Lesson video

Hello everyone, welcome to our next lesson of Jane Eyre.

Now I don't know about you but I'm still recovering from the shock of last lesson.

You may remember that it was revealed that Rochester already has a wife.

A long time ago Rochester married a lady named Bertha Mason, and it turns out that she was absolutely insane.

Rochester is now moved back to Thornfield where he has imprisoned Bertha.

Now in our last lesson Jane and Rochester's wedding was cancelled.

They can no longer be married because Rochester already has a wife.

Well, in today's lesson Jane has a very difficult decision to make.

Will she choose to become Rochester's mistress, and live with him, or will she choose to do the right thing and leave Rochester altogether? Let's find out what choice Jane makes, let's begin! For today's lesson you will need an exercise book, or paper and a pen.

If you do not have this equipment press the pause button on your video now.

Go and collect this equipment, and then we will begin our lesson.

Let's begin with a recap from our last lesson.

Why was Jane and Rochester's wedding cancelled? You have four options.

Option one, it was revealed that Rochester has locked Bertha in his house.

Option two Rochester changed his mind at the last moment.

Option three, Jane changed her mind at the last moment, or option four, it was revealed that Rochester is already married to Bertha.

Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen the right answer.

I will now tell you the right answer, which is option four.

Jane and Rochester's wedding was cancelled because it was revealed that Rochester is already married to Bertha.

You cannot marry two people.

Well done if you got that right.

Now some of you may have chosen one of the other options.

You may have chosen option one, it was revealed that Rochester has locked Bertha in his house, that is actually true.

Rochester has locked Bertha in his house but that's not the reason that the wedding is cancelled.

The wedding is cancelled because Rochester is already married to Bertha.

Some of you may have chosen option two.

Rochester changed his mind at the last moment.

I'd just remind you that that's not true.

Rochester is still very much in love with Jane, as you're going to see.

And some of you may have chosen option three, Jane changed her mind at the last moment.

Again, I'd remind you that's not true, Jane is still very much in love with Rochester as you're going to see in today's lesson.

I will now tell you our plan for today's lesson.

First of all, we're going to learn about the word resolute.

We're then going to learn about Victorian views on marriage.

After that, we're going to read our extract, and then we're going to think about this question.

How does Brontë presents Jane as a resolute character? Let's begin.

So I want to teach you this new word resolute today.

Now, if you're resolute, you're someone who is determined to stay true to their values.

Let me now give you a few examples of sentences including this word.

When she was young, Kasonde decided that she would never lie or cheat.

When she was pressurised by her classmates, to cheat in an exam Kasonde was resolute and refused.

So Kasonde has decided that one of her values that she wants to live by is never cheating and never lying.

And we can see the Kasonde is very determined or resolute in living by these values because she refuses to accept her classmates pressure to cheat in the exam.

Kasonde is resolute because she's determined to live by the values that she has chosen for herself.

Here's another example.

TJ had decided that he wanted to exercise every day.

Even when he was exhausted after school TJ was resolute and completed his workout.

So in this example, one of the values that TJ has decided to live by is the importance of exercise.

He exercises every day.

Now we can tell that TJ is very determined or resolute in living by this value because even when he's exhausted after school he still makes sure that he works out.

Here's another example.

"We will never serve our customers poor quality coffee," the cafe manager said.

"Even if we're struggling for business, "we must remain resolute and give our customers "the best service." So this cafe manager has decided that one of the values that will characterise his business is always serving his customers the best at coffee, always giving customers the best service.

Now we can see that he's determined or resolute to live, to run his business according to this value because he says that "Even if we're struggling for business "we're still going to give our customers the best service." Okay, let's now test your understanding of this word resolute.

Which person can be described as resolute? You have four options.

Option one, the toddler had a temper tantrum and refused to follow his mother into the supermarket.

Option two, Lydia was very focused on looking at her fingernails throughout the lesson.

Option three, Ted was committed to looking after his sick mother.

Even when he was exhausted, Ted's still visited her everyday.

Or option four, Joe was a very muscular and strong man.

Press the pause button on your video now, and tell the screen the right answer.

Off you go! I will now tell you the right answer, which is option three.

Ted can be described as resolute.

He has decided that's very important to him that he looks after his sick mother, and we can tell that Ted is determined to live by this value because even when he's exhausted he still visits her everyday.

Ted's behaviour could be described as resolute.

Well done if you got that right.

Now, some of you may have chosen one of the other options.

You may have chosen option one.

The toddler had a temper tantrum and refuse to follow his mother into the supermarket.

