Text A Jane’s Choice

—from Jane Eyre(Chapter 37)

Charlotte Bront?

[1]“Will you have a little more water, sir? I spilt half of what was in the glass,”I said.

[2]“Who is it? What is it? Who speaks?”

[3]“Pilot knows me, and John and Mary know I am here.I came only this evening,”I answered.

[4]“Great God!—What delusion has come over me? What sweet madness has seized me?”

[5]“No delusion—no madness: your mind, sir, is too strong for delusion, your health too sound for frenzy.”

[6]“And where is the speaker? Is it only a voice? Oh! I cannot see, but I must feel, or my heart will stop and my brain burst.Whatever—whoever you are—be perceptible to the touch or I cannot live!”

[7]He groped; I arrested his wandering hand, and prisoned it in both mine.

[8]“Her very fingers!”he cried; “her small, slight fingers! If so there must be more of her.”

[9]The muscular hand broke from my custody; my arm was seized, my shoulder—neck—waist—I was entwined and gathered to him.

[10]“Is it Jane? What is it? This is her shape—this is her size—”

[11]“And this her voice,”I added.“She is all here: her heart, too.God bless you, sir! I am glad to be so near you again.”

[12]“Jane Eyre!—Jane Eyre,”was all he said.

[13]“My dear master,”I answered, “I am Jane Eyre: I have found you out—I am come back to you.”

[14]“In truth?—in the flesh? My living Jane?”

[15]“You touch me, sir,—you hold me, and fast enough: I am not cold like a corpse, nor vacant like air, am I?”

[16]“My living darling! These are certainly her limbs, and these her features; but I cannot be so blest, after all my misery.It is a dream; such dreams as I have had at night when I have clasped her once more to my heart, as I do now; and kissed her, as thus—and felt that she loved me, and trusted that she would not leave me.”

[17]“Which I never will, sir, from this day.”

[18]“Never will, says the vision? But I always woke and found it an empty mockery; and I was desolate and abandoned—my life dark, lonely, hopeless—my soul athirst and forbidden to drink—my heart famished and never to be fed.Gentle, soft dream, nestling in my arms now, you will fly, too, as your sisters have all fled before you: but kiss me before you go—embrace me, Jane.”

[19]“There, sir—and there!”

[20]I pressed my lips to his once brilliant and now rayless eyes—I swept his hair from his brow, and kissed that too.He suddenly seemed to arouse himself: the conviction of the reality of all this seized him.

[21]“It is you—is it, Jane? You are come back to me then?”

[22]“I am.”

[23]“And you do not lie dead in some ditch under some stream? And you are not a pining outcast amongst strangers?”

[24]“No, sir! I am an independent woman now.”

[25]“Independent! What do you mean, Jane?”

[26]“My uncle in Madeira is dead, and he left me five thousand pounds.”

[27]“Ah! This is practical—this is real!”he cried: “I should never dream that.Besides, there is that peculiar voice of hers, so animating and piquant, as well as soft: it cheers my withered heart; it puts life into it.—What, Janet! Are you an independent woman? A rich woman?”

[28]“Quite rich, sir.If you won’t let me live with you, I can build a house of my own close up to your door, and you may come and sit in my parlour when you want company of an evening.”

[29]“But as you are rich, Jane, you have now, no doubt, friends who will look after you, and not suffer you to devote yourself to a blind lameter like me?”

[30]“I told you I am independent, sir, as well as rich: I am my own mistress.”

[31]“And you will stay with me?”

[32]“Certainly—unless you object.I will be your neighbour, your nurse, your housekeeper.I find you lonely: I will be your companion—to read to you, to walk with you, to sit with you, to wait on you, to be eyes and hands to you.Cease to look so melancholy, my dear master; you shall not be left desolate, so long as I live.”

