“Two years hence you will be as calm as I am now—and far, far happier, I trust, for you are a man, and free to act as you, please.”(290)

“Once I heard him pause and throw something out of the window with a passionate ejaculation; and in the morning, after they were gone, a keen-bladed clasp-knife was found on the grass plot below; a razor, likewise, was snapped in two and thrust deep into the cinders of the grate, but partially corroded by the decaying embers. So strong had been the temptation to end his miserable life, so determined his resolution to resist it.” (293)

Lowborough seems to be more saddened by his wife’s betrayal than Helen. He is in such pain that he even tries to take his own life. Death seems so far away and this pain seems like it will last forever. The perspective/lives of most of the people in the story revolve around marriage. There is nothing else more important in the world to them. They seem more consumed by their reputations and marriages than anything else. It is interesting to think about women’s power in all of this. They seem to have all of the pull up until they are married. They get to decide who is a viable suitor or who will love them the best. The men just beg to be chosen and show how masculine and protective they will be as husbands. Yet, marriage is clearly a huge commitment economically. If a woman has the chance to be “free” and live within her own wealth and ambition, why would she marry? Maybe it is because of the same she may feel being alone and “unloved”. The way Gilbert describes Jane emphasizes both of these thoughts. Because she was ambitious and had the self-respect to not settle and reject any proposals that did not seem worth it she is described as “a cold-hearted, supercilious, keenly, insidiously censorious old maid” (372).

Why did Bronte use this parallel in the story? Would the story be better if Arthur didn’t just conveniently die?

Helen says that Lowborough is a man and is free to act as he pleases. Yes, he can divorce his wife. But the shame he would feel of the failed marriage could be too much. Is love more so the enemy in this circumstance?

In-class discussion:

  • Are there different standards for infidelity between women and men?
  • Status?
  • Children?
  • What should marriage be?
  • How does the novel clear Helen’s name? And wrap up the smaller characters?
  • What can marriage now mean to Helen? (Still, a marriage plot even though marriage seems to be miserable)
  • “an old journal of mine”
  • Giving and taking property…
  • Laws, norms, and customs