Jane Eyre, Chapter XII quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Jane walk to Hay on the January afternoon?

   • To fetch medicine for Adele's cold
   • To visit a friend in the village
   • Correct answer: To post a letter for Mrs. Fairfax
   • To buy supplies for Thornfield

   Mrs. Fairfax had written a letter that needed to be posted, and Jane volunteered to carry it to Hay, welcoming the two-mile walk as a break from sitting in the library.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What supernatural creature does Jane associate with Rochester's dog?

   • Correct answer: A Gytrash
   • A werewolf
   • A kelpie
   • A banshee

   Jane recalls Bessie's tales of the Gytrash, a North-of-England spirit that takes the form of a horse, mule, or large dog and haunts solitary travelers.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What causes Rochester's horse to fall?

   • The dog Pilot runs in front of the horse
   • A rabbit startles the horse
   • Rochester pulls the reins too hard
   • Correct answer: The horse slips on a sheet of ice

   The horse slips on ice covering the causeway where a brooklet had overflowed and frozen after a recent thaw.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What is Jane's first physical description of Rochester?

   • Tall, fair-haired, and elegantly dressed, with a heroic air
   • Correct answer: Middle height, dark-faced, with stern features and a heavy brow
   • Short, square-made, and red-haired, with a hard, plain face
   • Tall, slender, youthful, with delicate features and pale skin

   Jane describes Rochester as having middle height, considerable breadth of chest, a dark face with stern features and a heavy brow, past youth but not yet middle-aged.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Jane, what do women need just as much as men?

   • Correct answer: Exercise for their faculties and a field for their efforts
   • Tranquillity and rest, safe from the strain of constant action
   • Training in music, drawing, sewing, and fine embroidery
   • Financial independence and the right to own property

   Jane declares that women "need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do" and suffer from rigid restraint just as men would.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What allusion does Rochester make when Jane fails to catch his horse?

   • David and Goliath
   • Correct answer: Mahomet and the mountain
   • Sisyphus and the boulder
   • Achilles and the tortoise

   Rochester says "the mountain will never be brought to Mahomet, so all you can do is to aid Mahomet to go to the mountain," meaning Jane must help him go to the horse rather than bring the horse to him.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Jane identify herself to the stranger on the road?

   • As Mrs. Fairfax's niece
   • As a visitor to the area
   • As a servant at Thornfield Hall
   • Correct answer: As the governess

   When Rochester cannot determine her social position from her simple dress, Jane tells him plainly, "I am the governess."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Jane find in Mrs. Fairfax's room when she returns to Thornfield?

   • Mrs. Fairfax knitting alone beside the fire
   • Adele at the fireside, nursing her wax doll
   • Correct answer: Rochester's dog Pilot sitting alone by the fire
   • Mr. Rochester resting his sprained ankle

   Jane finds the room empty except for a great black-and-white, long-haired dog gazing at the fire — the same dog from the lane, which she recognizes and calls "Pilot."

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Did Jane successfully catch Rochester's horse by the bridle and lead it to him?

     Didn't happen

     Jane tried repeatedly to catch the horse's bridle, but the spirited animal would not let her near its head. Instead, Rochester had to lean on Jane's shoulder and limp to the horse himself.

   • Did Jane know the stranger was Mr. Rochester during their encounter on the road?

     Didn't happen

     Jane had never seen or met Mr. Rochester before. She only learned the stranger's identity after returning to Thornfield, when the housemaid Leah told her the dog's owner was "master — Mr. Rochester."

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10. 10

    Question 10. In the context of Chapter 12, what does "sequestered" mean when Jane looks out over "sequestered field and hill"?

    • Fertile and well-cultivated; rich in crops
    • Confiscated by order of a court of law
    • Correct answer: Isolated and secluded from the outside world
    • Arranged one after another in a regular order

    "Sequestered" means isolated or remote, reflecting Jane's feeling of being cut off from the wider world she longs to experience.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "officious" mean when Jane says she was "in the mood for being useful, or at least officious"?

    • Correct answer: Eagerly offering help that may not be wanted
    • Stiffly formal and businesslike in manner
    • Holding an official post in some public office
    • Timid and unwilling to offer any assistance

    "Officious" means assertively helpful in a way that may be unwelcome. Jane uses it with self-aware humor, acknowledging her help might not have been desired by the gruff stranger.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "raiment" mean when Jane says "again my raiment underwent scrutiny"?

    • Facial expression
    • Correct answer: Clothing or garments
    • Social rank or standing
    • Physical appearance

    "Raiment" is a somewhat archaic word meaning clothing. Rochester examines Jane's dress to determine her social position, finding it too simple for a lady's-maid.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does Jane hear while walking alone on the third-storey corridor?

    • The rooks cawing in the rookery outside
    • Sophie describing the customs of her country
    • Adele practising French songs with Sophie
    • Correct answer: Grace Poole's strange laugh and eccentric murmurs

    Jane frequently hears Grace Poole's low, slow laugh and strange murmurs from behind her door on the third floor, sounds that remain mysterious and unsettling.

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