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Dramatic Irony
Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
First Entry
Explanation and Analysis—Jane's Breakdown:
The story’s setting—both the neglected estate and the disheveled room where Jane is staying—foreshadow Jane’s eventual mental breakdown. Although the estate reminds Jane of “English places you read about,” it has apparent flaws, which Jane mentions in her first diary entry:
There were greenhouses, too, but they are all broken now. There was some legal trouble […] the place has been empty for years.
Though the estate is large and beautiful, it’s also in disrepair and has seemingly been abandoned “for years.” Moreover, the property is secluded: it stands “well back” from the closest road, and it is removed by three miles from the closest village. The estate effectively captures how Jane will live while she’s a resident there. Much like the house, Jane will be “quite alone,” as her husband, John, will restrict her to a room to recover from postpartum depression and won’t allow her to socialize with friends or family. Furthermore, just as the house appears to be beautiful on the outside but actually feels “haunted” and unwelcoming inside, Jane will represent herself as doing well in her diary entries when, in fact, she is gradually going mad.
In addition to the estate as a whole, Jane’s bedroom inside the mansion also foreshadows her eventual descent into madness. Jane informs the reader that the room initially served as a nursery and then as some sort of a playroom or school. She assumes this to be the case based on her observation, but the room provides clues as to its actual use and what Jane will experience inside it. Jane's description of the room in her second entry is foreboding:
The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they must have had perseverance as well as hatred. Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars.
As Jane describes, the room is unkempt and was heavily damaged by a past tenant (or multiple tenants). The implication is that the room wasn’t actually used as a nursery—rather, it was probably used to confine other mentally ill people in the past, and it's possible that the damage was caused by them acting out or trying to escape. Jane’s room thus ominously foreshadows her own torturous solitude and eventual descent into madness as she’s forcibly kept here.
Related Themes:
Second Entry
Explanation and Analysis—Jane's Breakdown:
The story’s setting—both the neglected estate and the disheveled room where Jane is staying—foreshadow Jane’s eventual mental breakdown. Although the estate reminds Jane of “English places you read about,” it has apparent flaws, which Jane mentions in her first diary entry:
There were greenhouses, too, but they are all broken now. There was some legal trouble […] the place has been empty for years.
Though the estate is large and beautiful, it’s also in disrepair and has seemingly been abandoned “for years.” Moreover, the property is secluded: it stands “well back” from the closest road, and it is removed by three miles from the closest village. The estate effectively captures how Jane will live while she’s a resident there. Much like the house, Jane will be “quite alone,” as her husband, John, will restrict her to a room to recover from postpartum depression and won’t allow her to socialize with friends or family. Furthermore, just as the house appears to be beautiful on the outside but actually feels “haunted” and unwelcoming inside, Jane will represent herself as doing well in her diary entries when, in fact, she is gradually going mad.
In addition to the estate as a whole, Jane’s bedroom inside the mansion also foreshadows her eventual descent into madness. Jane informs the reader that the room initially served as a nursery and then as some sort of a playroom or school. She assumes this to be the case based on her observation, but the room provides clues as to its actual use and what Jane will experience inside it. Jane's description of the room in her second entry is foreboding:
The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they must have had perseverance as well as hatred. Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars.
As Jane describes, the room is unkempt and was heavily damaged by a past tenant (or multiple tenants). The implication is that the room wasn’t actually used as a nursery—rather, it was probably used to confine other mentally ill people in the past, and it's possible that the damage was caused by them acting out or trying to escape. Jane’s room thus ominously foreshadows her own torturous solitude and eventual descent into madness as she’s forcibly kept here.
Related Themes:
