Jane Eyre XIII -- chapter 13: FAIRIES and THE MEN IN GREEN (not black)

Reading Questions

1. Interesting the rhetoric that goes into the building of a hero.  What does Bronte do to paint Mr. Rochester as a desirable, admirable man?  (Consider the difference between the author's unique slants in usage, and those that might be written off as Jane's own impressions and prejudices.)
2. "I should be obliged to take time, sir, before I could give you an answer worthy of your acceptance: a present has many faces to it, has it not? and one should consider all before pronouncing an opinion as to its nature."  What faces?
3. Why is Mr. Rochester such a grump--or, at least, "humph"-ing?
4. The dashes, by the way, in lieu of place and person names, and typical of literature from the period, are only to indicate nonfiction; most names and places, with periodic exceptions, are fictional.
5. "Eight years! you must be tenacious of life. I thought half the time in such a place would have done up any constitution! No wonder you have rather the look of another world. I marveled where you had got that sort of face. When you came on me in Hay Lane last night, I thought unaccountably of fairy tales, and had half a mind to demand whether you had bewitched my horse: I am not sure yet. Who are your parents?"  Of what kind of face does Mr. Rochester speak?  Fill in the blanks: describe, perhaps more visually, what he sees there.
6. How does this previous quotation and assumption (particularly augmented by the spoken sarcasm, though with at least a hint of sincerity, "Nor ever had," referring to Jane's lack of parents?) indicate our continued look at the fantastic and/or haunted?  (Or should I just shut up about the whole horror aspect of the book?)
7. Supposedly (and according to various sites where I've look for variance of interpretation for "men in green" (leprechauns or hobgoblins, by the way)) the exchange at the fire over tea is supposed to be "playful" and "light;" does it feel like that to you?  I see Mr. Rochester as mostly annoyed--or embarrassed--by his fall on the ice, and that mood, in my mind, plays throughout the dialog here.  Most optimistically I see him early on his guard with Jane and later relaxing as the discussion evolves.  Thoughts?  If playfulness is involved, at what point does it gain traction?
8. There must be some significance to the paintings, else why make such a big deal over them?  I get a clear impression of the source and meaning of the first, the next two are more nebulous.
9. Mrs. Fairfax believes--or so she says--that Mr. Rochester is not a complicated man.  Jane see more than that.  What might justify the difference?

Gee Whiz:

I've found the word "deuce" used over and over again in British lit, mostly from this time period, as well as in movies whose subjects take place then and there as well.  Mr. Rochester uses it as the object of the mild oath: "What the deuce," which is supposedly in reference to one of the many nicknames for the devil.  However, "deuce" is also a degenerate form of the French for two (deux), and shows up all over military slang to refer to something that would otherwise reference 2.  Better yet, just like the grade-school euphamism, it is also slang for the latter of two primary activities in which one engages in the bathroom ("bathroom" itself being also euphamistic) --yes, deuce can also mean "#2."