Chapter 21
Presentiments and Painful News
Presentiments are strange things! and so are sympathies; and so are signs; and the three combined make one mystery to which humanity has not yet found the key. I never laughed at presentiments in my life, because I have had strange ones of my own. Sympathies, I believe, exist (for instance, between far-distant, long-absent, wholly estranged relatives asserting, notwithstanding their alienation, the unity of the source to which each traces his origin) whose workings baffle mortal comprehension. And signs, for aught we know, may be but the sympathies of Nature with man. When I was a little girl, only six…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Does that person want you?"
Context: Blanche's dismissive question when Jane approaches Rochester in the billiard room
In Today's Words:
When someone treats you like you don't belong in their space, it cuts deep. That dismissive tone from wealthy clients who see home health aides as invisible servants reminds you that class barriers still exist. It's the same energy as being questioned for entering an upscale restaurant or office building where you clearly work.
"Not to advertise: and to trust this quest of a situation to me."
Context: Rochester's condition when Jane refuses to take more than her due in wages before leaving for Gateshead
In Today's Words:
When your boss offers to help with your job search, it shows genuine care beyond the professional relationship. Instead of just posting on job boards, having someone with connections advocate for you personally means everything. It's the difference between being another resume in a pile versus having someone vouch for your character.
"Jane Eyre was dead: she had died of typhus fever at Lowood."
Context: Mrs. Reed confessing on her deathbed that she lied to Jane's uncle in Madeira to block her adoption
In Today's Words:
Family members sometimes lie to protect their own interests, even when it destroys your opportunities. Imagine discovering a relative told potential adoptive parents you were dead to prevent losing inheritance money. It's the ultimate betrayal that explains years of wondering why certain doors never opened for you despite your efforts.
"Love me, then, or hate me, as you will"
Context: Jane offering full forgiveness to Mrs. Reed after the confession, though no reconciliation follows
In Today's Words:
Sometimes offering complete forgiveness is the only way to free yourself from toxic family dynamics. You can choose to release all resentment toward people who hurt you, even knowing they'll never apologize or change. It's about your peace, not theirs, especially when dealing with difficult clients or family members.
Thematic Threads
Social Class
In This Chapter
Development
In Your Life:
When have you felt judged or excluded based on your background, income, or social status? How did you navigate situations where you felt you didn't quite 'fit in' with a particular group?
Independence
In This Chapter
Development
In Your Life:
What's the hardest choice you've had to make between financial security and personal freedom? When have you had to choose between what's practical and what feels true to who you are?
Family and Belonging
In This Chapter
Development
In Your Life:
How do you handle the tension between loyalty to family and pursuing your own path when they conflict? What does 'home' mean to you when your family relationships are complicated or distant?
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
Jane opens the chapter reflecting on seven consecutive nights of dreaming about infant children and calling this an omen of ill news. Why does Brontë link Jane's intuition to the supernatural before Robert Leaven arrives?
analysis • analysisOne way to read it
The dreams create dread before any factual news, establishing that Jane takes her inner life seriously as evidence. Brontë signals that emotion and intuition are valid registers of knowledge alongside fact, and that Jane has always read situations others miss by attending to feeling.
- 2
When Jane approaches Rochester in the billiard room, Blanche Ingram calls her 'that person' and wonders what 'the creeping creature' wants. Why does Brontë place this public humiliation at the moment Jane needs Rochester's help?
analysis • analysisOne way to read it
The scene shows Jane the social cost of her position: she must endure contempt publicly in order to secure basic permission. Rochester follows her out and speaks privately, suggesting his regard for her, but the moment shows the power gap that governess life requires her to navigate daily.
- 3
Jane discovers she has been unconsciously sketching Rochester's face in the sickroom at Gateshead. What does this involuntary act reveal about how she processes suppressed feeling?
interpretation • interpretationOne way to read it
She cannot acknowledge her attachment openly, so it surfaces through her hand without conscious permission. Brontë shows how deeply Rochester has occupied Jane's mind even while she focuses on duty, and how desire bypasses the rational mind once a genuine attachment forms.
- 4
After more than ten days at Gateshead, the aunt confesses she wrote to John Eyre of Madeira that Jane had died of typhus, blocking the adoption. Jane forgives freely and asks for a kiss that is refused. What does her response to that refusal reveal about what forgiveness meant to her?
application • applicationOne way to read it
Jane's offer of forgiveness is complete and unconditional; she does not require the other person to accept it. She has separated her own moral position from what the aunt can give. The refusal is painful but does not undo what Jane has already done inwardly: the benefit of forgiveness belongs to Jane, not to the giver.
- 5
Eliza and Jane view the body the morning after the aunt dies, and neither weeps. What does this absence of grief suggest about what the visit actually accomplished for Jane?
reflection • evaluationOne way to read it
Jane came prepared to forgive but not expecting reunion, and she leaves without the bitterness she carried for years. The lack of tears signals completion rather than coldness: she has discharged a duty to her own integrity and is free to return to Thornfield. The grief, if any, is for what the aunt chose not to release.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Analyze how Brontë uses the supernatural elements (dreams, presentiments, omens) in this chapter to advance both plot and character development. Consider how these Gothic elements serve the novel's broader themes of connection, isolation, and moral choice.
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 22: Return to Thornfield
Mr. Rochester had given me but one week's leave of absence: yet a month elapsed before I quitted Gateshead. I wished to leave immediately after the funeral, but Georgiana entreated me to stay till she
