Q: “Don’t trouble yourself to give her character, eulogius will not bias me; I shall judge for myself. She began by felling my horse.” I really want to focus on the entire interaction that we get between Jane and Mr. Rochester the first time we see him.
C: When Mr. Rochester first shows up in this scene, he seems like he is coming in very aggressive and assuming an authoritative figure with Jane and Adele immediately. This is an ongoing theme throughout the book as in that time, the “adults” were always such when talking to “children.” Which brings me to my next point, I have trouble remembering that Jane is now 18 in this scene as the book had started off with her being about 10. So when I first started reading this scene I was thinking “wow how can a grown man talk to a child like that.” However, she is 18 and it is not as socially unacceptable. I would like to make the distinction between how we view 18 year olds now vs how I am taking that they were viewed back then. Now, we view 18 year olds as “adults” in the sense that they can legally sign things themselves, make doctors appointments, take out loans, etc but they are still looked at as children and being young. However back during these times children of that age were tasked with much more responsibility and are looked at as adults.
Q: Is Mr. Rochester, in this accusing Jane of making the horse slip on the ice? Surely he can’t be suggesting that, it’s ridiculous.
