Explain how Bronte makes character appearances important to the structure of the novel to the novel as a whole. Consider the absence and reappearance of these characters: Helen Burns, Bessie Leaven, Mrs. Reed, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers.
Charlotte Bronte utilizes the absences and reappearances of certain characters to propel the events that shape Jane Eyre’s life. One of Jane’s most life changing events is when she meets Mr. Rochester. Her evolution as a character when she is with Rochester is not simple nor is it due to one chance encounter, but rather it is based on the sudden absence and then sudden reappearance of him. Jane’s evolution is important to the structure of the novel because she desires to be with him after meeting him.
Her very first encounter with Mr. Rochester was quite peculiar. Jane is on her way from delivering a letter when she encounters a mysterious man who is in trouble. Jane assists the man who then disappears; however, Jane cannot stop thinking about this man. When she returns to Thornfield,she is surprised to meet the mysterious man, whom she did not think she would re-encounter, situated in the house. He turns out to be Mr. Rochester a man who plays a major role in Jane’s life. Because Jane could not originally stop thinking about Mr. Rochester after their chance encounter on the road, Jane starts to exhibit signs of desire for him, though at this time she wishes to maintain a professional relationship as employer and employee.
At one point in the novel, Mr. Rochester throws a party, a typical Victorian style party filled with the mingling of strangers and the game of charades. Amidst all of the party antics, Mr. Rochester slips away and soon after a gypsy lady arrives and insists on telling the fortunes of all the ladies at the party. The last one to have their fortune told is Jane. While Jane is with the gypsy lady, it is revealed that it was actually Mr. Rochester imitating one to have some fun with his guests. His appearance as a gypsy lady was to coax his guest and try to instill the idea in Jane that her one love, insinuating that it is Rochester, is close by. In this scene, the purpose of Rochester’s absence was to have Jane reveal her true feelings toward Rochester. Although the primary objective did not work, Rochester’s suddenly revealing that he was the gypsy lady proved to effective in inducing Jane’s feelings for Mr. Rochester.
In another day, Mr. Rochester appears at Jane’s door one evening asking her to accompany him to a room. She obliges, not knowing exactly why he has asked her. When they arrive at a room situated on the third floor, there is a man, who is later revealed to be Mr. Mason, soaked in blood. Rochester asks Jane to tend to his wound while he sends for a doctor. Jane, without a second thought, complies. There is, however, one thing that Rochester strongly demands, that Jane not speak one word to Mr. Mason nor should Mr. Mason speak to Jane. With that said, Rochester disappears for several hours, as Jane recollects, she could not remember how many hours it had been that he had been gone.The fact that Jane complies with staying in a room for hours with a complete stranger who is wounded shows that she longs for Mr. Rochester. She follows his requests even though it falls out of her job description. Her relationship is no longer just employer and employee, it is something more.
Charlotte Bronte enunciates certain characters’, such as Mr. Rochester’s, absence and reappearance because they help shape the structure of the novel by portraying Jane’s evolution through the novel. Each event with Mr. Rochester touches Jane with enough emotion to cause her to recollect them with such detail and shows how she goes from wanting to maintain a professional relationship to desiring something more. With such desires and growth as a character, the structure of Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre envelops Jane’s ever-changing life.
