Jane Eyre: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Jane arrives at Thornfield Hall at night, and therefore can't make out much more than the house's exterior splendor in the dark. She meets the kind old Mrs. Fairfax, who leads her through the cavernous house to a cozy and snug bedroom. To Jane's surprise, Mrs. Fairfax is not the owner of Thornfield but the head housekeeper. She learns from Mrs. Fairfax that Mr. Rochester owns the place but only shows up intermittently. Mrs. Fairfax describes Rochester as peculiar, well-traveled, and a good master.

Jane meets her new pupil, the hyperactive French girl Adèle Varens, whose mother was a French singer and dancer and who is Rochester's ward. Later, Mrs. Fairfax leads Jane on a tour of the luxuriously furnished house. The third floor is packed with old furniture, odds and ends of the past. Jane considers it strange enough for a ghost to live in.

After they leave the third floor, strange laughter echoes above them, spooking Jane. Mrs. Fairfax blames the noise on Grace Poole, a servant and seamstress whom Mrs. Fairfax scolds and reminds to "remember directions."