Now, in this example, this toddler is determined to live.

This toddler is determined not to follow his mother into the supermarket.

So in a sense they're determined, but at the same time I wouldn't describe them as being resolute.

I'd actually described this a toddler as simply being very stubborn and rather badly behaved.

The word resolute tends to be dis.

Tends to be a positive characteristic that someone can have.

So it would always be a compliment to describe someone as resolute.

It's always positive quality.

I would not describe this toddler's behaviour as been very positive.

I think there's actually negative.

So rather than describing this toddler as resolute, I describe it as stubborn.

Some of you may have also chosen option two.

Lydia was very focused on looking at her fingernails throughout the lesson.

So just you're fo.

This is wrong, this is not describing resolute behaviour.

Just because you're focused on something doesn't mean that you're resolute.

A resolute person is focused upon living according to the values that they have chosen for themselves.

So in this example, Lydia isn't resolute.

She's simply focused on looking at her fingernails.

Some of you may have chose option four.

Joe was a very muscular and strong man.

And once again, just because you're strong does not mean that you're resolute.

Resolute does not mean a physical toughness.

I would actually describe people who are resolute as being inwardly tough or inwardly strong.

Remember, if you're resolute you're determined to live by the values that you've chosen for yourself, and we don't necessarily know this about Joe.

So there you go.

Well done again, if you got that right.

Now throughout our novel Jane has been presented as a resolute character.

She's always determined to live by the values that she's chosen for herself.

And she is prepared to stand up against other people when their behaviour goes against these values.

So right at the beginning of the novel, we can tell that Jane really values being respected by other people John Reed has been bullying her for a long time.

And even though John Reed is bigger than her and more powerful than her, Jane still stands up against him.

This is what she says, "Wicked and cruel boy" I said.

"You are like a murderer, "you are like a slave-driver, "you are like the Roman emperors." So we can see that Jane is resolute, she's determined to live by her values because she's willing to stand up against the bullying behaviour of John Reed.

Now Jane also demonstrates her resolute character in her interactions with Mrs. Reed.

You may remember that Mrs. Reed tells Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane is a liar, and this isn't true.

Well, Jane stands up against Mrs. Reed, even though Jane's just a little girl.

Jane asserts her right to loved and treated with respect.

Let's read.

Jane said, "I will say the very thought of you "makes me sick, and that you treated me "with miserable cruelty." "How dare you affirmed that Jane Eyre?" "How dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth.

You think I have no feelings and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness, but I cannot live so, and you have no pity." And Jane also demonstrates her resolute character in her conversations with Mr. Brocklehurst.

You may remember that Mr. Brocklehurst basically begs Jane to continue to live inside Thornfield, after he gets married to Blanche Ingram.

And Jane Eyre says that she would refuse to do this.

She'd refuse to live at the same house, if Rochester is already married to another woman.

And this is what she says, "I tell you, I must go.

Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? A machine without feelings.

Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong? I have as much soul as you, and full as much heart!" So once again, Jane is demonstrating her resolute character.

She is demonstrating that she has the right to be taken seriously, and she has the right to be treated with respect.

So we're going to come back to Jane's resolute character later on in this lesson.

But before we go on, we need to learn a little bit about Victorian views on marriage.

Now, Victorian society was strongly influenced by Christian morality.

That means that Victorian society was strongly influenced by Christian ideas about what was right and wrong.

Following the teachings of the church.

Sexual relations outside marriage were widely viewed as immoral.

Respectable members of society were therefore not expected to live with a man or woman that they had not married.

If you wanted to sleep with someone you were expected to get married to them first.

Now marriage was essential for long-term relationships being viewed as legitimate.

If you wanted your relationship to be taken seriously and valued by your community, you needed to make sure that it was enshrined through marriage.

Now, Mr. Rochester, as we know, already has a wife, Bertha.

And because that Mr. Rochester cannot now marry Jane.

It is illegal to have more than one wife.

Because of this news that Mr. Rochester is already married, Jane has a very difficult decision to make.

She's got a difficult choice.

Will she live an immoral life as Rochester's mistress? What does that mean? Well, if Jane becomes Rochester's mistress, that means that she will continue to live in his house.

She will be able to have sexual relations with him, but she will not be his wife.

Now remember in Victorian times, people were not expected to have sexual relations outside of marriage.

That would be viewed as immoral.

So Jane could make this decision to become Rochester's mistress, but she would be going against what she knows is right and wrong through doing this, through making this decision.

