The Jane Eyre Companion (Includes Study Guide, Historical Context, and Character Index)

By BookCaps

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre" is one of the most complex books ever written. If you are a little confused, you are not alone! If you are struggling with the classic work, let BookCaps help.

This book contains a comprehension study of Brontë’s classic work (including chapter summaries for every chapter, and an overview of themes and characters). This edition does not include the actual book.

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookCaps
• Release date: Sep 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301571659

BookCaps

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

Book preview

Chapter Summaries

Chapter One

Jane- who acts as the novel's narrator- describes how she dislikes taking walks on cold days like the one taking place because of the bad weather and the fact that she'll be scolded by the nurse Bessie and made to feel inferior to her cousins.

Eliza, John and Georgiana (Jane's cousins) were gathered around their mother, Mrs. Reed, who sat on a sofa by the fire. Jane was not allowed to come closer as the privilege of being close to Mrs. Reed was reserved for only happy children, as Mrs. Reed described it. Jane asked what Bessie said she had done, but Mrs. Reed told her to keep quiet if she was only going to question her elders.

Jane slipped into the breakfast room and took a book off the bookcase. She sat with her legs crossed on the window-seat and drew the curtains so she could hide. Jane was fairly happy to have a book like Bewick's to herself, but the moment didn't last. She was interrupted by the breakfast door opening, and John Reed calling for her. He paused, thinking the room was empty. Jane hoped that she would not be discovered, but came out from her hiding place at once so that John would not drag her out.

Jane asked him what he wanted. John wanted her to come stand before him, and to call him Master Reed. John was fourteen years old—four years older than Jane—and a schoolboy. He was large for his age with poor skin, mostly because he stuffed himself with food. He should have been at school but Mrs. Reed kept him home for a month or two on account of his poor health. John did not show much affection to his sisters or to his mother, and definitely did not like Jane; he bullied her constantly. Jane was afraid of him and did not know what she could do against him. The servants did not want to offend John by standing up to him, and Mrs. Reed never saw John attack Jane, even when he did it in her presence.

Jane walked up to John. He spent three minutes sticking his tongue out at her. Jane knew that he would hit her, but did not know when. Jane wondered if he knew what she was thinking about as he lashed out at her then. Jane staggered back, but recovered, now a step or two away from his chair. John told her he was punishing her for the way she talked back to Mrs. Reed, for hiding behind the curtains, and for the way she looked at him. Jane did not attempt to reply: she was only concerned with preparing herself for the next strike. John asked her what she was doing behind the curtain. Jane told him she was reading. John asked to see the book, so Jane fetched it. John told her she had no right to read their books as she depended on them for everything as she was an orphan. John thought she should be out on the streets, begging for money—not living in luxury, wearing clothes and eating at their expense.

John vowed to teach her for going through his bookshelves—they were his, he claimed, or would be his when the house belonged to him. He told her to stand by the door, out of the way of both the mirrors and windows. Jane did, but then realized what he was going to do: he was going to throw the book at her! She did not have enough time to move, however, and the book hit her hard enough to send her falling. She struck her head against the door, cutting it enough to draw blood. She called John a wicked murderer, compared him to slave-driver and to the Roman Emperors themselves. He runs at her and grabs her hair and shoulder. Jane felt blood trickling down her neck. She fights back but wasn't really sure what she exactly did. John cried and called her a rat. Eliza and Georgiana had gone to get Mrs. Reed, who arrived with Bessie and her maid, Abbot. Jane was blamed, and Mrs. Reed told them to lock her into the red room.

Chapter Two:

Jane struggled with Bessie and Abbot as they drag her up the entire way. Abbot told Jane off—she thought Jane should be ashamed for striking her master. Jane argued that John was not her master, and she was not his servant. Bessie and Abbot sat her on a stool in the red room, but Jane stood up again. Bessie asked her maid for her garter so they could tie her down. Suddenly terrified of being tied down, Jane assured them that she would not move, and held onto the stool with her hands to prove it.

The red room was a square room which was never slept in—unless there were enough guests at Gateshead Hall to make it necessary. It was one of the largest rooms in the house, and well decorated. Mr. Reed had been dead for nine years and had died in the red room. Since that day, the echo of the dead affected the room, and kept it from general use. Jane caught a reflection of the room in the mirror—everything looked much colder and darker in the reflection than it did in reality. Her own reflection looked like an imp or spirit from one of Bessie's stories.

Jane wondered why she was always suffering and accused of being something she wasn't. She could not please any of them. Eliza was selfish and headstrong, but she was respected. So was Georgiana, who was a spoiled, insulting child. It was her beauty that captivated others. John was never punished, even though he tortured animals, took all the fruit off their plants, tore his mother's clothing and refused to fulfill her wishes. Jane tried her best to be good, to perform her duties, and was called naughty all day. Jane wished she could run away, or let herself die.

The room was starting to get darker with the coming evening. She wondered if she was truly wicked. She had, after all, just considered starving herself to death. Jane thought about Gateshead Church. In a vault there, Mr. Reed had been buried. She could not remember him, but did remember that he was her Uncle—her mother's brother—and had taken her in when her parents had died. In his last moments, Mr. Reed begged Mrs. Reed to raise and care for Jane like one of her own children. Jane thought Mrs. Reed had done as well as her personality would allow her. Mrs. Reed saw her as an alien and an outcast in her family unit. Jane realized that Mr. Reed would have probably treated her kindly.

She looked at the bed Mr. Reed had died in and began to remember what they said about dead men who were unable to rest, especially those who had their last wishes ignored. They would often revisit the earth to punish the wicked, and Jane considered that he might appear before her in the red room. She lifted her head and looked around the dark room. A bright light gleamed on the wall. She wondered if it was the moonlight, but this light moved. It slid onto the ceiling over her head as she watched. Looking back, Jane was sure that this was a light from a lantern outside, but Jane was shaken in that moment and prepared herself for a ghost.

She panicked, rushed to the door and shook it. Bessie and Abbot entered. Bessie asked her if she was ill. Jane begged to go into the nursery, afraid that a ghost would come for her. Abbot accused her of screaming on purpose as part of a trick. Mrs. Reed arrived at that moment and told her servants the red room was meant to be locked until she came for Jane herself. She told Bessie to let Jane's hand go. Jane could not get out of the room by playing tricks on people. For her poor behaviour, Jane would be locked in the room for one more hour. Mrs. Reed pushed her back into the room and locked the door. Jane fainted.

Chapter Three:

Jane woke up feeling like she had just had a terrible nightmare. She saw a red glare with thick black bars, and heard hollow, muffled voices. Jane realized that someone was lifting her into a sitting position with more tenderness than had ever been shown to her. She realized she was in her bed. Bessie stood at the foot of the bed holding a basin. A gentleman sat in a chair near her pillow. This was Mr. Lloyd, an apothecary, who was usually called to the house when one of the servants was sick. Mr. Lloyd ordered Bessie to make sure Jane was not disturbed for the rest of the night. When he left, Jane felt very sad to lose his friendly presence. Bessie asked her if she would like to sleep. Jane told her she would try, fearful of what Bessie might say next. Bessie asked if she would like anything to drink or eat, and when Jane replied she did not need anything, Bessie assured her she could call for her anytime during the night. Jane wondered if there was something wrong with