#JaneEyreFF Rereading Jane Eyre in #FlashFiction #Chapter3

Jane Eyre in Flash Fiction Chapter 3

How I recovered after fainting in the Red Room   

I woke up in my own bed after a frightful nightmare.

Bessie refused to sleep alone with me for fear that I might die during the night, so Sarah stayed with her. I heard them say a white apparition had passed over me and my uncle’s grave, and although I have forgiven my aunt, to this day I still suffer at the memory of that ghostly night.

The next day, Mr Lloyd, the apothecary visited and asked me why I was crying and I told him I had been locked in a dark room with a ghost and that I was very unhappy at Gateshead.

When he asked me if I’d like to go away to school, I agreed because I could learn French and how to paint, sing and play the piano. He said he would speak to Mrs Reed and as she says I’m a tiresome, ill- conditioned child, I hope she will be glad to be rid of me and let me go.

Later that night, I heard Miss Abbot tell Bessie my father had been a poor clergyman. My mother’s father had disagreed with the marriage and cut her off without a shilling. A year later my father caught the typhus fever while visiting the poor, and shortly after my mother had died, too, making me a penniless orphan.

The third chapter of Jane Eyre introduces a new character, Mr Lloyd, the apothecary. He is not a major character, but he is significant for two reasons. Firstly, he suggests Jane should be removed from Gateshead and taken to a boarding school, an event which initiates the next stage of jane’s journey. Secondly, he is the first adult who is actively involved in helping Jane, as we will see in chapter VIII.

Jane is aware at such a young age how learning can help her improve her future and in fact it is her knowledge of French which will be one of the reasons she is offered the job of governess at  Thornfield Hall nine years later, to teach Mr Rochester’s French ward English.

Jane also learns about her parents’ deaths. This chapter begins the transition from the fear and torture she is putting up with at Gateshead to the possibility of hope and a new life at a school, away from her aunt and cousins.

The summary is based on the free ebook by planet books which you can find here.

I’ll be posting a chapter of Jane Eyre in flash fiction every Friday. If you’re wondering why, read all about it here.

If you’d you’d like to Reread Jane Eyre with me, visit my blog every Friday for #JaneEyreFF posts.

See you next week for chapter 4!

Images from Pixabay