. Then St. John comes around and he and Jane begin to talk. Eventually Ms. Oliver comes around and says hi.
For the next few weeks Jane teaches her students and their intelligence grows and grows and Rosamon Oliver comes around all the time. While it is obvious that they both love each other immensly St. John cannot marry her because he will break her heart and he also says that he cannot because she will not make a good wife and being dragged all over the world. Then St. John notices that Jane can draw and asks her to make him a portrait. But one day while she is drawing St. John notices something peculiar and tears off a bit of the paper and leaves Jane to her business.
Then the most astonishing thing happens. While Jane is working St. John comes running in and tells Jane her own story. St. John knows that Jane is really Jane Eyre and says that her uncle is dead and left his entire fortune to her. Then St. John reveals that his full named is St. John Eyre Rivers. Now Jane has real family.

Jane Eyre Assignment 13

Jane Eyre Assignment 13.
Chapters 29-30.
In the chapters of Jane Eyre, Jane has left Thornfield and has begun to wander the English morres looking for work and food. Eventually she is very close to dying and ust lies down on a bed of grass and waits. But someone comes and saves Jane. After days of fading in and out of consciense and hearing voices talking about her, Jane wakes up to find herself in a comfortable bed surrounded by 3 people. Two of them are young ladies and the third is a dark and brooding man named St. John. The two women are named Diana and Mary. Then a servant named Hannah enters with Jane’s clothes all washed and dried. While the sisters try to read the name on the back of Jane’s clothes, Jane says that her named is Jane Elliot. Jane spends 3 days and nights in bed and when she is well enough to move around, she and the 2 sister along with St. John have a walk together and meet Ms. Oliver. The daughter of a wealthy needle factory owner. It is stated that Ms. Oliver positively adores St. John and he the same, but he won’t say it. Then Jane finds out that St. John’s father died a few years ago after he lost so much money and land when a man he trusted went bankrupt. Then a month passes and Diana and Mary prepare to leave for their jobs as governesses. Jane has also been offered a job as a teacher for poor girls in the town and her salary would be 30 pounds a year. After a while the girls are having a talk by the fire and they learn that their Uncle John died and St. John reveals that it was St. John who cheated their father out of land and money.

Assignments 13-14 CD

I was surprised when I saw the name Rivers because water had always seemed a bad thing in Jane’s life, but now it’s something totally different. I think that maybe the name Rivers is a symbol for a fresh, new, life. I thought back to the other symbols with water and realized that all the ones I can remember all had to do with still water except the Rivers. From this I made my conclusion about the name Rivers and I decided that all the symbols with water were symbols for life and death. For example the ice at Lowood was still, cold, and hard just like how a human body is after death. Rivers on the other hand are full of life because they’re always rushing forward with strong currents and energy, just like Jane’s two girl cousins and rivers are cold and solemn like St. John. I personally hate St. John. I hate him because of his attitude. He is way to serious and has major issues. The fact that he refuses to pursue his love for Rosamond when she and her father like him too is absolutely mental. He is a total sadist and has no reason for it. He loves torturing himself and is only happy if he’s in complete and total pain. Now that I think about it I’m glad he doesn’t marry Rosamond because he is last person on earth to deserve her. With the way he treats himself he wouldn’t even deserve Bertha or Miss Ingram. I also think he is a poor representative of religion he means well, but I believe God calls certain people to do be priests or missionaries and those people are happy with they’re calling in fact they should love it. I love the twist with Jane and her relationship with the Rivers because now Jane can finally have living family other than the two Reed girls, and I believe Jane has always craved the sister-sister relationship Mary and Dianna have. Now she has them to be like sisters to her.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

#14

Again in the story, religion is represented in a negative light, this time by St John. All of a sudden out of nowhere they find out that they are cousins and Jane is excited to have a new brother figure. He however takes their relationship in a wrong sense and decides that she would be a good missionary’s wife and would prove herself very useful to his vocation. Jane wants to go to India with him but not as his wife, however because of his strict beliefs, St John will only live with a woman if he is married to her and therefore decides that if she does come to India they must first be wed. He tries everything to convince her, but Jane turns down his offer. Religion in this book is always represented in an extremist sort of way. The characters love for religion and wanting to do the right thing often leads them to make wrong choices which do not benefit anyone. Grace Pool, However is the perfect example of someone who is the extreme opposite to a vastly religious person; she is the kind of person who will do anything for money, drinks, and doesn’t seem to have a sense of values. She does not hurt anyone however, although she seems scary and intimidating, she does nothing to hurt those around her. Brocklehurst, on the other hand, is a devout catholic but seems to cause pain to all of those he tries to correct. I feel happy that Jane has found some family, but am disappointed in St Johns, this twist of siblings or cousins even, wanting to marry each other is a bit obscene, it symbolizes some sort of wrong and affects her relationship with him greatly, Mary and her sister however, remain loving to Jane.