Or will she choose to leave Rochester altogether? So this would be another difficult decision to make because Jane still deeply loves Rochester and it would be heartbreaking to leave him.

Let's now test your understanding of these ideas.

True or false, Rochester could choose to marry Jane.

Jane could choose to spend the rest of her life with Rochester.

If Jane decided to live with Rochester, she would not be following Christian teachings on morality.

If Jane became Rochester's mistress, their relationship would still be recognised by society.

Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen whether each of these points are true or false.

Off you go! I will now tell you the right answers.

Number one is false.

Rochester could not choose to Mary Jane because he can only have one wife, and Rochester is already married to Bertha.

Number two is true.

Jane could choose to spend the rest of her life with Rochester.

She could become his mistress, and have sexual relations with him without being married.

And three is also true.

If Jane decided to live with Rochester, she would not be following Christian teachings on morality.

Remember, according to Christianity, you're not expected to have sexual relations with someone, who you're not married to.

So Jane's behaviour here would be regarded as immoral by the teachings of the church.

And number four is false, if Jane became Rochester's mistress their relationship would not be recognised as legitimate by society.

Remember in Victorian times for a romantic relationship to be recognised by society it needed to be, it needed to be involved at marriage, and therefore number four is false.

Okay, let's not get ready to read our extract.

At the beginning of the extract it's the day after the wedding.

Jane is left by herself, and is trying to work out what is the best thing to do.

Should she become Rochester's mistress, or should she leave Thornfield Hall and Rochester altogether? Let's read! Sometime in the afternoon, I raised my head, and looking around and seeing the western sun gliding the sign of its decline on the wall.

I asked, "What am I to do?" But the answer my mind gave, "Leave Thornfield at once," was so prompt, so dread that I stopped my ears.

I said I could not bear such words now.

"That I am not Edward Rochester's bride is at least "part of my woe and sadness." I allege.

"That I have awakened out of the most glorious dreams and found them all void and vain, is a horror I could bear and master but that I must leave him, decidedly, instantly, entirely, is intolerable.

I cannot do it.

If I could go out of life now without too sharp a pang, it would be well for me," I thought.

"Then I should not have to make the effort of cracking my heartstrings and rendering them from among Mr. Rochester's.

I must leave him, it appears.

I do not want to leave him.

I cannot leave him." As Jane is having this inner conflict with herself, Rochester appears in the room.

"How are you Jane?" "I'm much better, sir, I shall be well soon." Rochester stood towards me as if to kiss me but I remembered caresses were now forbidden.

I turned my face away and put his aside.

"What, how is this?" he exclaimed hastily.

"Oh, I know! You won't kiss the husband "of Bertha Mason.

"You consider my arms filled "and my embraces appropriated?" "At any rate, there is neither room nor claim for me, sir." "Why, Jane? I will spare you the trouble of much talking.

"I will answer for you, because I have a wife already.

"You would reply.

"I guess rightly?" "Yes." "Jane! "Jane!" he said in such an accent of bitter sadness, it thrilled along every nerve I had.

"You don't love me then.

"Now that you think me disqualified become your husband.

"You recoil from my touch as if I were some toad or ape.

These words cut me, yet what could I do or say? I ought probably to have done or said nothing, but I was so tortured by a sense of remorse at thus hurting his feelings.

I could not control the wish to drop balm where I had wounded.

"I do love you." I said, "more than ever, "but I must show, or must not show or indulge the feeling, "and this is the last time I must express it.

"Mr. Rochester, I must leave you." "For how long Jane? "For a few minutes, while you smooth your hair, "which is somewhat dishevelled, and bathe your face, "which looks feverish." "I must leave Adele and Thornfield.

I must part with you for my whole life.

I must begin a new existence among strange faces and strange scenes.

Sir your wife is living, that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself.

If I lived with you as you desire, I should then be your mistress, to say otherwise is false.

"Jane, will you not live with me?" A pause.

"Why are you silent, Jane?" I was experiencing an ordeal, a hand of fiery iron grasped my vitals and organs.

Terrible moment, full of struggle, blackness, burning.

Not a human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better than I was loved, and him who thus loved me, I absolutely worshipped.

And I must renounce love and idol.

One drear word comprise my intolerable duty.

"Depart!" "Jane, you understand what I want of you? "Just this promise.

"'I will be yours.

Mr. Rochester.

'" "Mr. Rochester, I will not be yours." Another long silence.

"Jane," recommenced he, with a gentleness that broke me down with grief, and turned me stone cold of ominous terror, for this still voice was the pant of a lion rising.

"Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world "and to let me go another?" "I do." "Jane," Bending down and embracing me.

