Chapter 26

Summary

It’s the day of the wedding! In the morning, Sophie helps Jane get into her dress and veil. Jane, looking at her reflection, appears like a stranger to herself. Then Jane hurries down to breakfast and eats quickly. Mr. Rochester makes sure everything is packed so the couple can leave for Europe right after the wedding, and then rushes Jane to church. He looks grim, and has an unaccountable sense of urgency about him. When they get to church, Jane notices two men in the shadows, watching. The wedding starts without a hitch, when one of the men steps forward and declares that the wedding cannot go on, because Mr. Rochester already has a wife. Mr. Rochester dares him to prove it, and the other man steps forward. It’s Mason! He says that as of three months ago, his sister, Bertha Mason, was living and married to Mr. Rochester. When an official document is produced, Mr. Rochester gives in, and tells everyone that it is true, and the wedding cannot proceed. He explains that his wife is kept a secret at Thornfield because she is insane. He married her fifteen years ago. He also announces that Jane had no knowledge of this, and that she is innocent.

Jane is in shock, and she follows him blindly when he leads her, the clergyman, Mason, and the guy who stopped the wedding to the house to show them his wife. He waves away the congratulations of the bewildered servants, who don’t know that the wedding is called off. He shows everyone the way to a hidden room on the third floor, and opens it. Inside, Grace Poole is cooking something over the fire, and tells Mr. Rochester that her “charge” (337) is in a slightly dangerous mood. Bertha Mason acts like a wild animal, and attacks Mr. Rochester with great strength. He wrestles her into submission, trying not to hurt her, and they leave the room. Jane is then informed that Mr. Mason heard about the wedding from Jane’s uncle, whom Jane had written to about it. Jane’s uncle has a fatal disease and could not come to England to save Jane from bigamy, so Mason came instead. Then everyone leaves and she goes to her room. In her room, Jane mechanically takes of her wedding finery and changes back into her governess clothes. She realizes that all her future is shattered, and her brain tells her she must leave Mr. Rochester, despite her heart’s struggles. She feels like she is drowning.

Reaction

I can hardly believe that Mr. Rochester tried to trick Jane into a false marriage. Obviously, he did not mean to hurt her and clearly loves her, but he certainly did fool her. Poor Jane. He lied to her in the worst possible way. Looking back on their whirlwind romance, it seems so clear – that was his secret pain; that was his past sin. Think about it, his wife was locked up upstairs while he proposed to Jane! I suppose divorce is impossible for Mr. Rochester since his wife is insane, because that would solve the whole problem. Mr. Rochester’s life story is indeed very bewildering. The part when he shows everyone Bertha Mason is especially confusing, since Jane kept referring to the woman as ‘it.’ In addition, I really don’t know what Jane should do now. If I were her, I wouldn’t keep being Adèle’s governess. And it wasn’t Grace Poole laughing and attacking people all this time! She merely takes care of Mr. Rochester’s wife and was used as a scapegoat to deflect Jane’ suspicions. My favorite lines were both from Grace Poole, who called Bertha Mason “snappish, but not ‘rageous” (338) and told the men to “Ware!” (338) – she presumably means ‘beware’ – when the mad woman was about to attack them.