#13

I am so happy that Jane has found the Rivers family, she has been through so much and it is nice to know that she is finally going to be cared for by people who like her and want her to stay with them. The fact that the family’s name is Rivers, however, bothers me a little. Every time Jane has encountered someone who has a reference to water in previous cases, they have been cold, mean, and hurt her. I really don’t want this to be another example of that. At the same time, a river carries things away which might mean that all of Jane’s past and painful memories will be carried away and that she can start all over again from scratch. It seems this way so far; St John has given her a job as a school teacher and although it is tedious work, she has found that she can make a difference in the children’s lives and enjoys it. I find St john to be a bit of an awkward guy, he likes a girl but ignores her and is rude to her. However, he doesn’t seem bad so I hope he remains a positive character in her life.

Jane Eyre assignment 13

The fact that the family that Jane ends up finding at the end of her life threatening journey, are called the "Rivers" brings back the entire feeling of the elements and how they really effect the way that Charlotte Bronte wrote this story. Also it makes me think that maybe something bad is going to happen that involves the Rivers. I feel this way, one because they started out a little nicer then any normal character in this story. They welcomed Jane with open arms and no doubts, and this makes me very suspicious of what's to come with these new characters. I think that Jane's new job makes her feel good because this time she gets to choose how the children get treated and i think that makes her feel good since she comes from being an exiled, beaten child. Also, I feel that she feels that she's not just some woman that is going to use this family for good living, i think that she feels like she's getting put to work doing something that helps herself feel useful, as well as help little girls get a good education. I hope that Jane's new job isn't going to get corrupted like everything else in her life, and i hope that my suspicions of the Rivers aren't true.

Assignment 14 -- Chapters 31-33

Write a 250 word blog, considering these questions:
What do you think about St John and the way he represents religion? Is it positive or negative? Extreme? Think of Grace Poole and Brocklehurst.
What do you think about the twist -- the one having to do with Jane and her relationship to the Rivers'?

Assignment 13 -- Chapters 29-30

Write a 200 word blog, considering the following questions: What do you think about the fact that the family Jane finds has the last name "Rivers?" What do you think of St John and Jane's new job?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Assignment 14

I am actually starting to become very curious as to what is going to happen next in the story, because it seems as if Charlotte Bronte is building up for something. However, at the same time, I am unfortunately thinking that nothing is going to happen. The definition of marsh is an area of under-lying, waterlogged land, difficult to cross and liable to flood. Due to all of the small motifs that we have spotted throughout the story, with names such as Gateshead, Thornfield, Grace Poole and Helen Burns, I cannot help but feel that Marsh End has something to do with these next couple of chapters. I think that it is going to be a neutral time in the book for her and because of that there may be very slow or no character development. On the other hand, this could be to throw the reader off and completely surprise the reader. I thought the most interesting thing I noticed throughout the chapters was Rosamond and St. John's relationship. I thought that it was important because the possible influence it could have had on Jane (nightmares or not...). My thoughts about these chapters and what would happen next were constantly changing, but the last chapter finally gave me my answer. I had a feeling that this whole name situation would come back to bite Jane. I just wonder what is going to happen if she gets caught and in addition to that, what is going to do about her Uncle's death? Considering how far we are in the book, these last few chapters are about to get very interesting.

Assignment 13

I am glad to see that Charlotte Bronte has continued to stay with Jane for the past few chapters. However, I am a little curious as to what is happening at Thornfield with Mr. Rochester. I think that because she left so suddenly, and so secretly that I know Rochester had to feel a certain way, and that feeling can't be very good. I was also very happy to see the more aggressive Jane. I thought it was cool to see her go to Hannah and tell her how she felt, rather than forgive her for they way she was treated. That showed me that she was still the same Jane, and it was just apart of her growth. I thought it was kind of interesting that Hannah's story about how she became a governess was similar to Jane's. I think the thing that surprised me the most was that she revealed her identity so early. I did not think that things would have started to get better for Jane so quickly, just based off of the recent events in her life. I thought the weirdest thing was the way St. John is treating her considering her took her in. I think that there is a slight chance that he is so distant from her is because he might possibly have a secret, everyone seems to have one. I am very curious to know how long she stays with them and if Rochester will possibly find her. I think that the story could get very interesting from this point.

