Not many other things happened to Jane while she was at Lowood but she does stay there for eight years, ‘six as pupil, and two as teacher’ until she leaves to go in search of governess work and so a whole new part of the book begins. She finds some when a Mrs Fairfax who wants her to look after a young girl answers her advertisement. While on her way to the town near the job she took she is met by a stranger whose horse ‘had slipped on the sheet of ice which glazed the causeway’ near where she sat. Because of this predicament, and ‘the frown, the roughness’ of his manner makes her determined to help him. This turns out to be her real employer which is another reference to the gothic fairytale because in a fairytale very few people get hurt, which is why it is gothic, but people do often either meet or help people who they will be closely connected to in the near to distant future which is a fairytale aspect. Thornfield Hall is in itself a very gothic place. During her stay there Jane sees many gothic aspects of the place, which range from a ‘mirthless laugh,’ which is supposedly Grace Poole, to the attempted murder of her employer when someone, laughing that very same ‘mirthless laugh’ tries to burn him in his bed and Jane saves him. Another gothic aspect of the novel is the prophetic dreams Jane has of a small child in the time that she lives there. She works at Thornfield Hall for a while and is very happy there even though she knows there is something missing from her life there – she falls in love with Mr Rochester which is a fairytale aspect but does not know if the love is reciprocated. She is quite happy working there until a large congregation of ladies and gentlemen visit her employer, Mr Edward Fairfax Rochester. During this time he makes her think that he is going to marry Blanche Ingram, one of the ladies currently visiting Thornfield Hall, in order to instil jealousy on the love that she has steadily grown to feel for him over the time she has known him. This is where the fairytale aspect of the novel really begins to become evident. The fact that Jane is now infatuated with her employer makes the state of affairs leading up to their betrothal seem quite cruel. The setting is a dreary house at the bottom of a hill, which is quite gothic in itself, and although the house seems, from the outside, cold, unfriendly and uninviting, on the inside it was bustling with activity.
It is here where the beginning of the fairytale really begins, and all before it was merely a background on which the reader was to base opinions of the characters and gather knowledge of their pasts. The fact that Mr Rochester is playing such a game with Jane is typical of a fairytale, and in particular a gothic one, because it seems to be a cruel test, but also a necessary one. When Jane finds out that her gentleman friend is to be wed, and to such a cruel, cold-hearted lady such as Blanche Ingram, she is very distressed despite the fat that she has her doubts about the match – ‘I felt he had not given her his love’ ‘she could not charm him’. On the occasion where there is a gypsy woman come to tell the fortunes of all the single young ladies in the house, it is the impression of the reader that surely, as it is with all good fairytales, Jane would go to see her. And, sure enough, Jane gets called hear the old ladies predictions. When she goes in she doesn’t seem convinced, she even warns the ‘old mother’ by saying ‘I have no faith’. The woman, instead of telling Jane’s fortune, tries to nag her and cajole her into admitting her love for Mr Rochester. When Jane does not slip up and let out her secret love for him he throws off his disguise with a cry of ‘off, ye lendings’ and asks what the other nobility are talking about in the other room. This deception is quite often seen in fairytales, where someone will dress up as an old hag to deceive their loved ones or their enemies, the tale most remembered for this is Snow White where the queen dresses up as the witch etc. This gives the novel an even more fairytale-like twist to it. Upon discovering the strange visitor to the Hall Mr Rochester becomes distressed and upon being offered help by Jane tells her that ‘if aid is wanted, I’ll seek it at your hands’ which shows that a change has come over him since their meeting on the road so long ago when he was very grudging to let her help him when he was injured. As in a fairytale, the two main characters, namely the hero/heroine of the story generally have an affinity for one another before they realise their shared love. Later on, after all the people have gone to bed Jane helps Mr Rochester when his strange visitor Mr Mason has an accident without asking any questions, although she knows that there is, as in so many fairytales, something going on in the third floor where she is not allowed to go. This is gothic in the sense that Mason was hurt by an unknown figure and therefore it adds mystery.
Not long after the incident she gets a visit from her old nurse’s husband asking her to cone and see her dying aunt. She goes and, making it certain that this is a fairytale, forgives her aunt in her ailment, which is a true fairytale occurrence.
Upon her return she finds all the preparations for the marriage finished and her master ‘uniformly clear of clouds or evil feelings’. In a time of particular bad humour Jane decides to go on an evening walk in the gardens. She stumbles upon her master and tries to hide from him but in the fashion of fairytales he somehow knows she is there and talks to her directly – ‘he said quietly, without turning – “Jane, come and look at this fellow.” Somehow in the twilight they decide they love one another and become betrothed, despite the uniform fairytale age difference. The next few chapters are of little importance, they are mainly wedding preparations but Jane does not want a fancy wedding – ‘Jewels for Jane Eyre sounds unnatural and strange’, however the wedding itself brings to light some of the gothic elements of the novel. On the day of the wedding the priest tells them ‘I require and charge you both that if either of you know any impediment why ye may not lawfully be joined together’ and is given a reason by Mr Mason who has recuperated quite well. The impediment is that Mr Rochester is already married to Bertha Mason, Mr Mason’s sister and he admits it and takes them to see the mad old woman in the third story of the house. This is gothic because the reader would never find this kind of thing in an ordinary fairytale.
So upset at the news Jane runs away from Mr Rochester and lives on the land for a few days. This is gothic and quite disturbing because the reader would not be able to imagine someone like Jane Eyre alone in the wilderness. Fortunately some nice people, the Rivers, take her in. They are St John, Diana and Mary. They turn out to be her cousins, which is a turn of events not unheard of in fairytales. She made this discovery when St John came to tell her that her uncle John has died and left her his money, she shares it between herself and her cousins, which is most definitely a fairytale turn of events. St John asks her to marry him and after much thought and cajoling she is about to accept when she hears ‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’ and replies ‘I am coming; wait for me’ and ‘where are you?’
Now a reasonably well off woman she goes in search of her lost love Mr Rochester. Upon returning to Thornfield Hall she finds it has been burned to the ground, Mrs Rochester has committed suicide and Mr Rochester is blind and has only one hand. This being a gory turn of events, which activates the readers’ imagination, it makes the scene seem very gothic indeed. She then goes to his other house to find him and after a long discussion about how she found him and why he thought she was a ghost she discovers that he called to her ‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’ and heard back ‘I am coming; wait for me’ and ‘where are you?’ This makes the novel seem more like a fairytale than ever because they were miles apart when those words were being said but yet they could hear each other quite clearly. This is also gothic because it is quite spooky for the same reasons that it is a fairytale event. She goes back to him, only to find that Thornfield Hall has burned down and Mr Rochester ‘stone – blind’ and ‘helpless, indeed – blind, and a cripple’. She seeks him out at his other home in Ferndean, they proceed to wed and, in the true fashion of fairytales, lived happily ever after, with Mr Rochester even regaining enough sight in his remaining eye to see his first-born child.
In conclusion I have given all of the points that I think are important in order to explain how Jane Eyre is a gothic fairytale. As to what extent it is a gothic fairytale I can only use my own judgement and say I think it is to a large extent a gothic fairytale, although some parts of the story are not in keeping with that view.