Jane Eyre and Gothic

In "Jane Eyre" there are a lot of gothic elements that change and affect the mood of the book. These gothic events take place throughout the book during the night time, and are mainly mysterious until the end of the book.

In "Jane Eyre" there are a lot of gothic elements that change and affect the mood of the book. These gothic events take place throughout the book during the nighttime, and are mainly mysterious until the end of the book. Some gothic events that affects the mood of the book are, when Mr. Mason was attacked, when Mr. Rochester's bed catches on fire, and when Jane's veil is ripped. All these events were gothic and affected the mood.

One of the most gothic event in the book is when Mr. Mason is bitten by Bertha. '"She bit me," he murmured' (223). This scene makes the mood very mysterious and dark. At the time, we didn't know who did it. Additionally, Mr. Mason bleeding in a chair adds to the gothic atmosphere. "-the stranger, Mason: I saw, too, that his linen on one side, and one arm, was soaked in blood" (220). On top of that, Rochester makes Jane watch Mr. Mason, but she couldn't say anything, and didn't know what was happening. This changes the mood from calm to mysterious, and dark.
Another gothic event is when Jane finds Mr. Rochester burning in his bed. "Tongues of flame darted round the bed: the curtains were of fire. In the midst of blaze and vapour, Mr. Rochester lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep." (155). This event is very dramatizing, and a turn in events. The reader is made to think that this is a very mysterious situation because there isn't a know culprit, and no one seems to have a motive to kill Mr. Rochester. Thus, the mood is changed to mysterious and dark.

The third gothic event in "Jane Eyre," happens in the middle of the night, just like the other two. When Jane wakes up in the middle of the night to someone tearing her veil, the reader is struck with a very gothic picture. '"Sir, it removed my veil from its gaunt head, rent it in two parts, and flinging both on the floor, trampled on them."' (301). The gothic mood is added to because of it being midnight. Also, Jane doesn't know who it was, and thought it could have been a dream. Lastly, why would someone in the house be doing it? Due to this event, the reader gets the feeling that Jane may be in grave danger. Thus, this event adds a twist of events, and makes the mood mysterious, dark, and frightening.

All these gothic events add to the mood and plot of the book, and give something to the book. Also, it makes the book more appealing to the reader, and makes it hard to put down the book. When Mr. Mason is bitten by Bertha, the mood becomes dark, and the reader starts to sense something is going on in the house. When Rochester's bed is set on fire, it introduces the strange events that are to follow, and changes the mood to mysterious. Finally, when Jane's veil is ripped in half, the reader senses that something terribly strange is going on in the house. Almost all of the gothic events are unexplained and freaky. That is why they are called gothic!