Jane Eyre Assignment 9

Assignment 9.
In chapters 19-20 of Jane Eyre…Jane descends down some staircases and finds an old gypsie sitting in a chair. Then Jane proceeds to ask the gypsie a few questions about what she is doing and Jane is declaring how she doesn’t believe in what the gypsie believes. Then after the gypsie says that the destiny lies in the face, Jane for once in a few times begins to agree with the old woman. Then the old woman mentions things that say the Rochester might be or have been married. To some greedy French woman who doesn’t live there anymore. Then the gypsie turns out to be Rochester. In my opinion I think that Rochester was probing the water for any sign that Jane might love him. Then Rochester sends Jane to get him some wine after he hears that a man named Mason has come to visit. Rochester then lost all color and remained still, until Jane got back with his wine. Jane then went to bed as well as all the other party goers. The next morning Jane awoke with a fright as she saw that some one had been hurt. It was Mason. Rochester ordered Jane to tend to him while Rochester went about his business. Jane held a towel there on his wound for a while until Rochester returned with a remedy. He told Mason to drink when he was reluctant to do so. Then after Ms. Fairfax took over Jane and Rochester went into the garden together. Rochester gathered flowers as the sun slowly rose. Rochester and Jane then sat at a bench and talked for a while.

Jane Eyre Assignment 4

Jane Eyre Assignment 4.

In these next few chapters of our wondrous book Jane Eyre…Jane and the rest of the school are let out of class for afternoon tea. When Jane reaches the tea drinking area and notices that her best friend Helen is not there, she begins to worry immensely. Later Jane is complimented by her teaches, with all of them saying good things about her, like how she has reached top in the class. The Ms Temple gives Jane instruction in the art of art and in speaking French. Then after a few days Helen returns to Jane and they both have a talk with each other. Jane is saying though out the conversation that she is a liar and asks Helen how she can be friend’s with whom everybody calls a liar. Helen points out that there are only 80 people in the school and none of them think that she is a liar. They only seem to pity her. Then one day Jane is speaking with Ms. Temple. Temple asks Jane where she was living and who she was living with. Jane tells Ms. Temple about Gateshead and how hard her life was there and how everyone always called her a liar. Then Ms. Temple interjects with asking Jane if she ever stood up for herself. Jane tells Ms. Temple know.

A few days later Jane doesn’t see Helen in the bed next to her so she goes to wander. She finds Helen in a bed and crawls into it. They fall asleep in each others arms. The next morning Jane is carried away by Ms. Temple and hearing things about Helen dying. Then Jane sees her friends grave and after a few years of being just a mound of dirt a marble block was placed upon it with the Resurgam engraved in it (Resurgam means Shall Rise Again). After years of studying and schooling Jane has become a teacher at Lowood school for girls. Then Jane receives a letter of job acceptance from a rich estate in upstate New York called Thornfield. When she arrives there she is given a nice meal by a roaring fire and is then told to instruct a young girl named Ladiel. Jane then finds out who her employer is. A man named Rochester.

Jane Eyre Assignment 12

Jane Eyre Assignment 12.
In chapters 27-28 Jane awakes after a few hours after falling asleep and knows that she must leave Thornfield. When she leaves her room Jane encounters Rochester who tries to get Jane to marry him again while apologizing at the same time. When Rochester suddenly realizes why he doesn’t consider himself married, he dives into a story of the past. Rochester met his wife, Bertha when his father decided to give all his wealth to Rochester’s brother Rowland. Rochester was sent to Jamaica to be married to Bertha. When Rochester found out about all the mental malfunction. Which to Rochester explained all wild and sudden violent out bursts that Bertha had during their marriage. Rochester brother and father both knew this and only had Rochester married so they would get money from the marriage. Then Rochester moved back to England with his maniacal wife after both his father and brother died. So then Rochester tells the story of how he and Jane met from his point of view and how he was enchanted with her from the start. Later Jane sneaks out of the house and leaves, but after exhausting all of her money she must walk barefoot the rest of the way to the town and sleeps outdoors. The next day the only food Jane can get is a slice of bread from a farmer. But then Jane spots a house in the moore and runs to it. When the owners do not let her in she collapses on the door step and says she is going to die. But a man by the named of St. John who is the real owner of the house comes and brings her in. when they ask Jane what her name is she says that it is Jane Elliot.

Jane Eyre Assignment 11.

Jane Eyre Assignment 11.

