Chapter XVIII Practice Quiz — Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter XVIII
What indoor entertainment does Mr. Rochester organize when rain forces the party inside?
He organizes a game of charades, dividing the guests into two teams.
What word do Rochester and his team act out in the charades game?
They act out the word "Bridewell," performed in three scenes: Bride, Well, and Bridewell.
What does the first tableau of the charades depict?
A marriage ceremony, with Rochester and Blanche Ingram kneeling before Sir George Lynn as a mock clergyman, while Adele scatters flowers.
What biblical scene does the second charades tableau represent?
The story of Eliezer and Rebecca at the well, with Rochester dressed as an Eastern emir and Blanche as an Israelitish princess carrying a pitcher.
How is Rochester costumed in the third and final tableau?
He sits at a deal table in ragged, disordered dress with begrimed face, bristling hair, and chains on his wrists, portraying a prisoner.
Why does Lady Ingram say Jane should not be included in the charades?
Lady Ingram dismisses Jane by saying "she looks too stupid for any game of the sort."
Who is the unexpected visitor that arrives at Thornfield while Rochester is away?
Mr. Mason, a tall, fashionable-looking man from Jamaica in the West Indies.
What does the footman report about the gypsy woman in the servants's hall?
He says an old gypsy woman insists on being brought before the quality to tell their fortunes and refuses to leave until she does.
Who is the first to visit the gypsy fortune-teller, and what is her reaction afterward?
Blanche Ingram goes first. She returns looking neither flurried nor merry, sits stiffly in her seat, and falls into prolonged gloom and taciturnity.
What condition does the gypsy set for who may visit her?
She will see only the young and single ladies, refusing gentlemen and older women.
How does Jane describe Blanche Ingram's character in her lengthy assessment?
Jane says Blanche is "showy, but not genuine" with a poor mind and barren heart. She repeats phrases from books, has no original opinions, and lacks sympathy, pity, tenderness, and truth.
How does Jane say Blanche treats little Adele?
Blanche shows spiteful antipathy toward Adele, pushing her away with contumelious epithets, ordering her from the room, and treating her with coldness and acrimony.
What animal comparison does Jane use to contrast Mr. Mason with Mr. Rochester?
Jane compares Mason to Rochester as "a sleek gander" to "a fierce falcon" and "a meek sheep" to a "rough-coated keen-eyed dog."
What physical trait of Mr. Mason reveals his West Indian background?
His singularly sallow complexion and his constant shivering near the fire suggest he has been living in a hot climate and finds England cold.
What famous confession does Jane make to the reader in this chapter?
Jane confesses, "I had learnt to love Mr. Rochester: I could not unlove him now," her most direct declaration of love in the novel to this point.
Why does Jane say she is not jealous of Blanche Ingram?
Jane says Blanche "was too inferior to excite the feeling" because she could see that Blanche was not genuine and could not truly charm Rochester.
What paradox does Jane identify as the source of her pain regarding Rochester and Blanche?
Jane's pain comes from Rochester's obvious lack of passion for Blanche and his clear awareness of her defects, which means he is marrying for rank and connections rather than love.
What does the charade word "Bridewell" foreshadow in the novel?
It foreshadows that Rochester's existing marriage to Bertha Mason is a prison ("Bridewell" being historically a London prison), combining the concepts of bride and confinement.
What literary device is used when Jane addresses the audience directly as "reader"?
Direct address or apostrophe to the reader, a technique that creates confessional intimacy between narrator and audience.
What extended metaphor does Jane use to describe Blanche's heart?
Jane compares Blanche's heart to barren soil: "nothing bloomed spontaneously on that soil; no unforced natural fruit delighted by its freshness."
What is the dramatic irony of the mock wedding scene in the charades?
Rochester acts out a wedding with Blanche while the reader will later learn he is already secretly married to Bertha Mason, making the playful pantomime darkly prophetic.