[33]He replied not: he seemed serious—abstracted; he sighed; he half-opened his lips as if to speak: he closed them again.I felt a little embarrassed.Perhaps I had too rashly overleaped conventionalities; and he, like St.John, saw impropriety in my inconsiderateness.I had indeed made my proposal from the idea that he wished and would ask me to be his wife: an expectation, not the less certain because unexpressed, had buoyed me up, that he would claim me at once as his own.But no hint to that effect escaping him and his countenance becoming more overcast, I suddenly remembered that I might have been all wrong, and was perhaps playing the fool unwittingly; and I began gently to withdraw myself from his arms—but he eagerly snatched me closer.

[34]“No—no—Jane; you must not go.No—I have touched you, heard you, felt the comfort of your presence—the sweetness of your consolation: I cannot give up these joys.I have little left in myself—I must have you.The world may laugh—may call me absurd, selfish—but it does not signify.My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame.”

[35]“Well, sir, I will stay with you: I have said so.”

[36]“Yes—but you understand one thing by staying with me; and I understand another.You, perhaps, could make up your mind to be about my hand and chair—to wait on me as a kind little nurse (for you have an affectionate heart and a generous spirit, which prompt you to make sacrifices for those you pity), and that ought to suffice for me no doubt.I suppose I should now entertain none but fatherly feelings for you: do you think so? Come—tell me.”

[37]“I will think what you like, sir: I am content to be only your nurse, if you think it better.”

[38]“But you cannot always be my nurse, Janet: you are young—you must marry one day.”

[39]“I don’t care about being married.”

[40]“You should care, Janet: if I were what I once was, I would try to make you care—but—a sightless block!”

[41]He relapsed again into gloom.I, on the contrary, became more cheerful, and took fresh courage: these last words gave me an insight as to where the difficulty lay; and as it was no difficulty with me, I felt quite relieved from my previous embarrassment.I resumed a livelier vein of conversation.

After You Read

Knowledge Focus

1.Pair work: Discuss the following questions with your partner.

1)Why did Jane return to see Rochester?

2)Was Rochester aware of Jane’s presence immediately? Why or why not?

3)How did Rochester react to Jane’s coming back to him?

4)What made Jane an independent woman?

5)Why did Jane feel she made a fool of herself unwittingly?

6)What led Rochester to suppress his wish to marry Jane?

7)Do you think Jane and Rochester would get married? Why or why not?

8)What does the dialogue between Jane and Rochester reveal?

9)What do you think about the heroine Jane?

10)What do you think about the use of language in this text?

2.Pair work: Charlotte Bront? structures the thirty-eight chapter novel according to stages in Jane Eyre’s life.Read the following stages and see if you can arrange them in the correct order.

These stages center on Jane as a

a.Child and adolescent student at Lowood Orphan Asylum.

b.Wanderer through the moors after leaving Thornfield Hall.Tired, lacking food, she becomes deathly ill.

c.Sojourner at the home of St.John, Diana, and Mary Rivers, where Jane recovers.

d.Teenage governess and teacher at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her employer, Edward Rochester.

e.Maltreated child in the home of Mrs.Sarah Reed.

f.Fulfilled young woman at Ferndean Manor after reuniting with and marrying Rochester.

Here is the right order:___________________________________________________

3.Solo work: Complete the summary below with the words in the word bank.

tray

Rochester　disconsolate　previous

spirit　approaches　realizes

　specter

Jane goes to Ferndean.From a distance, she sees 1) reach a hand out of the door, testing for rain.His body looks the same, but his face is desperate and 2).Rochester returns inside, and Jane 3) the house.She knocks, and Mary answers the door.Inside, Jane carries a 4) to Rochester, who is unable to see her.When he 5) that Jane is in the room with him, he thinks she must be a ghost or 6) speaking to him.When he catches her hand, he takes her in his arms, and she promises never to leave him.The next morning they walk through the woods, and Jane tells Rochester about her experiences the 7) year.She has to assure him that she is not in love with St.John.He asks her again to marry him, and she says yes—they are now free from the 8) of Bertha Mason.

Language Focus

1.Fill in the blanks with the following words you have learned from the text.

frenzy

grope

　entwine　nestle

outcast

piquant　unwittingly　snatch

prompt　corpse

1)He _____ the photos out of my hand before I had a chance to look at them.