"Do you mean it now?" "I do." "And now?" Softly kissing my forehead and cheek.

"I do," extricating myself from restraint rapidly and completely.

"Oh, Jane, this is bitter! "This, this is wicked.

"It would not be wicked to love me." "It would to obey you." A wild look raised his brows, crossed his features, he rose, but he forebore yet.

I laid my hand on the back of a chair for support.

I shook, I feared, but I resolved.

"One instance, Jane.

Give one glance to my horrible life when you are gone.

All happiness will be torn away with you.

What that is left? For a wife I have but the maniac upstairs, as well might you referred me to some corpse in yonder churchyard.

What shall I do, Jane? Where turn for a companion and for some hope? "Do as I do, trust in God and yourself.

"Believe in heaven.

"Hope to meet again there." "Then you will not yield?" "No." "Then you condemn me to live wretched "and to die accursed?" His voice rose.

"I advise you to the live sinless, "and I wish you to die tranquil." "Then you snatch love and innocence from me? You fling me back on lust for a passion, "vice for an occupation?" "Mr. Rochester, I no more assign this fate to you than I grasp at it for my myself.

We were born to strive and endure, you as well as I do, you as well as I, do so.

You will forget me before I forget you.

"But you have neither relatives "nor acquaintances who have need fear to offend "by living with me?" Still indomitable was the reply.

"I care for myself.

The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.

I will keep the law given by God sanctioned by man.

Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation, they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny and rebellion.

If at my individual convenience, I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth, so I have always believed.

And if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane, quite insane, with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs.

Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by, there I plant my foot." I did.

Mr. Rochester, reading my countenance saw I had done so.

His fury was wrought to the highest, he must yield it for a moment, whatever followed, he crossed the floor and seized my arm and grasped my wrist.

He seemed to devour me with his flaming glance.

"You are going, Jane?" "I am going, sir." "You are leaving me." "Yes." "You will not come? "You will not be my comforter, my rescuer? "My deep love, my wild woe, "my frantic prayer "are all nothing to you?" What unutterable pathos was in his voice.

How hard it was to reiterate firmly.

"I am going." "Jane!" "Mr. Rochester!" He turned away.

He threw himself on his face, on the sofa.

"Oh, Jane! "My hope, of my love, my life." Broken anguish from his lips.

Then came a deep, strong sob.

I had already gained the door, but reader, I walked back, walked back as determinately as I had retreated.

I knelt down by him.

I turned his face from the cushion to me.

I kissed his cheek.

I smoothed his hair with my hand.

"God bless you, my dear master." I said, "God, keep you from harm and wrong.

"Direct you, solace you, reward you well "for your past kindness to me.

"Little Jane's love, "would it be my best reward," he answered.

"Without it, my heart is broken." Up the blood rushed to his face, for flashed the fire from his eyes.

Erect he sprang, he held his arms out, but I evaded the embrace, and at once quitted the room.

"Farewell!" was the cry of my heart as I left him.

Despair added, "Farewell forever." I'm sorry, it's just, it's just so sad.

Just give, give me a minute.

Okay, let's now move on to the next part of the lesson.

Let's now have a think about the main things that happened in that extract there.

Number one, Rochester pleads with Jane to live with him as his mistress.

Number two, Jane refuses because she believes that it is immoral to sleep with a man outside of marriage.

Number three, Jane then leaves Thornfield.

She does not expect to see Rochester ever again.

Press the pause button on your video now, read through these points trying to memorise the answers.

Off you go! Okay let's now test your memory.

Go for these three points.

Filling in the words in blank.

Off you go.

Let's now take a look at the right answers.

Number one, Rochester pleads with Jane to live with him as his mistress.

Number two, Jane refuses because she believes that it is immoral to sleep with a man outside marriage.

And number three, Jane then Thornfield.

She does not expect to see a Rochester ever again.

Well done, if you got those right.

Let's now analyse this extract in a bit more detail, and answer this question.

How does Brontë present Jane as a resolute character? Now, just to remind you about what that word resolute means? If you're resolute, you're someone who is determined to stay true to their values.

So Jane is faced with a very difficult choice in this extract.

She can either choose to live with Rochester, as his mistress.

And that would be great on one hand because she loves him, but on the other hand, she knows that this is wrong.

She believes that it would be wrong to sleep with a man that she is not married to.

Or Jane's other choice would be to leave Rochester altogether.

Now, if she made this choice she would be abandoning this man who she loves very much.

So either way, Jane has a very difficult choice to make but Jane chooses to do what she thinks is right.

