Jane Eyre by Charlotte

45 ‘A bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany, hung with curtains of deep red damask, stood out like a tabernacle in the centre’ – the size and monumental nature of the bed is seen from a child’s perspective as something terrifying and disturbing from the world of adult taboos, particular here concerning the marriage bed and death (as Mr Reed died on this bed). The colours (white and red combined) suggest a horror of blood, which could be interpreted in a number of overlapping psychological ways, including fear of menstruation, as well as more conventional gothic terrors. Added to this is the sense of the bed as ‘a tabernacle’ which suggests an Old Testament ritual of sacrifice. Jane’s sense of self-worth and her emotional value is, in a sense, being sacrificed here by the Reed family. The ‘tabernacle’ idea also picks up on Brontë’s portrayal of Evangelical Christianity, represented in this part of the book by Miss Abbott, with its emphasis on a vengeful ‘Old Testament’ God. John Reed has drawn real blood in his assault on Jane; now she is facing a whole room that seems to represent his violent oppression and her terrors.

46 ‘I thought it like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp, Bessie’s evening stories represented as coming out of lone ferny dells in moors, and appearing before the eyes of belated travellers.’ – This is a complicated prolepsis. Jane herself will emerge from a ‘lone ferny dell’ at Whitcross, while she will appear like an ‘elf’ before Rochester when he is returning late to Thornfield. In both instances, there is a sense of a real ‘supernatural’ – or at least inexplicable – occurrence: after Whitcross, Jane is guided mysteriously to the house of her relations; at Thornfield, she and Rochester will form a bond that can unite them spiritually despite them being far apart. These ‘gothic’ details, early on associated with Bessie’s tales, therefore, provide an important backdrop to the novel.

47 ‘…some strange expedient to achieve escape from insupportable oppression – as running away, or…letting myself die.’ – Jane is frequently oppressed in the course of the novel and this usually creates a strong urge to run. She does not have the stoicism to endure, come what may, which is seen in Helen Burns. These parameters of her character are established early on.

47 ‘a heterogeneous thing…a useless thing’ – The reiteration of ‘thing’ underlines how people tend to view Jane as little more than an object, either ‘useless’ or useful to them (as is the case with Rivers).

48 ‘I thought Mr Reed’s spirit, harassed by the wrongs of his sister’s child, might quit its abode…and rise before me in this chamber’ – This is presented as childish fantasy, but there is a strong sense at times in Jane Eyre that her dead relations are looking after her in some sense, most notably when her mother speaks to her at the moment of her greatest need.
[…]