Chapter 37

Summary

The carriage takes Jane to Ferndean, but she has to walk the last mile.  When she arrives she sees Rochester at a distance, and as the rain starts he goes inside frustrated in his efforts to walk alone.  He is still short-tempered, and has a brooding aspect.

Jane enters and is greeted by John and his wife, Rochester’s two old servants.  John is sent to fetch Jane’s trunk from the carriage, and Jane carries a tray into the parlor containing water for Rochester.

Recognizing Jane, Pilot becomes excited. Rochester says, “Who is it?  What is it?  Who speaks?”

Jane responds, “Pilot knows me, and John and Mary know I am here.” She confirms that she is no delusion, and she comforts Rochester.  She tells him that she has come back to him, but he cannot understand why a young woman would want to stay with him, as he is a ruin.  She responds by saying that he was never handsome, and that she is there because she loves him. She goes on to relate how her rich uncle in Madeira has died, and that she is financially independent, but she chooses to be with him.

Rochester goes on to say, “I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard, and what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?”

Jane responds, “You are no ruin, sir '' you are green and vigorous.  Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow '' because your strength offer them so safe a prop.”

They agree to be married.

Rochester reveals that a few nights previous, he called out “Jane, Jane, Jane”. He feels that his prayer has been answered.  Jane did not confide in Rochester that she had heard him. Rochester pledges that he will be a more obedient servant to God.

Interpretation

Bront' again uses great symbolism centered on the chestnut tree. Just as the splitting of the tree marked the couple’s separation, so now it symbolizes the renewal of the love between the two, as there is now no impediment to their future together.

Bront' is also making a clear comment regarding marriage, and we come back to the fact that a good marriage is based on love and compatibility. 

This theme was also pursued by Jane Austen in ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

Jane and Rochester will have true happiness. Neither of them is particularly attractive, unlike Blanche and St. John who have all the physical attributes, but are shown to be either shallow or misguided.

Jane describes Rochester as a caged eagle, and she has the key to his cage, and together they can experience true freedom.

Rochester is portrayed throughout the novel as a most masculine character, and despite his deformities, he still has a strong presence, unlike St. John who suppresses his manliness so that he can be  “closer to God”. 

Blanche has all the physical attributes to be a beauty – her height and her position in society – but she is unable to show love to Rochester. She views him more as property than a soul mate, in contrast to Jane who in spite of all her hardships, has not lost her capability to love and has the ability to appreciate fully the small joys that she has obtained recently.