Jane Eyre: ThemeTracker

The LitCharts ThemeTracker is a mini-version of the entire LitChart. The ThemeTracker provides a quick timeline-style rundown of all the important plot points and allows you to track the themes throughout the work at a glance.

	Preface	“Currer Bell” attacks literary critics who expect authors to stick to stylistic and moral conventions.
	1	Jane is treated cruelly by her cousin John Reed and fights back when provoked. As punishment, Mrs. Reed locks Jane in the red-room.
	2	In the red-room, Jane is terrified when she thinks she sees her uncle Mr. Reed’s ghost. Jane screams and begs to be let out, but Mrs. Reed refuses.
	3	The apothecary Mr. Lloyd offers Jane a chance to attend school and gets permission from Mrs. Reed.
	4	During Jane’s interview for Lowood school with Mr. Brocklehurst, Mrs. Reed warns him that Jane is deceitful. Furious with her aunt, Jane later exposes Mrs. Reed as a hypocrite.
	5	Jane arrives at Lowood school. She meets the kindly headmistress Ms. Maria Temple. Jane spots Helen Burns reading alone and introduces herself.
	6	Jane watches Helen get punished and whipped by Miss Scatcherd. Helen describes to Jane her philosophy on suffering and hope.
	7	Mr. Brocklehurst visits Lowood and orders the students’ hair to be cut off. Mr. Brocklehurst humiliates Jane by proclaiming that she is a liar and making her stand front-and-center on a stool.
	8	Helen Burns and Ms. Temple console Jane, and they all talk and snack in Ms. Temple’s office. After writing to Mr. Lloyd, Ms. Temple announces to the whole school that Jane is innocent.
	9	In the spring, a typhus epidemic kills many Lowood students. Helen Burns dies from consumption.
	10	Eight years pass. Jane becomes a teacher at Lowood. Ms. Temple gets married and moves away. Jane advertises in the newspaper for a governess job and is contacted by Mrs. Fairfax.
	11	Jane travels to Thornfield Hall and meets Mrs. Fairfax and Adèle Varens. On a tour of the house, Jane hears strange laughter from the third floor. Mrs. Fairfax blames it on the servant Grace Poole.
	12	One night on a walk, Jane helps a mysterious rider when his horse slips on a patch of ice. The rider turns out to be Mr. Edward Rochester.
	13	Jane and Rochester speak at evening tea. Rochester is gruff and impolite. Rochester admires Jane’s portfolio of drawings.
	14	A little drunk, Rochester speaks again to Jane and more freely about his difficult past.
	15	Rochester tells Jane about his history with Céline Varens and Adèle. In the middle of the night, Jane hears demonic laughter and finds Rochester’s bedroom on fire. She saves his life.
	16	Rochester lies about what happened to the servants. Rochester leaves to join a party of aristocrats including Blanche Ingram.
	17	The party comes to Thornfield. Blanche flirts energetically with Rochester.
	18	Mr. Mason comes looking for Rochester who is away on business. A gypsy visits the party and tells everyone’s fortune. Blanche looks especially disappointed.
	19	The gypsy interviews Jane. Jane discovers that the gypsy is actually Rochester in disguise.
	20	A scream wakes everyone at midnight. Rochester again blames Grace Poole. Upstairs, Mr. Mason has been bitten and stabbed. Jane helps Rochester patch him up and send him off before dawn. Rochester tells Jane he plans to marry Blanche Ingram.
	21	Jane gets a message from Gateshead: John Reed committed suicide and Mrs. Reed is very ill. Jane visits Mrs. Reed who has been hiding a letter from Jane’s uncle, John Eyre. Mrs. Reed soon dies still hating Jane.
	22	Jane stays at Gateshead until Georgiana and Eliza leave for good. Returning to Thornfield, Jane meets Rochester on the road in his new carriage.
	23	One evening, Rochester follows Jane into the orchard to talk. Jane cries at the prospect of leaving Thornfield. Rochester reveals his real intentions: to marry Jane, not Blanche. He proposes and Jane accepts. Later, the tree they were sitting under gets split in half by lightning.
	24	Preparing for the wedding, Rochester overwhelms Jane with flattery and expensive gifts.
	25	While Rochester is away, Jane has two strange dreams and wakes up to find Bertha in her closet. Bertha tears Jane’s new wedding veil in two. Jane faints in terror. Rochester promises to explain everything to Jane a year into their marriage.
	26	Rochester and Jane go the church, but their wedding ceremony is interrupted when a London lawyer and Mr. Mason claim that Rochester is already married. Rochester takes everyone to Thornfield’s third floor and reveals Bertha Mason, who attacks him.
	27	Rochester asks Jane to escape with him to southern France but Jane refuses. Jane’s mother appears to her in a dream. Jane secretly leaves Thornfield before dawn.
	28	Jane is forced to beg for food in a strange village. She nearly starves in the wilderness. Jane finds Moor House and meets Mary, Diana, and St. John Rivers who take her in. Jane gives them a false name.
	29	Jane suffers three days of delirium. On her recovery, Jane tells St. John she has no ties to anyone in England and asks for help finding a job.
	30	Jane makes fast friends with Mary and Diana Rivers. St. John offers Jane a job as a teacher in a small, country school.
	31	Jane watches Rosamond Oliver flirt with St. John.
	32	At home, Jane draws a portrait of Rosamond for St. John and suggests he propose marriage, but St. John has other plans to become a missionary. St. John tears off a corner of Jane’s scratch drawing paper.
	33	St. John pieces together Jane’s true identity. Jane has inherited a fortune from her uncle, John Eyre. Jane discovers that Mary, Diana, and St. John are her cousins. Jane decides to split her fortune equally and live at Moor House.
	34	St. John proposes marriage to Jane and asks for her help in India. Jane does not love him and refuses.
	35	Jane almost changes her mind during St. John’s powerful reading of prayers. Suddenly, Jane hears Rochester’s disembodied voice calling for help.
	36	Jane returns to Thornfield and discovers it in ruins. Bertha burned it down and jumped off the roof. Rochester was blinded and injured in the fire.
	37	Jane finds Rochester at Ferndean. She pretends to be his servant but he recognizes her voice. Rochester proposes marriage again and Jane accepts.
	38	Rochester partially regains his sight. He and Jane have a son who inherits Rochester’s eyes. St. John occasionally sends Jane letters from India. His last letter suggests that he will soon die.

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