Jane Eyre (Chapters 8-9)

 “'Everybody, Jane? Why, there are only eighty people who have heard you

called so, and the world contains hundreds of millions.' '

But what have I to do with millions? The eighty I know despise me.'” (VIII, 58)

We are still dealing with a Jane who is rash in her judgement which is marked by a certain

hint of practicality. It is important for us to understand the difference in the worldview which

the two characters – Helen and Jane – nurture in the narrative. For Helen, the future is

something which lies with God. “I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good” (IX,

69)”, and it is this determination which allows her to resign in the face of death. However,

Jane would never be able to commit to this form of resignation as it would entail the idea of

accepting a state of solitariness. Jane’s need for association – the narrative’s attempt to fill the

lacuna caused by the absence of her parents – with people is what makes her distinct from

Helen – “'No; I know I should think well of myself; but that is not enough: if others don't love

me, I would rather die than live—I cannot bear to be solitary and hated, Helen.” (58)

However, unlike Helen, the future for Jane is still determined by a sense of uncertainty as she

fails to understand the notion of God – “Where is God? What is God?” (69)

 The way Jane responds to the punishment given to her by Brocklehurst is in

stark contrast to Helen’s punishment by Miss Scatcherd. The similarity between the

two episodes highlight the paralleling of both Jane’s and Helen’s lives, in order to

accentuate the differences that exist between the two. This distinction allows us to

understand the growth of the character of Jane in the present stage of the novel.
“Next morning, Miss Scatcherd wrote in conspicuous characters on a piece of

pasteboard the word 'Slattern,' and bound it like a phylactery round Helen's large,

mild, intelligent, and benign-looking forehead. She wore it till evening, patient,

unresentful, regarding it as a deserved punishment.” (62)

 We also see a significant shift in the way Jane talks about her past to Miss

Temple. There is a certain moderation which Jane employs in her narrative in contrast

to the expected outburst of passion which is becoming of Jane’s character. “Thus

restrained and simplified, it sounded more credible”. (60) However, the shift is crucial

to our understanding of the larger tone of the narrative of the novel where we can start

thinking about its tonal strategy. How does Bronte manage to attest a certain

credibility to her novel? Is she working with a same idea of “restrained and

simplified” narrative strategy to make it more authentic? The beginning of Chapter 10

could aid us in this question – “But this is not to be a regular autobiography: I am only

bound to invoke memory where I know her responses will possess some degree of

interest; therefore I now pass a space of eight years almost in silence” (X, 70)

 Think about the character of Miss Temple in the story. What is her role in the

growth of Jane’s character in the novel?

 Chapter 9 marks the heightening of sensibility of the two characters of Helen,

and Jane. The conversation between the two characters on Helen’s deathbed is

important to take note of. (As has been discussed in point 1 above)

 What do you think about Helen’s death in the story? Also, the subsequent

leaving of Miss Temple. Is it possible that the two incidents are related in terms of the

narrative demand of the novel? Is Bronte trying to do something through these

seemingly “necessary” events?