she's trying to protect jane


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Posted by greg on October 04, 1997 at 15:42:10:


In response to What did Ms Fairfax mean?, written by Marsha on October 04, 1997 at 13:52:23

... I was always exceedingly puzzled when Mrs F told Jane that "is it really for love he is marrying you? Because gentlemen..." (my inept paraphrase. What else could he be marrying her for? Mrs F doesn't know about Bertha, and no one in their right mind would think he is marrying her for lust, with her looks. It would be more likely in Blanche's case! She's got no money, connections or property, so he can't be mersenary. I ruled out lust, money, connections and Bertha, so what else is there? If I ever thought someone wanted to marry for love, that was it!

] So what did Mrs F mean????

] Sorely puzzled,
] Marsha



i think mrs. f did know about bertha: re-read the last page of ch. 11. and remember that in ch. 17 it's clear that the charwoman and leah knew about bertha, so mrs. f, their supervisor, must have known also. i guess that mrs. f meant to plant a seed of doubt in jane's mind concerning mr. r's love for her, because she knew that love is the only reason jane would want to marry him for, and mrs. f wanted to spare jane the awful implications of bigamy. of course, she also didn't want to have to actually tell jane about bertha, either. mrs. f also tries to show jane how different mr. r's sphere is to her own, even at the risk of seeming like a stupid snob to jane, again, because she wants to protect jane.





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