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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Jane Eyre, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love, Family, and Independence
Social Class and Social Rules
Gender Roles
Religion
Feeling vs. Judgment
The Spiritual and the Supernatural
Summary
Analysis
Jane stays at Gateshead for a month to settle the affairs of the Mrs. Reed's estate. Georgiana soon goes to London and eventually marries a rich gentleman. Eliza decides to enter a French convent where she eventually becomes Mother Superior.
Brontë criticizes Georgiana as just another rich aristocrat and portrays Eliza as a strict unfeeling nun in order to criticize Roman Catholicism.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
While at Gateshead, Jane gets a letter from Mrs. Fairfax that says Rochester has gone to London to buy a carriage, presumably in preparation for his marriage to Blanche. Jane fears that her days at Thornfield are numbered.
Everyone assumes Rochester will marry Blanche because she is a member of his class. Blanche, living at Thornfield, would surely send Jane away.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
On the road, Jane unexpectedly meets Rochester, who's out driving his new carriage. Rochester begs her to look at the carriage and to tell him "if you don't think it will suit Mrs. Rochester exactly." Jane is so excited to see Rochester that she exclaims how glad she is to return to him, and adds that "wherever you are is my home—my only home."
Jane's feelings for Rochester are now on full display. Yet her passionate declaration seems excessive and inappropriate since Rochester will most likely marry another woman...
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
