Jane Eyre Plot Questions

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 5:45pm

I recently got into the Jane Eyre soundtrack after having seen it in a wonderful school production. However, listening back over the record I was confused (and I've never ready the book) to hear Rochester sing As Good As You. In that song he talks about a woman whom he loved and had a child with before she left him. However, it is later revealed that his mentally ill wife is being kept in the attic. What is the chronology of these two women in Rochester's life? And also why is Jane so willing to get back with Rochester after his wife commits suicide? It almost seems wrong. For all she knows, Rochester started that fire and killed her. Is it just because she is now dead that Jane feels okay to marry him?

[phantompenguinx]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:13pm

the woman he loved came first

and jane gets back with rochester because she loves him and god told her to do so because she heard rochester calling her

fyi, rochester didnt start the fire :) listen to poor sister

the book is also a really good read ^^ Updated On: 11/1/05 at 06:13 PM

[BroadwayDoc]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:28pm

The song 'As Good As You' is in response to Jane asking about Adele. The woman in question is, of course, Adele's mother.

An interesting side note, Adele was played on Broadway by Andrea Bowen, who currently plays Julie, Teri Hatcher's daughter on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.

[rose&lark]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:32pm

As someone who has read the book and knows the score very well (but hasn't seen the show) maybe I can help here.

Yes, Rochester doesn't start the fire. Rochester's wife, named Bertha, starts it. When Jane enters Thornfield for the first time, Bertha has already been in the attic for a while, and is insane. The song "Poor Sister," as phantompenguinx suggested, will help illustrate this.

If you haven't read the book, its quite an interesting read. So is the book that is based upon Bronte novel, called "Wide Sargasso Sea." It details one author's view of Rochester's wife, Bertha, and how she came to be in Rochester's life, and why she went insane. According to this author (can't remember her name at the moment) the name "Bertha" is bestowed upon her by Edward, it isn't her original name. Hope that helps.

Edit: BroadwayDoc, that's neat that she's now on Desperate Housewives! Talk about a switch

Updated On: 11/1/05 at 06:32 PM

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:45pm

So Rochester loved that woman, had that child, and she left him with Adelle. And then he was arranged in that marriage with Bertha? (Did he once love Bertha?) And then he falls in love with Jane?

Also: How could Jane fall back in love with a man who locked his ill wife in the attic? Updated On: 11/1/05 at 06:45 PM

[rose&lark]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:59pm

Rochester doesn't fall in love with Jane until a while after the whole thing with Bertha falls apart. As for the "Jane falling in love with someone who locked his wife in the attic," from what I remember, the novel, is sympathetic to Rochester. By the time Jane finds Edward at the end, Bertha has already died. The reason Jane walks out on him before they get married the first time is that she finds out about Bertha, and that Edward is still married to Bertha. Upset, she leaves. After the fire, and Bertha's death, Jane realizes that Edward is who she is meant to be with, and that her path in life led her to being Rochester's wife. Also, the whole treatment of the insane was different in the time period this show and book are set in, remember. For someone like Rochester, who wanted his past with Bertha hidden, it was a viable solution to his problem, in that time period. Or at least, it probably wasn't frowned upon as much as it would be today.

[phantompenguinx]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:01pm

he married bertha because his family needed him to, and he never really knew her before the marriage, but believed it was love(it wasn't)

i dont think that jane ever fell out of love with rochester, but it wasnt his fault that he didnt know about bertha's mental state, and keeping her in the attic was for the safety of everyone.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:08pm

In the novel it is clearly shown that there was no way that she could have lived with him normally, she was criminally insane really, violently attacking him when he came in starting fires etc...I don't suppose mental institutions of that time period were a particularly pleasent place anyway...

Moreover, in the novel they explain that Bertha's family actually tricked him into marrying her, her family had a long history of mental illness which they purposely hid from him, notably her mother was apparently stark raving mad, and Bertha was apparently quite beautiful and he did have feelings for her at one point, until they began living together and her onset of mental illness became impossible to ignore...

Finally, Jane Eyre is a novel based on some rather large coincidences and rather unrealistic romanticistic notions, its gained a bit of criticsim for that, but ultimatly its engaging plot,keen social commentaries, and the gorgeously brilliant writing has earned it a place amongst classics...

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:37pm

Wow guys thank you very much for all the explanations, but just once more, so the girl described in As Good As You came before Bertha? Rochester married Bertha already having Adelle?

[phantompenguinx]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:45pm

yes, then she told him she was marrying someone else then rochester married bertha, returning to thornfield. then adele's mother left him with adele. i think "perfectly nice" explains a little bit of it
Updated On: 11/1/05 at 07:45 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:53pm

yes, read the book, it's a classic!