Chapter 11

People:

• Mrs. Fairfax
• Mr. Rochester
• Adele
• John and his wife
• Leah
• Grace
• Sophie

What is your reaction to Mrs. Fairfax according to this chapter?
-Mrs. Fairfax seems to be a benevolent women looking for company. She is welcoming and considerate of others just like she was with Jane. Also, she is loyal to Mr. Rochester and the family. Although Mrs. Fairfax is kind and all, i feel like there is another side to her or she seems suspicious.
How is Jane able to have a good relationship with her pupil Adele after just meeting her?
-Adele primarily communicates in French and luckily Jane knows how to speak it so the two is able to interact well and start off on the right foot.
Places:

1. How is it apparent that Jane views the phyisical appearance of Thornfield superior to that of Gateshead?

•  First of, Jane extensively describes every aspect of Thornfield that she notices and it is all in a more positive manner. She is awestruck by how nice the decor of the house is as well as the vast and varied scenery that is outside. Jane puts more attention on the details of the inside of Thornfield, whereas when she lived at Gateshead, she focused on all that was outside as she was desperate to escape. The only curious thing Jane compares to Gateshead is her superstious thought that there was a ghost laughing in one of the bedrooms.

Summary:

• After departing the school, Jane arrives in Millcote.  While in Millcote, she anxiously awaits someone to pick her up to bring her to Thornfield.  Thornfield is a bug estate.  On the Estate, a widow named Mrs Fairfax presides.  Her role is to overlook the activities at Thornfield while its owner, Mr. Rochester is away.  At Thornfield, Jane meets her new student, Adele.  Adele is a French orphan girl.  During Jane’s stay at Thornfield,  Mrs. Fairfax shows her the property.  Jane learns that a mysterious woman named Grace lives in the upper stories of the house.  There is an eerie laugh that seems to come from her quarters.  In How to Read Like a Professor, there is a chapter on communion being a sign of intimacy.  Jane learns to values the companionship of Mrs Fairfax.  Their companionship is reflective in the amount of times they eat together at Thornfield.

Personal Reaction:

1. What do you think is the significance of the narrator addressing the audience directly? (She talks to the reader as if she is literally telling a story)

• As Jane waits, she talks to the audience, making it evident that she is nervous for her first day at this new house that she has never been to before. It is significant in the sense that it gives the reader insight into what Jane is thinking, rather than describing her from a third-person point of view as she sits, anxiously waiting. I believe that it is also because it is during an event that is a turning point in her life, like when she had applied for her job at Thornfield and declared her independence from Lowood. (Monica)
•  (Ryan): The significance of the narrator doing this to so the audience has a  better and more clear evaluation of what is going on in the story, so she does not lose us. It also goes to serve for the reader to relate with her more and acknowledge what she really is thinking about. I see this as like an aside like in plays.
• It heightens her anxiety as she is waiting.  She is a deserted figure at that point of the novel since her future is uncertain since no one is there to pick her up.  When she talks to the reader, it is as if she is consoling herself in her isolations. (Nicole)
• Jane begins talking directly to the audience in order to better express her nervousness and anxiety for this new chapter in her life. This also illustrates a sense of loneliness as she has no one else to express her feelings to. By speaking directly to the audience, the novel becomes more of a sort of diary of Jane Eyre.  (Gloria)

    2.  By the contrasting tones that Jane exemplifies during her observations of Thornfield, how do you 

         feel about her new home?

• As she is introduced to Thornfield for the first time, Jane describes it as a beautiful house and is much more fancy than she had expected. These admiring tones are then contrasted when she is creeped out by the house at times. She talks about how the house is eerie in all aspects from the house itself to the family that once lived in it. The history of the house that remains a mystery at this point of the novel adds to the eerie feeling. (Monica)  
• I think her home is quite grand.  I think it is picturesque.  Although it is dark on her arrival, it is noted that the house is lavishly furnished.  The yard is also quite expansive.  (Nicole)
• I think as she is very observant and descriptive of all of Thornfield, she is generally satisfied with what will be her new home. She does acknowledge that it is somewhat similar in its greatness as that of Gateshead, however, she never applied as much details and significance to Gateshead. As the appearance has already attracted Jane to Thornfield, it seems to be that she will live contently there.  (Gloria)

Vocabulary:

"And prevented my impediments from returning to that it has quitted"

•     Impediments: A hindrance; that which impedes or hinders progress

"A Large cat sat demurely at her feet"

•     Demurely: Quiet, modest, reserved, or serious

"The staircase window was high and latticed"

•  Decorative technique consisting of a series of diagonal crossbars.

"My faculties, roused by the change of scene,"

• Faculties:  innate or acquired ability to act or do

"And that my new pupil would not at least recoil from me with antipathy"

• Antipathy: A deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion

"Represented a grim man in a cuirass and one lady with powdered hair"

• Cuirass: medieval body armor that covers the chest and back

"The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields""

•      Embrowned: To make brown or dusky

"The enigma then explained:"

•     Enigma: mystery: something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained

"By the gaiety of her demeanour"

•     Gaiety: State of being happy

"Portraying effigies of strange flowers"

•     Effigy: a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture)

Chapter 11

• People: Ryan
• Places: Gloria
• Summary: Nicole
• Personal Reaction: Monica
• Vocabulary: Rebecca