Even though it breaks her heart she chooses to leave Rochester.

This decision reflects Jane's resolute character.

She is determined to do what is right even when it is difficult.

Now Jane's resolute character is demonstrated in two main ways.

First of all, Jane leaves Rochester even though this causes her great sorrow.

Now Jane uses lots of descriptions in this extract here to demonstrate just how heartbroken she is as she makes this decision.

She writes, I was experiencing an ordeal, a hand of fiery iron grasped, my vitals.

That word vitals in this context is referring to Jane's organs.

She is here describing her organs as if they're being caught by really hot fiery iron, by a really hot fiery metal.

So she's using sensory language here.

Sensory language is language which describes one of the five senses.

This sensory language is talking about the sense of touch.

And she is describing her sadness as if it's a physical pain.

She is so filled with sadness at the idea of leaving Rochester that it feels like our organs are being grasped by this really burning, fiery iron.

So it's clear that Jane's decision to leave Rochester is an incredibly painful one.

Even though th.

Even though this causes her so much pain, though, she is still prepared to do the right thing.

She is still a resolute character.

And then she writes there, she writes, I absolutely worship Rochester and I must renounce love and idol.

So Jane uses religious language here to describe her devotion to Rochester.

She talks about how she worshipped this man as if he is some sort of God, because a God is something that you worship.

But even though she worships him, even though she was utterly devoted to this man, she still must renounce him.

She still must abandon him.

She also describes Rochester as an idol.

Now an idol is like a sort of a statue, small statue that someone worships as if it's a God.

So once again, she's using this religious language to demonstrate her devotion to Rochester.

But even though she's so devoted to him, even though he means everything to her, she is still determined to leave him.

She views Rochester as if he is a god but she still decides to leave him.

Okay, press the pause button on your video now, and take some notes on these ideas.

Off you go.

It's now time to do some writing on this idea.

You're going to answer this question.

How does Brontë present Jane as a resolute character? Now you can begin your paragraph with a sentence.

Jane leaves Rochester even though this causes her intense sorrow.

And you can use this table of keywords and quotations to help you write.

The quotations have a grey background in them.

Press the pause button on your video now and write this paragraph in your book, or on your page.

Off you go! Let's now take a look at some exemplar paragraphs.

This is our acceptable answer.

How does Brontë day present Jane as a resolute character? Jane leaves Rochester even though this causes her intense sorrow.

Because Jane believes that it would be wrong to become not gestures, mistress, she makes a difficult decision to abandon this relationship.

She is prepared to do this even though it will bring a lot of sadness to her life.

Indeed, Jane says that she worshipped Rochester.

These words suggests that she adores this man as if he were some kind of god.

But Jane still knows that she must leave this idol.

This decision causes great distress to Jane.

During her conversation with Rochester, she describes a hand of fiery iron, grasping her vitals.

The sensory language suggests that her sadness is so great that it physically hurts her.

Jane's decision to endure such sorrow for the sake of staying true to her morals demonstrates that she is a strong and determined character.

If you would like to improve your work based upon that paragraph, press the pause button on your video now and improve your work.

Let's now take a look at our good answer.

Jane leaves Rochester even though this causes her intense sorrow.

The resolute heroine is determined to stay true to her principles and avoid becoming Rochester's mistress in spite of the great emotional distress that this causes her.

Although Jane admits that she worshipped Rochester as if he were a god, she is still intent on renouncing her beloved idol.

Brontë use of religious language here reflects the absolute adoration that Jane feels for her lover, an adoration that will quickly lead to distress Once this relationship is abandoned.

Indeed, when Jane contemplates the idea of leaving Rochester she describes a hand of fiery iron grasping her vitals.

Such sensory language suggests that this breakup is an agonising event causing Jane such anguish that it physically hurts her.

Jane's' decision to endure such sorrow for the sake of staying true to her morals bears testimony to her indomitable strength of character.

If you would like to improve your work based upon that paragraph, press the pause button on your video now, and improve your work.

Off you go! We're now coming towards the end of the lesson.

Here's the credits that we've used today.

Well, that brings us to the end of our lesson.

Well done for all of your hard work today.

That extract that we've just read is truly heartbreaking.

Jane has decided to leave the love of her life, Mr. Rochester.

Join us in our next lesson, when Jane's struggles to survive in the cruel world outside Thornfield.

Will our novel end with a happy ending, or will it end in tragedy? We shall find out in our next lesson.

I'll see you next time! And before you go make sure you complete your end-of-lesson quiz.