Jane is getting ready for her wedding day. The sun is shining and there is no turning back. Sophie, a servant comes in and dresses Jane in her wedding gown and they are wisked off to their wedding with Adele in their carriage. On the way to the wedding Jane tells Rochester of a dream she had, where she saw Thornfield Hall in ruins and a monster woman sort of resembling a vampire was standing in her room. When they arrive at their wedding chapel, Jane is ecstatic and cannot wait to become Mrs. Rochester. But as the wedding goes on, someone interrupts the wedding stating the Mr. Rochester is already married and Mr. Rochester doesn’t deny it. Rochester prompts the crowd into coming with him to Thornfield Hall into seeing why Rochester decided in taking a second wife with no one knowing of his first wife. Rochester takes everyone up to the third floor where Rochester’s first wife stabbed and killed his brother, and behind a curtain Rochester reveals a second door. When the people enter into it they see Grace Poole fixing a stew and a sort of half human and half animal thing pacing in the corner. When the creature sees Rochester it attacks and tries to strangle him, but he is able to fight it off and tie it up, declaring that the man-beast was his wife. After everyone leaves Jane learns that her uncle sent Mason to stop the wedding. Then Jane locked herself in her room filled with grief.

Jane Eyre Assignment 8

Jane Eyre Assignment 8.

In chapters of 18 and 19, Thornfield hall receives a letter from Rochester saying that a lot of guests will be staying at the house and having parties every night. When Rochester returns and all of his guests arrive Jane notices a beautiful woman who as Jane would think be the target of Rochester’s affections. Then Rochester kind of orders Jane to come and play charades with him and his guests. After a while Jane leaves for bed (With what I read I can tell she was holding her anger in.). The next day Jane sees and old person sitting in a chair by the same fire where she used to talk to Rochester. The old person says that she is a gypsy. While at first Jane doesn’t believe the gypsy she slowly comes to realize how right the gypsy is. The gypsy is saying things how Jane loves a certain person. Jane is admitting it and is asking the gypsy how she does it. The gypsy turns out to be Rochester, just playing a little game with Jane. As the night goes on Jane and Rochester sit by the fire talking, about each other and Rochester starts to open up a little bit. But by the end of the night Rochester tells Jane he loves her, but Jane just goes to bed.

Jane Eyre Assignment 6

Jane Eyre Assignment 6.

I kind of like Jane Eyre so far. It is the classic story of a young girl who is very dumbstruck in love but won’t admit. It is a kind of funny story to me. Well not the part about Helen dying that really wasn’t funny.

I mean this book is like a classic life of a girl who has lost the only family who has ever loved her and is always being mistreated by her living family, who obviously don’t like her and think of her as poop. And that she is sent away to this school in the middle of nowhere and has very few friends and when her best friend dies in her arms, I thought that would seriously mess up any person, especially Jane. But she came around and became a teacher at Lowood school. Then she moves to Thornfield hall where her life changes completely. Jane falls in love with the owner, a man named Rochester and eventually Rochester proposes. This is the kind of book that would make a person say “Oh, Snap” or something like that. This book will draw you in from page 1 because it gives you a kind of idea to what life was like for women was all the way back then in the 1800’s or 1900’s.

Jane Eyre Assignment 7

Jane Eyre Assignment 7.

I think that Mr. Rochester is a really cool dude. Rochester could speak his mind a little bit more though. What I mean is that he could I don’t know, strike a conversation up with Jane and talk about both of their lives and something. But as for Chapter 17, in this chapter Jane still has received no word of Rochester return yet. And Jane is waiting really patiently. But when Jane hears that Rochester might have gone to London, she is a little surprised. When Jane walks into Rochesters room after the fire, Jane sees all the servants working to clean the room and Jane sees Grace Poole mending the carpet in the corner. When Jane approaches Grace asks Jane if she heard and or saw anything and Jane answers that she did, and Ms. Scary lady (Grace) says that it wasn’t smart to do that. In my opinion Grace would be the scariest lady I would have ever seen. I think that she might have been the person who tried to kill Mr. Rochester. That’s just my opinion because when she talks she barely says anything and she seems like a very mentally unbalanced woman.

Jane Eyre Assignment 5

Jane Eyre Assignment 5.

In these next pages, Jane explains how she sees so little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning Rochester usually does business. In the afternoon Rochester hangs out with his friends, and will usually have them over for dinner and disappears for days on end with his friends.

Late one day Jane is called to have a talk with Mr. Rochester. When Jane walks into the room she sees Rochester sitting by the fire and she went to join him. As soon as Jane sits down Rochester begins to question her. Rochester asks Jane things like if he is handsome and if she is taken with him. Jane answers no and Rochester seems a little disappointed. A few days later Jane is called to the same room where she first talked to Rochester. After a few minutes of discussion Jane says to her herself that Rochester was extremely peculiar.