2)Bregenz is a pretty Austrian town that _____ between the Alps and Lake Constance.

3)The spacious room in which we sit is pervaded by the _____ scent of freshly cut white carnations.

4)A gunman killed ten people in a murderous _____ today in Los Angeles.

5)Revelations over the minister’s affair with a young mistress _____ calls for his resignation.

6)The picture captured the two lovers _____ on a balcony.

7)Months afterwards her dismembered _____ was recovered from a beach cave.

8)She _____ for her glasses on the bedside table.

9)I regret any anxiety or concern which I may, _____, have caused.

10)She has spent her life trying to help gypsies, beggars and other social _____.

2.Complete the following sentences with the proper forms of the given words.

1)Unfortunately he is labouring under the _____ (delude) that his students enjoy his lessons.

2)There was a barely _____ (perceive) movement in his right arm.

3)She agreed with him, but there was _____ (mock) in her eyes.

4)The rider really tries to settle down to ranching, but finds himself _____ (pine) for the rodeo.

5)His promotion has provoked _____ (animate) discussion among us.

6)There was anger at the _____ (propose) that a UN peace-keeping force should be sent to the area.

7)He made some _____ (considerate) remarks about her appearance.

8)Your kindness was a _____ (console) to me in my grief.

9)The long drought _____ (famine) many people.

10)There was evidence that such _____ (convention) approach might work.

3.Complete the sentences with the proper forms of the expressions listed below.

take vengeance on　claim... as　wait on　clasp... to

withdraw... from

make sacrifice for　to that effect

relapse... into

　relieve... from

　buoy... up

1)Then you have some secret hope to _____ you _____ and please you with whispers of the future.

2)Several witnesses have withdrawn their testimonies and signed notarized written statements _____.

3)Two things should happen in this dangerous environment to prevent _____ back _____ crisis.

4)It’s fine to respect the opinion of a friend or an authority figure, but until you are more experienced, don’t _____ their opinions _____ your own.

5)He _____ his enemies and made atonement for his land and people.

6)A lot of men hope that their wives will _____ them.

7)Eleven million bottles of water had to be _____ sale due to health scare.

8)If you become a soldier, you may have to _____ your country.

9)_____ him _____ your heart and bless him.

10)Multiple cultures would bring in more tolerance, more learning and you have to _____ yourself _____ stress.

4.Explain the underlined words.

1)I arrested his wandering hand, and prisoned it in both mine.

2)These are certainly her limbs, and these her features.

3)He suddenly seemed to arouse himself: the conviction of the reality of all this seized him.

4)You may come and sit in my parlour when you want company of an evening.

5)I suppose I should now entertain none but fatherly feelings for you.

Comprehensive Work

1.Pair work: Choose the themes suited for the excerpt from the following themes of Jane Eyre and elaborate on it with your partner.

Integrity

Love

　Social class　Deception

Selfishness　Self-reliance

Women’s rights

Struggling against adversity　Paranormal phenomena

2.Group work: Read the following passage on Gothic novels, and then introduce a Gothic novel you know to your group members.

A Gothic novel focuses on dark, mysterious, terrifying events.The story unfolds at one or more spooky sites, such as a dimly lit castle, an old mansion on a hilltop, a misty cemetery, a forlorn countryside, or the laboratory of a scientist conducting frightful experiments.In some Gothic novels, characters imagine that they see ghosts and monsters.In others, the ghosts and monsters are real.The weather in a Gothic novel is often dreary or foul: There may be high winds that rattle windowpanes, electrical storms with lightning strikes, and gray skies that brood over landscapes.The Gothic novel derives its name from the Gothic architectural style popular in Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries.Gothic structures—such as cathedrals—featured cavernous interiors with deep shadows, stone walls that echoed the footsteps of worshippers, gargoyles looming on exterior ledges, and soaring spires suggestive of a supernatural presence.

3.Solo work: Writing activity.

Most people prefer restrictions and regulations to absolute freedom of choice, although they would probably deny such a preference.Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Write an essay of 250 words to air your views.

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