Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte's Inspirations for Thornfield Hall

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte's Inspirations for Thornfield Hall

Charlotte Bronte was inspired by several real-life English country houses when creating Thornfield Hall, the home of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre. The house itself plays an important role in the novel, being the location of several significant scenes, including those with Bertha Mason, Mr Rochester's mad wife. This article explores some of the actual locations which may have been Thornfield's originals. The excerpts are from the Oxford World's Classics 2000 edition of the novel.

One of the buildings which inspired Charlotte was the home of her lifelong friend and correspondent Ellen Nussey. The two women first met when they were pupils at Roe Head School. Charlotte was deeply impressed by Nussey's home, the 'Rydings' in Yorkshire, with its battlements, rookery and thorn-trees. The descriptions Jane gives of Thornfield soon after her arrival at the house bear some resemblance to Nussey's home: "Battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look. Its grey front stood out well from the background of a rookery" (p.99). Jane also suspects the name of Thornfield is derived from "an array of mighty thorn trees" (p.99) situated nearby.

At Roe Head, Charlotte heard of a governess who married a gentleman who was subsequently found to be already married, but to a mad wife. In The Life of Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell asserts that this is where the 'mad woman in the attic' idea originated. However two country houses, Hathersage's North Lees Hall and Norton Conyers near Ripon, may also have provided Charlotte with inspiration.

North Lees Hall is a sixteenth-century manor-house and was the home of Mary Eyre and the Eyre family - where Jane's surname derives - when Charlotte visited in 1845. While there Charlotte heard of Agnes Ashurst, the first mistress of the house, who went mad and was said to have been confined in a padded room on the second floor. Some time later she died in a fire. North Lees Hall also housed an Apostles Cabinet, reminiscent of that noticed by Jane when she is tending to Mr Mason after Bertha has attacked him. Jane describes the cabinet's front as being divided "into twelve panels, bore in grim design, the heads of the twelve apostles" (p.210).

The other possible candidate, Norton Conyers, Charlotte visited in 1839. Here she also heard of a mad woman who was said to have been confined to the attic in the previous century. Unlike the mad woman at North Lees Hall, this woman's name remains a mystery. In Jane Eyre, Mr Rochester is described as utilizing a convenient stairwell near his room to directly access the upper floors of Thornfield where his mad wife is confined. This bears an intriguing similarity with a secret staircase uncovered at Norton Conyers in 2004. The staircase leads directly from the landing outside the Peacock Room (a possible inspiration for Mr Rochester's chambers) to a lonely garret and is described as being so narrow it can only permit one person at a time. It had previously been hidden behind paneling erected in the 1880s.Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte's Inspirations for Thornfield Hall -  Tobecool General Business - Directory Seo - Business Directory