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!!Nineteenth-Century Divorces
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!!Return to Lowood
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!!Why didn't she go to Ms. Temple?
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!!Shouldn't he just ship her off elsewhere?
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!!Helen's sickness
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!!Mrs. Reed is a spiteful, isn't she?
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** Also, even if we grant the possibility, getting a divorce granted by Act of Parliament is both (a) still not exactly easy (rich or not, you still have to, well, persuade a majority of both Houses of Parliament to agree that you should be allowed to divorce, an arduous and time-consuming process at the best of times) and (b) is a very public process. Rochester would essentially have to consent to having his dirty laundry aired in public through the democratic forum of the nation, with the result possibly being that the act might not get passed anyway. Given that he tends to be somewhat reserved and secretive, it is not a huge surprise that he might not be willing to do that.
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** Rochester clearly feels great guilt at what happened with Bertha. Presumably he has simply decided that setting her up in (relative) comfort in his palatial family estate rather than dumping her off somewhere else is the least he can do for her, and feels that any danger to himself is worth it in order to satisfy his sense of honour. Remember also that it is only relatively recently that both Adele, and consequently Jane, have moved into the estate and he spent long periods travelling away from home, so was not around to excite her passions for any meaningful period of time. Presumably Bertha was little trouble to anyone, and it is only relatively recently that events have aligned in order to make her so.
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** Rochester clearly feels great guilt at what happened with Bertha. Presumably he has simply decided that setting her up in (relative) comfort in his palatial family estate rather than dumping her off somewhere else is the least he can do for her, and feels that any danger to himself is worth it in order to satisfy his sense of honour. Remember also that it is only relatively recently that both Adele, and consequently Jane, have moved into the estate and he spent long periods travelling away from home, so was not around to excite her passions for any meaningful period of time. Presumably Bertha was relatively little trouble to anyone, anyone prior to the events of the novel, and it is only relatively recently that events have aligned in order to make her so.
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** In short: Mrs. Reed is a cruel, spiteful asshole with a special animus against her niece. She wants Jane to suffer and be alone in the world.
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** Rochester clearly feels great guilt at what happened with Bertha. Presumably he feels that setting her up in (relative) comfort in his palatial family estate rather than dumping her off somewhere else is the least he can do, and feels that any danger to himself is worth it for his sense of honour. Remember also that it is only relatively recently that both Adele, and consequently Jane, have moved into the place and he spent long periods away from the place; presumably Bertha was little trouble to anyone up to that point.
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** Rochester clearly feels great guilt at what happened with Bertha. Presumably he feels has simply decided that setting her up in (relative) comfort in his palatial family estate rather than dumping her off somewhere else is the least he can do, do for her, and feels that any danger to himself is worth it for in order to satisfy his sense of honour. Remember also that it is only relatively recently that both Adele, and consequently Jane, have moved into the place estate and he spent long periods travelling away from the place; presumably home, so was not around to excite her passions for any meaningful period of time. Presumably Bertha was little trouble to anyone up to anyone, and it is only relatively recently that point.events have aligned in order to make her so.
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** Jane mentions after Miss Temple gets married something along the lines of “I lost her.” Apparently they lost touch with each other at some point; Jane does not seem to know where she is.
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** Rochester clearly feels great guilt at what happened with Bertha. Presumably he feels that setting her up in (relative) comfort in his palatial family estate rather than dumping her off somewhere else is the least he can do, and feels that any danger to himself is worth it for his sense of honour. Remember also that it is only relatively recently that both Adele, and consequently Jane, have moved into the place and he spent long periods away from the place; presumably Bertha was little trouble to anyone up to that point.
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** Adding to this, divorces weren't quite commonplace at the time, less common among the wealthier (not the wealthiest but I figure gentries were quite wealthy) and, when they did happen, the circumstances had to be more exceptional than the usual ones. On top of this, besides societal expectations, divorces were pretty scandalous, so his reputation might have been more at stake.
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** Adding to this, while divorces weren't quite commonplace at the time, time and had to be granted in extra exceptional circumstances (like for adultery), they were even less common among the wealthier (not the wealthiest but I figure gentries were quite wealthy) and, when they did happen, the circumstances had to be more exceptional than the usual ones.wealthy). On top of this, besides societal expectations, divorces were pretty scandalous, so his reputation might have been more at stake.
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** Adding to this, locking her away in the attic was the most ''humane'' thing to do, as mental homes back then were BedlamHouse|s.
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** Adding to this, locking her away in the attic was the most ''humane'' thing to do, as mental homes back then were BedlamHouse|s. There was a progressive movement in the treatment of mental illness and nicer asylums at the time (the inspiration for the Kirkbride asylums in the U.S.), but this was just getting started in the 1840s.
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*** And of course at the real Lowood, Clergy Daughters School, several other girls ''did'' die of TB around the same time.
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*** Her deathbed confession was that she'd been literally horrified by Jane's having called her out on her abusive behavior. It wouldn't even have occurred to most children to think, let alone say anything like that at the time, especially since Jane had been taking all this shit silently for nine years. Mrs. Reed says it was as if she'd beaten an animal and it had looked up at her with human eyes and cursed her. Instead of feeling guilty, she thought of Jane as a demon, or anyway unnatural. The last thing she wanted was to think of Jane ending up with any sort of comfort or love.
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** I get that it was out of spite because Jane rightfully called her out and for plot purposes, but Mrs. Reed had a great chance to be rid of Jane, whom she finds an "burden" and Jane could've been with an nicer part of her family. Did Mrs. Reed still felt grudgingly compelled to honor her late husband's wishes? Or did she get some sick, twisted kick of reminding her that she doesn't amount to anyone.
** Iirc, Mrs. Reed always sensed/knew that her husband loved Jane, the sickly, dependent niece of his good-for-nothing sister, more than he loved his own children by her (Mrs. Reed). ''That'' was what spurred Mrs. Reed on, way past ordinary spite. She resents Jane for getting any love that could have gone to Mrs. Reed or her children. Also, the Reed children are, to a one, terribly unbalanced people, and it follows that Mrs. Reed may not have been particularly stable or logical at that point in her life.
** Iirc, Mrs. Reed always sensed/knew that her husband loved Jane, the sickly, dependent niece of his good-for-nothing sister, more than he loved his own children by her (Mrs. Reed). ''That'' was what spurred Mrs. Reed on, way past ordinary spite. She resents Jane for getting any love that could have gone to Mrs. Reed or her children. Also, the Reed children are, to a one, terribly unbalanced people, and it follows that Mrs. Reed may not have been particularly stable or logical at that point in her life.
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** I get that it was out of spite because Jane rightfully called her out and for plot purposes, but Mrs. Reed had a great chance to be rid of Jane, whom she finds an "burden" and Jane could've been with an nicer part of her family. Did Mrs. Reed still felt grudgingly compelled to honor her late husband's wishes? Or did she get some sick, twisted kick of reminding her that she doesn't amount to anyone.
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**Iirc, Ironic, Mrs. Reed always sensed/knew that her husband loved Jane, the sickly, dependent niece of his good-for-nothing sister, more than he loved his own children by her (Mrs. Reed). ''That'' was what spurred Mrs. Reed on, way past ordinary spite. She resents Jane for getting any love that could have gone to Mrs. Reed or her children. Also, the Reed children are, to a one, terribly unbalanced people, and it follows that Mrs. Reed may not have been particularly stable or logical at that point in her life.
**
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*** Let's also not forget the possibility of girls dying of typhus before they could have shown symptoms of TB.
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*** If I remember right, on her deathbed, Mrs. Reed admits that by the time Jane's uncle John tracked Jane down enough to send a letter to the Reed family for her, Jane was already in Lowood and Mrs. Reed told him she died (and proceeded to keep the fact they even asked from Jane) in the typhus outbreak out of spite.
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*** She was showing symptoms right from the time before Miss Temple invited her and Jane to tea. Miss Temple asks her how her cough is goin/if it's gotten worse and begins crying when Helen leaves because she knows she won't live much longer.
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*** She was showing symptoms right from the time before Miss Temple invited her and Jane to tea. Miss Temple asks her how her cough is goin/if going/if it's gotten worse and begins crying when Helen leaves because she knows she won't live much longer.
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*** She was showing symptoms right from the time before Miss Temple invited her and Jane to tea. Miss Temple asks her how her cough is goin/if it's gotten worse and begins crying when Helen leaves because she knows she won't live much longer.
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** If she was in a cottage near a hamlet or village, it would be small enough that Bertha could easily leave the house altogether and injure civilians/burn entire buildings down if Mrs Poole were unconscious, which would by extension be Mr Rochester's fault for not taking the appropriate steps to restrain her. If it were a cottage in the woods, escape would mean dying of exposure or starvation in the wilderness.
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**Adding to this, divorces weren't quite commonplace at the time, less common among the wealthier (not the wealthiest but I figure gentries were quite wealthy) and, when they did happen, the circumstances had to be more exceptional than the usual ones. On top of this, besides societal expectations, divorces were pretty scandalous, so his reputation might have been more at stake.
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**When I first read it, I thought Helen really died because of complications with typhus. That aside, some forms of TB are more contagious than others and, if I had to guess, Helen died just as she was showing symptoms, thus she probably didn't really live long enough to spread it.