Then late one night Jane awoke to a sort of laughing sound that came from the hallway. Jane followed the laugh down many corridors and hallways until he gets to Mr. Rochester’s room. When Jane opens the door she sees that Rochesters bed is on fire and he is sleeping through it. Jane tries to wake him up by shaking him but Rochester only rolls over. So Jane splashes water on to him and he finally woke up and jumped out of bed. Jane and Rochester both put out the fire by hitting it with rugs and splashing tons of water onto the bed.

Jane Eyre Assignment 10

Jane Eyre assignment 10.

In chapters 21-24 of Jane Eyre…Jane is sent to her home in Gatehead when Bessies husband Mr. Rogers comes to pick Jane up from Thornfield hall. Mr. Rogers informs Jane that John Reed has committed suicide and Mrs. Reed is in a deep and deadly depression. When Jane walks into the main living room to find Rochester and the rest of his guests having fun, Jane informs Rochester that she is going to leave and stay at Gateshead with her old “Family” for a few days(And in this conversation we learn that Rochester is getting married). Jane leaves for Gateshead and arrives there days later. When Jane arrives she is sent to bed and the next morning goes to see Mrs. Reed. When Jane sees Mrs. Reed, Jane is not very surprised that Reed has gone off the deep end. Then Jane sees her old “Sister” and is shocked by how much they have changed. Everyday Jane goes to see Mrs. Reed but she seems to be worse everyday. Eventually Mrs. Reed then reveals by total accident in her insanity a letter from her uncle just about proving that Jane’s uncle might be alive, or that he had officially adopted Jane into the Reed family, but Jane’s aunt never accepted that and hid the letter from everyone. Jane gets pretty mad and leaves Mrs. Reed for the night in a fit of anger and sadness. Then Mrs. Reed dies in her sleep and Jane feels remorse and then leaves to go back to Thornfield hall.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Jane Eyre assignment 12

I think that Jane doesn't go off with Mr Rochester to France, for one reason because of the way that he treats Bertha Mason. I mean if i were Jane i would leave Mr Rochester the first time i got a chance because if he does that to one woman he might do it again. Also i think that she feels guilty that she's only a poor servant that can't really be seen with Mr Rochester in public and she realizes that there's no way, even if she loves him to death, that she can ever really be with him without someone saying something. For example, Mrs Fairfax, when she found out Mr Rochester proposes, she just doesn't understand why he would do that. I think that she knows Mr Rochester's secrets, but also she's looking out for Jane because no matter what she's always just going to be a mistress and people might start rumors about Jane, and it would probably be tough for Jane and MR Rochester's relationship to really grow like she wants it to. I think the choices that Mr Rochester decided on with Bertha Mason, where very selfish and poorly thought out. I mean he basically got Mr Mason stabbed by his own sister by keeping her locked up in the attic for ten years, and i think the story that Mr Rochester told Jane was Very dramatic and it must have been hard to get over the fact that he knows what he's doing in wrong but he feels that he has no choice, and now i realize why Mr Rochester says that remorse is the poison of life. It's probably because he doesn't want to feel remorse about what he's doing but he does.

Jane Eyre assignment 11

This chapter definitely changes so many things about the book "Jane Eyre". First you find out that the mad woman in the attic is Mr Rochester's wife that has been locked up in the attic for ten years! That just caught me off guard. I expected this mad woman in the attic to be like Grace Poole, a woman that doesn't really have any importance in Mr Rochester's life and is sort of just there. The mad woman in the attic is there because Mr Rochester doesn't want her to go out of his sight, where he can't control what she does. I think that the mad woman in the attic is the so called "ghost" that Abdele talks about to Mr Rochester's guests when they were staying at Mr Rochester's house. My thoughts about the mad woman in the attic are that i feel extremely sorry for this woman, i mean she's being locked up in the attic where she doesn't get to see anyone but the person who locked her up in the attic. That makes me think very badly of Mr Rochester because that's very inhumane and that is just terrible and he is the reason that she's mad, and i hope that he regrets ever doing anything with her and i bet that Mr Mason's stabber was his own sister (A.K.A the mad woman in the attic) was the one that stabbed him instead of Grace Poole, and maybe the mad woman in the attic was the one that tried to burn Mr Rochester's bed down. Now i have many suspicions of the accusations that have been going around.

