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Dramatic Irony
Key Examples in Jane Eyre
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Jane and Bertha:
Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason are foils for one another, representing opposite responses to Mr. Rochester's bad behavior toward them. For example, when Jane finds out in Chapter 26 that Mr. Rochester is already married, she remains composed:
My nerves vibrated to those low-spoken words as they had never vibrated to thunder – my blood felt their subtle violence as it had never felt frost or fire; but I was collected, and in no danger of swooning.
Related Themes:
Chapter 30
Explanation and Analysis—Rochester and St. John:
Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers are foils for one another, representing stormy emotions on the one hand and detached rationality on the other. An example of St. John's detached rationality occurs in Chapter 30, when the narrator tries to describe one of St. John's sermons:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When he had done, instead of feeling better, calmer, more enlightened by his discourse, I experienced an inexpressible sadness: for it seemed to me – I know not whether equally so to others – that the eloquence to which I had been listening had sprung from a depth where lay turbid dregs of disappointment, where moved troubling impulses of insatiate yearnings and disquieting aspirations.
Related Themes:
Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Rochester and St. John:
Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers are foils for one another, representing stormy emotions on the one hand and detached rationality on the other. An example of St. John's detached rationality occurs in Chapter 30, when the narrator tries to describe one of St. John's sermons:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When he had done, instead of feeling better, calmer, more enlightened by his discourse, I experienced an inexpressible sadness: for it seemed to me – I know not whether equally so to others – that the eloquence to which I had been listening had sprung from a depth where lay turbid dregs of disappointment, where moved troubling impulses of insatiate yearnings and disquieting aspirations.
Related Themes:
