Jane Eyre, Chapter II quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why is Jane being sent to the red-room?

   • She stole a book from John's bookshelves
   • Correct answer: She physically fought back against John Reed
   • She screamed and claimed she had seen a ghost
   • She tried to run away from Gateshead Hall

   Jane is punished for her "mutiny" in striking John Reed after he threw a book at her head in Chapter 1.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What threat does Bessie use to make Jane sit still on the stool?

   • She threatens to lock Jane in the cellar instead
   • She threatens to call Mrs. Reed immediately
   • She threatens to send Jane to the poorhouse
   • Correct answer: She threatens to tie Jane down with Miss Abbot's garters

   Bessie says "If you don't sit still, you must be tied down" and asks Miss Abbot to lend her garters.

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Miss Abbot, what is Jane's social position in the Reed household?

   • She is equal to the Reed children
   • She is a paid companion
   • Correct answer: She is less than a servant
   • She is a distant cousin with inheritance rights

   Miss Abbot tells Jane: "No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep."

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4. 4

   Question 4. What significant event happened in the red-room nine years before the events of the novel?

   • Correct answer: Mr. Reed died in the room
   • A fire damaged the room's furnishings
   • Jane's parents were married there
   • Mrs. Reed first arrived at Gateshead

   The narrator reveals that Mr. Reed "breathed his last" in the red-room, which is why the room is seldom used and has an atmosphere of "dreary consecration."

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5. 5

   Question 5. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Jane compares herself to a "rebel slave" in this chapter.

     Happened

     Jane describes herself as feeling "like any other rebel slave" who is "resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths."

   • Mrs. Reed comes to comfort Jane after hearing her screams from the red-room.

     Didn't happen

     Far from comforting Jane, Mrs. Reed accuses her of artifice, extends her punishment by another hour, and has her locked back in the room.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Jane see in the looking-glass that frightens her?

   • Correct answer: Her own reflection, which appears ghostly and phantom-like
   • A shadowy figure creeping up behind her stool
   • The miniature of Mr. Reed from the secret drawer
   • Her dead uncle's face gazing out from the dark glass

   Jane describes seeing "the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white face and arms specking the gloom" which she compares to "one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp."

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7. 7

   Question 7. What relationship does Mr. Reed have to Jane?

   • He is her grandfather on her mother's side
   • He is her godfather with no blood relation
   • He is her paternal uncle (her father's brother)
   • Correct answer: He is her maternal uncle (her mother's brother)

   Jane recalls that Mr. Reed "was my own uncle—my mother's brother—that he had taken me when a parentless infant to his house."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What causes Jane to scream and pound on the locked door?

   • She hears footsteps running along the outer passage
   • Correct answer: She sees a mysterious streak of light moving on the wall
   • She hears the wind howling and the rain beating on the window
   • She hears something coming down the marble chimney

   A light "glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my head." Jane's mind, already primed for supernatural terror, interprets it as a ghostly herald.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What word meaning "harsh criticism or public disgrace" does the narrator use to describe the blame heaped on Jane?

   • vassalage
   • partiality
   • Correct answer: opprobrium
   • ignominy

   Jane says she "was loaded with general opprobrium" for defending herself against John Reed's violence.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What word meaning "beyond what is normal or natural" describes the voice Jane fears might speak to her?

    • captious
    • precocious
    • heterogeneous
    • Correct answer: preternatural

    Jane is "fearful lest any sign of violent grief might waken a preternatural voice to comfort me."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does the adult narrator believe the mysterious light actually was?

    • A ray of moonlight shining through the blinds
    • Correct answer: A gleam from a lantern carried across the lawn
    • A flash of lightning from the storm outside
    • A spirit sent by her dead uncle, Mr. Reed

    The narrator says: "I can now conjecture readily that this streak of light was, in all likelihood, a gleam from a lantern carried by some one across the lawn."

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12. 12

    Question 12. What word meaning "unusually advanced or mature for one's age" does the narrator use for how Mrs. Reed saw her?

    • sanguine
    • insupportable
    • Correct answer: precocious
    • peremptory

    Jane says she was a precocious actress in her eyes: Mrs. Reed took her displays of fear for calculated performances.

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13. 13

    Question 13. How does Chapter 2 end?

    • Correct answer: Jane loses consciousness after having a fit
    • Bessie secretly lets Jane out of the room
    • Jane falls asleep on the ottoman by the chimney
    • Mrs. Reed releases Jane after an hour of stillness

    After Mrs. Reed locks her back in, the narrator says: "I suppose I had a species of fit: unconsciousness closed the scene."

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