Jane Eyre assignment 10

I think that it's very important for Jane to make amends with her aunt because as a child she was very harsh with Mrs Reed and Jane sort of forced Mrs Reed to be so distant in Mrs Reed's explanation. I think that Mrs Reed resists because she doesn't want to forgive Jane for everything she did, and she also mentions that she is going to be dead by the morning and it doesn't mean anything to her to apologize to anyone for things that happened in her life. I think that Jane is so helpful with Georgiana and Eliza after Mrs. Reed's death because Mrs. Reed was their mother and I think that they were having a hard time dealing with the fact that their mother was dieing. I think they way that Jane revealed her feelings to Mr Rochester was planned out honestly. I feel this way because it seemed very much like Mr Rochester was being the way he was for a reason, like he was trying to get into Jane's mind and force her to tell him what she feels about him. For example, he says things that seemed like he was trying to leave her, but then after Jane gets sad he says that he needs her to be with him and that he really loves her a lot and he wants her to be with him all of his life and that he wants her to stay in his house and take his hand, heart and love.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Assignment 12

I thought that these chapters were crazy, but a very pivotal part in the story. I was not sure of how Jane felt after the last chapter, but I was very surprised to see that she forgave him so easily! I find so weird how Jane has established herself as this woman who didn't take anything from anyone, and wasn't afraid to say how she felt. However, it seems to me that although early on she established herself as this woman that thinks that you should not always forgive, she has done that consistently in recent chapters. This definitely reminds me of Taming of the Shrew because of the same way Katherine had her ways of dealing with people. The same exact way she carried herself throughout the story has changed since she met Rochester. I think that the attitude and the way she sort of fought back with her and Mr. Brocklehurst has somewhat disappeared. It seems as though Rochester is an exception in her book. I was actually sort of surprised to see her leave rather than go with him. Rochester seemed to show how much he loves Jane by putting everything out on the table about his wife and why he married her. I think that although Jane may have forgiven him, she may have left because Rochester could still have secrets. In addition, I thought the most interesting part came when she assumed a pseudonym but changing her last name. However despite doing that, I think that because of that and the way she left, nothing good can come from this. I think that the story is about to get a lot more interesting.

#13

Poor Jane!! Its bad enough she has to leave her job and the crazy, selfish, married man that she loves just to get over him, but now, she is left out on the street without food or shelter. She has no job, no money, and is a complete stranger in the town that she has just arrived in. She sleeps outside on the first night and must spend a cold night on a moss bed in the middle of a field. She doesn’t deserve this. No one deserves to suffer like she has, without anyone to comfort, protect her, or even lend a shoulder for her to lean on. She is completely alone, and does not have a single person she can rely on in the world. She spends the first days in the town wondering about asking for work and scraps of food but no one bothers to help her or even point her in the right direction as to where she can go to find work. Hungry, weak, and tired she stumbles onto the St John household where a clergyman, Mr. Rivers, and his two sisters, Mary and Diana live. The place is called Moorhouse, and the time that Jane spends here are some of her happiest. The sisters care for her and nurse her back to health while she helps around the house. Mr. Rivers is even nice enough to help Jane find a job and they are all worried about her wellbeing. She grows fond of them as they enjoy her company, but as all good things in Jane’s life come to a halt, this is no exception.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

#12

I absolutely can not believe that Mr. Rochester would still think that Jane had any interest of having a romantic relationship with him! After the horrible secret that he has been concealing from her all this time, he expects her to run away with him as his mistress. I think that Jane turned down his offer because she has some self respect, she knows that in the end, Mr. Rochester will never be fully hers and that deep down inside of his mind, she will always be the other woman. He then tells Jane the story of how he met his wife and how, in the beginning, everything was exactly how it was supposed to be. She was beautiful and he loved her, but then he met her crazed mother and Bertha started turning into her. This, I feel, was a desperate attempt to regain Jane’s affection, he wants her to pity him and give in to what he wants. Luckily, she is not that naive and knows that the only way to get rid of the feelings she has for Mr. Rochester, is to move out of his house and leave him forever. That night Jane dreams about her mother. This probably comes about because of the story Mr. Rochester tells her, about how Bertha Mason became like her mother, and Jane wonders how her mother was like, and if her character resembles hers. Later on in these chapters, Jane finds a new home which is in a stretch of field and seems warmer than Thornfield. A relative name for this place would probably have to be something like Greenwick, green for its setting, and wick for warmth, a wick is a part of a candle and hopefully, this place will be warmer, literally and figuratively speaking, than her last three residences.

