Chapter eleven

Jane travels to Thornfield and meets Miss Fairfax for the first time, but is accidentally mislead about her job, and Jane thinks her to own Thornfield. Jane meets Adela, a little french child that Jane must govern. Jane is given a tour of Thornfield, and hears a strange laugh that is said to be Grace Poole

Themes

Mrs Fairfax's feeling of isolation is emphasised, as Thornfield is quite out of the way and not many people visit, and the servants aren't that talkative. This shows how Jane may feel later on at Thornfield, suggesting that maybe she moved from on place of isolation to another.

characters

As you are in a new act, as it were, there are quite a few new characters...

• Mrs Fairfax, the lady who meets Jane at Thornfield, Jane mistakes her for the owner of the house, but in reality she is the house keeper, like a manager. She is addressed as 'Mrs' but later says that she has no family, so where her husband, if she ever had one, is a slight mystery. She seems to be a stereotypical old woman from that period, complete with the cat and the knitting.
• Adela is Jane's pupil, the whole reason she is at Thornfield. Mr Rochester's ward, she originally came from France,and when she arrived at Thornfield six months ago, she knew no English. Her mother is dead (this is contested later on in the book), and she seems to be a very stereotypical young french girl, very excitable and perhaps slightly pushy.
• You also briefly meet grace Poole, a very mysterious character, of whom you know nothing about for most of the novel. Her laugh is the first thing you hear of her

Places

We are now at Thornfield, the house that Mr Rochester owns. Not much description is given about the front of the building, but inside seems to be a grand place, with drafty corridors and "a very chill and vault-like air", as it is empty but for a few people. Individual rooms ,however, seem much cosier, Jane seems particularly fond of her room, describing it as "such a bright little place"

Narrative Voice

Jane seems quite excited in this chapter, as she is in a new and interesting place, as so there are lots of descriptions, but not of them too long, as she is off again, talking about something else. The language used represents this, as she uses happy words to describe things

Words and Phrases i liked

I like Jane's description of the grounds, with the azure sky, velvet lawn that surrounds the house, and the path, "greener with moss than the trees with foliage", as it creates such a wonderful image

Response

Not a bad chapter, i liked the way the narrator seemed excited, as you start to get caught up in it as well. Everything happens rather fast in this chapter, so there is less description, which is not necessarily a bad thing