Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë & Emily Brontë
Contents
Jane Eyre — CHAPTER II
Overview
Jane is forcibly confined to the red-room, where Mr. Reed died. Isolation and dread turn her defiance into terror when a shifting light convinces her of a haunting. Her pleas bring only harsher punishment from Mrs. Reed, and Jane faints, deepening her sense of injustice and abandonment.
Summary
Dragged to the red-room by Bessie and Miss Abbot, Jane resists, inflaming their belief that she is deceitful and ungrateful. They warn her of dependence on Mrs. Reed and of divine punishment, then lock her alone in the seldom-used chamber where Mr. Reed died.
Surrounded by crimson furnishings and chill silence, Jane inspects the locked door and glimpses her own pale, frightened reflection, which seems spectral. Her anger gives way to despair as she reviews the family’s favoritism toward John, Eliza, and Georgiana, and the servants’ bias against her.
As twilight deepens, Jane’s thoughts turn to Mr. Reed, whose dying wish bound Mrs. Reed to care for her. She imagines his spirit avenging broken promises. A moving light glides across the room; primed by fear, she believes it a supernatural sign and panics.
Jane rushes the door, screaming. Bessie and Miss Abbot return, followed by Mrs. Reed, who dismisses Jane’s terror as artifice and extends the confinement unless Jane submits in silence. Jane begs for mercy, but Mrs. Reed locks her in again.
After Mrs. Reed departs, Jane’s terror peaks; she loses consciousness, ending the scene in physical collapse and emotional defeat.
Who Appears
- Jane EyreOrphan protagonist; resists confinement, suffers terror in the red-room, believes she sees a ghostly light, faints.
- Mrs. ReedAunt and guardian; condemns Jane to the red-room, dismisses her fear as deceit, extends the punishment.
- BessieNursemaid; restrains Jane, admonishes her dependence, briefly shows concern when Jane screams.
- Miss AbbotLady’s-maid; helps confine Jane, moralizes harshly, doubts Jane’s terror and urges stricter discipline.