Style Discussion: Ch 12-22

Catching Up on Plot

For my readers who have not yet read it, I want to give a general overview of the first half of Jane Eyre. You may skip these first two paragraphs if you so please; they will not provide any depth to this blog. (I’ll start from the beginning for those who didn’t read my blog on character.) Jane Eyre is an orphaned girl in the 19th century English countryside who leaves the abusive care of the Reed family (headed by her Aunt… in-law) and is educated for 8 years in the dismal conditions of Lowood Academy. At age 18, she seeks work, becoming a governess at Thornfield Manor, the property of a typically absent Mr. Rochester.

In my second reading, Jane settled into life at Thornfield, eventually making the acquaintance of Mr. Rochester. Though around double her age, Rochester takes an interest in Jane because her company is unlike any other’s. Eventually, Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester. She saves him from an attempted murder by arson but Mr. Rochester subsequently leaves Thornfield and returns with a large party of social elites. Mr. Rochester entertains his guests while Jane keeps relatively distant. This is until a scuffle in the night yields Richard Mason (an unwanted guest) injured by a mysterious woman. 

In another sudden change in plot, Jane must return to the Reed family at Gateshead hall to provide comfort in wake of her cousin John’s death and dying aunt. The reading, however, finished at Thornfield with the promise that Mr. Rochester was to be married to Blanche Ingram (one of the guests at Thornfield).

Style

With tons of character development and imagery, this most recent section of Jane Eyre, was a mountain of work. Never before in my life have I read something so densely packed with semicolons, em dashes, colons and commas… with the exception of the previous Chapters 1-11. There may have been more punctuation than there were nouns. And still more adjectives.

The general impact this left on me was that Brontë’s style is geared toward the educated. It uses long sentences and detailed descriptions in order to generate a more formal and refined tone.

While it originally seemed daunting to me that punctuation had increased tenfold from my normal readings, in the grand scheme of things, I think these long sentences flow together very well. Moreover, they establish an air of 19th century literature that I would be off put without. A large fraction of my understanding of Jane Eyre has come from the knowledge that social propriety and elaborate displays were highly valued at the time. Thus, without her long and flowery style, Jane would be placed in an entirely different social class by the reader. It is crucial to understanding Jane’s character that we understand that she thinks in a very voluminous thinker and has an observant manner.

As an afterthought, I went back to the preface of my copy of Jane Eyre. Here, I found a “miscellaneous remark” from the second edition preface written by Currier Bell (Brontë’s pen name).

“These things and deeds [conventionality and morality] are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as vice is from virtue. Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines… should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ” (4).

This remark made me realize that Brontë’s style is very profound. Brontë uses specific word choice to emphasize a clear, refined point. It is easy to derive meaning from her remarks because she often repeats and develops her ideas through lists. It also made me realize that Jane’s criticism of the Reed family and undeserving members of high society follow similar stylistic patterns to this excerpt. This implies two things. The first is the obvious: that the preface and novel share a similar tone of criticism or wisdom.

The second thing I gained from reading the preface is that Brontë is very similar to Jane (I think). Jane is a tool used by Brontë to express her ideas about social norms. I think she writes Jane as unconventional because she wants to express her own experience with the appearances of social propriety versus morality. The similarity in style between how Brontë addresses her audience and how Jane narrates her story makes me think that Brontë and Jane both are formed from similar minds and similar educational experiences. In short, they think similarly.


This brings me to the most important aspect of Brontë’s style for Jane Eyre: Point of view. Halfway through the book, it is more than obvious that Jane Eyre would not be the same without direct insights into the mind of Jane Eyre. First person narration makes it so that the reader knows only what can be surmised from Jane’s thoughts. And, Jane’s thoughts are typically very observant, making her story loaded with imagery. In this fashion, she gives us an excess of character description and in the case of her walk to Hay (the town), setting details.

“On the hill-top above me sat the rising moon; pale yet as a cloud, but brightening momently; she looked over Hay, which, half lost in trees, sent up a blue smoke from its few chimneys; it was yet a mile distant, but in the absolute hush I could hear plainly its thin murmurs of life” (113).

This walk to Hay was the first time where I noticed that Jane was being observant beyond that of her social awareness. This made Jane more unique in my mind because she is aware of her whole environment. Jane’s detailed and positive word choice shows her appreciation of nature, making her seem more calm and down-earth. 

These traits clarify to me that Jane has character beyond social interactions: that she doesn’t adhere solely to appearances. Jane’s excess of observations show that she does not focus on conventions but rather “life." In fact, her entire walk to town denoted abnormal behavior (for a governess). If we were to hear about this walk from another perspective, we would gain criticism, not respect for Jane.


Another important thing to note about perspective is that Jane is telling this story in retrospect. While the most clear tell of this is the past tense, sometimes Jane gives insights into her own change in situation, saying that “in those days I was young '' (113) admitting that she was naive. 

In this manner, her descriptions of Mr. Rochester’s appearance change from ugly to ruggedly handsome. Her changes in opinion are reflected through a change of diction. Originally, he is described with “stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful and thwarted” (115).

Later on this unemotional and dark description changes. She admits that her love for him unintentionally grew and that simultaneously “his eyes grew both brilliant and gentle, its ray both searching and sweet” (175). In the greater parts of this key passage, which reveals love and juxtaposes Mr. Rochester with the guests, I found many other major aspects of Jane Eyre’s style

The first two of which are her direct address of the reader and her own changes. She states that she “had not intended to love him; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate for my soul the germs of love there detected…” (175). This important quote emphasizes how Jane is telling the story directly to the reader as an autobiography and does not ignore that there is an audience. Thus, I think that means that she feels she has a message to give. I think this will be developed more later on. Likely, it will have to do with the ways she changed.

Additionally, she is very questioning in this passage… lots of question marks when it comes to her own feelings. In comparing Mr. Rochester to his elite counterparts, she wonders whether appearances of wealth and power attract her to him. In effort to be a little more brief, I will simply say that this use of questioning reflects how introspective Jane is.



As a couple of final notes, I would like to give my opinions on the style thus far. For one, I think I prefer the dialogue to the description. There’s nothing worse than seeing a page full of words. I like the wit of Jane’s conversations and how they are emphasized with tone rather than imagery. The dialogue is much more quickly paced too. They use less words to say more.

Finally, I wanted to go on a tangent about a part of Jane Eyre that I found humorous. Particularly, a scene in which Mr. Rochester disguises himself as a fortune teller, fooling his guests and trying to get Jane to speak candidly. While I recognize that this event showed character, in my opinion it also boosted the entertainment value of this book. I can imagine Brontë sitting down to write and thinking ‘wouldn’t this be so ridiculous.’ I think there is a certain humor  to unconventionality that she may be recognizing here.

While it’s probably my own supposition, I’d like to think that at least a fraction of Jane Eyre was written without the direct intent of achieving a theme; possibly to just be intellectually stimulating and entertaining.