What happens in Chapter XXVII of Jane Eyre?
The chapter begins with Jane isolated in her room, having gone without food or drink all day. When she finally opens the door, she stumbles, and Mr. Rochester, who has been waiting outside, catches her. He carries her to the library, where he offers her wine and food while trying to persuade her. Jane resists his advances, insisting she must leave, but Rochester argues that his marriage to Bertha Mason was a sham orchestrated by his father and brother for her thirty-thousand-pound dowry. He recounts being sent to Jamaica, marrying Bertha without truly knowing her, and later discovering that her mother was mad, her brother an imbecile, and Bertha herself soon exhibiting violent insanity. After four years, he finds himself wealthy but tied to a woman whose excesses had "prematurely developed the germs of insanity." He recalls a night of despair in the West Indies, which led him to resolve to bring Bertha to Thornfield, employ Grace Poole as her caretaker, and travel through Europe in search of a woman he could truly love—taking three mistresses (Céline Varens, Giacinta, and Clara) but finding no satisfaction. He tells of first seeing Jane on the stile in Hay Lane and falling for her. He pleads with her to join him at a villa in the south of France as his wife in all but name. Jane firmly refuses, stating she will not be his mistress. After a painful struggle—Rochester physically holding her back and Jane invoking God—she remains steadfast. That night, she dreams of a moonlit maternal figure who urges her to "flee temptation." Before dawn, she packs a small parcel, takes twenty shillings, and quietly slips out of Thornfield. She heads to a road, flags down a coach bound for a place where Rochester has no ties, and departs, tears streaming down her face.
Analysis
Told from Jane's perspective, the famous line — "Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot" — creates a sense of closeness while also showcasing Jane's moral self-awareness, even in extreme circumstances.
Rochester's confession is a carefully constructed embedded narrative, moving from mercenary betrayal (his father's scheme) to gothic horror (the dark West Indian night, the loaded pistols) and finally to romantic redemption (the refreshing European breeze, the image of Jane on the stile). Its length and emotional intensity aim to break down Jane's defenses, and the chapter openly reveals how close they come to succeeding: "my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me."
The central theme of the chapter revolves around the struggle between captivity and freedom. Rochester's descriptions of Jane — "a mere reed," a bird in a cage whose spirit would "escape to heaven before I could call myself possessor of its clay dwelling-place" — depict her as both delicate and strong. Jane's own assertion of self-possession ("I care for myself") directly counters this. Throughout, fire imagery is prominent: Rochester's "flaming glance," Jane's "veins running fire," the West Indian night of "sulphur-steams," and the furnace metaphor for Jane's physical vulnerability.
The dream of the maternal moon-figure offers a supernatural rationale for Jane's decision, softening the rigidity of pure rationality with something akin to vision. The departure scene then illustrates the chapter's emotional argument in action: Jane quietly oils the lock, leaves the pearl necklace behind as "not mine," and steps into an "awful blank" — a future envisioned as the world after a great flood.
Key quotes from Chapter XXVII
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
Jane speaks this aloud — or in her own mind — at the crisis of Rochester's most desperate pleading, asserting her principle of self-respect against every emotional pressure.
““Never,” said he, as he ground his teeth, “never was anything at once so frail and so indomitable. A mere reed she feels in my hand!””
Rochester speaks while physically gripping Jane, just before he releases her and she retreats to the door.
““My daughter, flee temptation.” “Mother, I will.””
The words exchanged between Jane and the white moonlit figure in her dream, which she answers aloud after waking.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter XXVII
- loose-principled
- Having weak or absent moral standards; willing to behave dishonestly or immorally without much scruple. Rochester asks if Jane thinks him morally unprincipled and dissolute.
- self-approbation
- A feeling of satisfaction or approval of one's own conduct; the inner sense that one has acted rightly. Jane says she has none of this comfort—she cannot even respect herself after leaving Rochester.