Assignment 12

I believe Jane didn’t want to run off with Rochester because in her eyes, she would always be his mistress no matter where they went. She couldn’t run away from the fact that she would never be his wife. The story he tells Jane about his past makes you sympathize for his character. He was basically tricked into marrying a woman he thought was perfect, but didn’t find out until after that she and the rest of her family was actually insane. All his father cared about was the 30,000 pounds she was worth. I think Rochester was faced with a very hard decision to make and that he did the best he thought he could. When he first found out, he was young and didn’t know what to do. Still, he made sure that Bertha would be safe and kept secret and then fled to Europe where he stayed for many years in search for a new woman. The fact that he didn’t just abandon Bertha somewhere speaks volumes of his character. The night after Jane’s botched marriage, she dreams of her mother who tells her to resist temptation, leading her to leave Thornfield for good. I think Jane was at a loss and needed guidance from someone, but I’m not sure why her mother was incorporated into this seeing as she hasn’t been a part of the story yet. I think a worthy name for Jane’s new home would be something like Moorlight, Moor representing the surrounding area and light representing the light that leads her to the house and the sense of hope that Jane feels when she approaches it.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Assignment 12 -- Chapters 27-28

Read Chpts. 27-28 and write a 250 word blog, considering the following questions:
Why do you think Jane doesn't run off with Rochester to France? What do you think of the story he tells Jane about his past, and the choices he made about how to handle Bertha Mason (Ha! And you thought it really was Grace Poole setting those fires and laughing like a madwoman!)? Why do you think, that night, Jane dreams about her mother?
When Jane leaves Thornfield, she finds another home . . . What might you name this place, if you were Charlotte Bronte?

Interesting article about literature aimed at girls!

And it even mentions Jane Eyre!
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200812/twilight-vampires

Thursday, December 4, 2008

#11 redone.

These two chapters are definitely the climax of the novel. The suspense and surprise to find that the mad woman in the attic was Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s crazed wife was unbelievable. I could not fathom the idea of Mr. Rochester being so cruel as to lock his insane wife away so that no one would even know she was still living. His speech on regrets being the poison of life now makes so much sense. He regretted marring his wife, but didn’t let that stop him from freely looking for another. Thus, he was going to marry Jane. Mr. Rochester has turned into quite the character during these past few pages, transforming from the romantic love interest, to the spiteful villain. He has turned out to be a bit crazed himself, for even trying to carry out this scheme. He seems to me, to be the kind of person that cares only of himself and his happiness, he had his wife and doesn’t want her anymore so he decides to just dispose of her and keep her under lock and key so that he doesn’t even have to see her. I don’t think that hell let this minor glitch in his plans stop him from trying to get Jane for himself either, and in my opinion, he doesn’t treat people like human being, but rather as objects. If I were Jane, I would leave the house in a heartbeat, I wouldn’t want to know anything about Bertha or any other secrets he might have lying around, even though she has no place to go, she will certainly find better company elsewhere. I however, am not in this twisted love triangle, and am extremely curious to see what happened to make Bertha Mason so crazy, what she used to be like, and most of all, what Mr. Rochester did to drive her to this point.

Assignment 11

Chapter 26 has finally put our curious minds to rest and informed us of the mystery surrounding Thornfield Manor. The mad woman in the attic turned out to be Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife of 15 years. She went crazy after they were married however, and Rochester didn’t have the heart to toss her out so he kept her a secret and assigned Grace Poole to look after her 24 hours a day. The wedding ceremony was brought to an abrupt end right before vows were to take place by Bertha Mason’s brother and an acquaintance. Jane was in complete shock and was told everything about Bertha then and there, and was brought back to Thornfield to see just how crazy the woman was for herself. Up until the end of the chapter, I think Jane handled the whole situation very well and stayed levelheaded. If the same thing were to happen to me, I would have reacted much differently. I am curious as to how Bertha became so insane, as the book doesn’t mention it. She is an intriguing character that we will hopefully come to learn more about in the book. Now that Rochester’s dark secret has been revealed, I think people will begin to pity him for his unfortunate situation. I think he had many hard decisions to make and tried to do the best he could. Hopefully, he will sort things out and not further damage his and Jane’s relationship.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Assignment 11

I thought that these chapters were certainly a big turning point in the story, more so in chapter 26. It actually kind of reminded me of the beginning of the book. Just because her experience in the Red Room was very similar, because of the way she viewed them. I thought that the idea of the mad woman could have been the stress of her wedding, considering how she had been acting. However, after I read chapter 26 my opinion completely changed. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at the wedding after the previous night. When Mr. Mason said that Rochester was married to his sister Bertha, I was surprised at first, but based on his secrets that Jane had already learned from other people, I was not that surprised. I was actually more surprised that she didn’t kick him in the shin. He was married for over ten years! I think that the most important thing that this chapter may have revealed that his insane wife may have be the “mad woman in the attic” that Jane may have seen. I immediately figured that when Brocklehurst told her that he would tell her about the woman in a year and a day was because he was hiding something. I am very curious to know what happens next in the story. I really wan to know how this affects Jane and Brocklehurst’s relationship.

Assignment 11 -- Chpts 25-26

Chapter 26 is a real turning point in the book. So who is the mad woman in the attic? Why is she there? What are your thoughts about this? If you were Jane, what would be going through your mind? Are you curious about Bertha? (Just FYI, if so, there's a famous book written from Bertha Mason's perspective, called
Wild Saragossa Sea"). What do you think about Rochester, knowing what you now about his past . . . and his present?

#11

This chapters really show how Jane and Mr. Rochester’s relationship is progressing and how it is slightly awkward for them to talk and be with each other since their engagement. To me, their relationship together is a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode, and I don’t expect it to last more than the next two chapters. They seem so distant from each other, even more so than before, and she still calls him “sir”. He doesn’t seem to be all that sweet to her either and I feel that he might have even treated Miss Ingram in a more loving fashion. Maybe he’s shy?…he certainly has a lot of secrets lying around in his house, and poor Jane starts having these weird dreams about owls and babies and stuff. I don’t think Mr. Rochester is a particularly honest guy, and I for one, don’t trust him at all. Poor Jane, on the other hand is in love, and although she plays her safe card every once in awhile, I cant help but think that he is going to end up hurting her, whether it be on purpose or by accident. She should keep her guard up, and totally realize that she is too good for him.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Assignment 10

When Jane visited her aunt on her deathbed, it was important for her to make amends with Mrs. Reed. After years of tolerating her aunt’s abuse and neglect, Jane had forgiven her and was ready to forgive and forget. Mrs. Reed, however, still held a grudge against her and refused to reconnect with Jane. I believe Jane was so kind to Georgiana and Eliza after their mother’s death because she knew what it was like to be a parentless child and took pity on them. She had matured into a smart young woman and was willing to make amends with her cousins and help them out, even if they themselves weren’t exactly warm-hearted to her in return. I was very surprised when Jane revealed her feelings to Rochester so open-heartedly and full of emotion. He also proposed to her in a very strange and confusing manner. The whole ordeal was very shocking because they both acted so out of character and revealed a different, more outgoing side to their personalities. The tree that Rochester proposed to Jane under ironically was split in half by lighting that same night during a storm. This strongly symbolizes some sort of an abrupt splitting in their relationship, be it at their wedding or later on in their lives. The splitting of the tree also brings on a sense of bad luck in their blossoming relationship. Jane writes to her uncle, John Eyre, to tell him she is getting married. She wants to ensure her self some sort of independent wealth in order to be equal to Rochester.

Assignment 10

I liked these chapters following chapter 20, because I was very curious as to what would happen in the next chapter. As I've continued to read I've noticed that when Charlotte Bronte changes chapters, the subject of that chapter changes. I think that is another way for her to maintain her mystery in the story, by staying away from something for a period of time so the reader may be sidetracked by another the chapter they may be reading at the time. But if she does keep it relevant to the chapter, it completely follows up from the previous chapter or it is very brief. I found that she did this in chapter 21 and 22. I thought this chapter was very interesting because Jane tried to make amends with her aunt. It was weird, because when she was at Lowood, she didn't seem to agree with Helen's idea of forgiveness, and now she is trying to forgive her aunt. I thought it seemed important for Jane to do this because she knew her aunt was dying and she wanted to end on good terms. I liked chapter 22 because although Jane was worried about her future once Rochester was married, she finally told him she felt a little bit. Unfortunately, I also think she should have told him earlier in the story, because now it seems like Wuthering Heights where Cathy had to make a decision. However, in chapter 23, I was almost as caught off guard as Jane was! I was somewhat glad to know Rochester had devised a plan(because I might do something similar) , but when the lightning split the tree in half, it aroused suspicion about "what could possibly go wrong?" Of course in chapter 24, everything I thought starts to happen. Jane is fearful about the marriage, Mrs. Fairfax is unusually bitter to Jane about their engagement. I think that Jane writes to her uncle because it may make her more comfortable, but it also camouflages her impending fear as well as her wedding. I am very curious to know how the wedding goes, based on these recent chapters, I have a slight feeling it may have the same craziness as Pertruchio and Katherine's wedding, but with a twist.