Chapter twenty-six starts out with the wedding of Mr. Rochester and Jane. Everything appears to be going smoothly, until the priest asks if anyone objects to the marriage. A man steps forward and proclaims that there is an issue with the wedding, but Mr. Rochester tries to continue anyway. Eventually it is uncovered that Mr. Rochester married a woman in Jamaica 15 years previously (Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha!) Mr. Rochester says that she is indeed still alive and that he knew he would be taking a second wife by marrying Jane. The wedding party goes into the house to see Bertha, and after the excitement dies down, Jane locks herself in her room. She learns a bit later that her uncle John Eyre was acquaintances with Mr. Mason, and that he had sent Mr. Mason to Thornfield to save Jane from Mr. Rochester's falsehoods.
This chapter is depressing. The mystery unfolds, and the wedding falls apart.
- What were your initial thoughts upon reading this chapter?
Chapter twenty-seven...
After locking herself in her room earlier, Jane had fallen asleep for a short time. When she awoke, she found that Mr. Rochester was waiting on the threshold of her room for her. He assures her that he never meant to hurt her, and while Jane remains silent, she admits to herself that she has forgiven him. Mr. Rochester proposes that they elope to France where they would live as husband and wife, but Jane refuses, saying that she would only be a mistress to him so long as Bertha was alive (and divorce wasn't allowed back then). Mr. Rochester, seemingly desperate, then launches into the story of his past in an attempt to explain why he doesn't consider himself married....
- This should be good. What do you expect the story will be?
...When Mr. Rochester was younger, his father was dying and unwilling to split his fortunes. Leaving everything to Mr. Rochester's elder brother, Mr. Rochester was sent to Jamaica to marry Bertha, solely for money. Foolish in his youth, Mr. Rochester thought he was in love and agreed to the marriage. After the wedding, he learned that Bertha's mother wasn't dead, as he had been told, but that she was insane and locked up in an asylum. Not only that, but Bertha's brother (not THE Mr. Mason) was mute. The wedding had been a sham. Soon after, Bertha went absolutely insane as well. After setting Bertha up in a comfortable place with someone to look after her, Mr. Rochester left town. He contemplated suicide, but instead turned to debauchery. He had many mistresses, but all were disappointments to him till he found Jane. He said that she enchanted him from the start.
Jane is torn. She wants to be with Mr. Rochester, but knows that it is wrong to do so in this manner. She tells Mr. Rochester that she is going to leave, and grabs her purse, fleeing the house.
- This chapter is perhaps even more depressing than the one previous. What do you think is going to happen now? Happily Ever After ending or Wuthering Heights ending?
In chapter twenty-eight, we find that Jane has very little money, and winds up stranded. She sleeps on the ground and begs for food. The second night that Jane is away from Thornfield, she stops on a doorstep of a small family. She asks them for food, and they deny her shelter. She cries out in anguish, and the brother of the two women in the home hears her as he approaches the house. He lets her in, and they provide Jane with food and shelter. She tells them her name is Jane Elliot.
- Why would Jane give these kind people a false name?
In chapter twenty-nine, Jane continues to stay with St. John, Mary, and Diane, and Hannah. She learns about how Diane and Mary's father had lost most of their family fortune, forcing them to become governesses to survive. St. John promises to find Jane a job so that she can live comfortably.
That's pretty much the gist of this chapter. Nothing too exciting happens, as Jane is still recuperating from the wedding fiasco.
Chapter thirty spices things back up a bit. Jane befriends Diane and Mary, but St. John still seems a bit distant. St. John finds Jane a job running a charity at a school nearby, and Jane accepts it. After a month, Diane and Mary return to their jobs as governesses, and Jane is left at the house with St. John, who might wind up taking a job overseas.
That part is boring to me... nothing too important, but then....
St. John tells his sisters as they are about to leave for their jobs that their Uncle John died and left them nothing, as he had left it to another unknown relative. (ominous music returns)
- Who is Uncle John?
- Who is the unknown relative he left his money to?
- What did Jane get herself into this time?!
Chapter thirty-one is more boring than chapter twenty-nine. Basically, Jane leaves to go to where her job is. And she hates her new job. That's all. Kinda lame. :)
That's all for this segment! Tune in for the last one!
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