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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 1. Rizzio of so divine a Mary – David Rizzio (c. 1533-66), an Italian singer and musician who became a favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots; he was assassinated by Mary’s second husband, lord Darnley. 2. Bothwell – James Hepburn (c. 1536-78), fourth Earl of Bothwell; he married Mary, Queen of Scots, after having her second husband murdered. 3. Corsairs – pirates who sailed the coast of North Africa; the allusion is to Lord Byron’s popular poem The Corsair (1814), whose main character is a typical Byronic hero. 4. Paynim - designating a non-Christian, especially a Moslem 5. Bridewell – sixteenth century London hospital, subsequently a place of detention and correction for vagrants and immoral women, rebuilt in 1802 6. Girandoles – branched candleholders 7. Le cas – French for “the thing to do” 8. Sybil – fortune teller 9. Diablerie – diabolical behavior; witchcraft 10. Blackaviced – having a dark complexion 11. Ariel – in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a spirit of the air 12. Cairngorm – a kind of quartz found in Scotland, used as a gem 13. Quiz – an awkward or eccentric person 14. The Rubric – the directions in a prayer book for conducting a religious service, often printed in red 15. Queen Boadicea – queen of the Iceni in ancient Britain, who led an unsuccessful revolt against the Romans in 61 A. D. 16. Midsummer-eve – June 23, the day before the feast of St. John near the summer solstice; in European folklore it was believed that witches and evil spirits performed rites on this night to renew their supernatural powers; people customarily locked themselves into their houses to avoid becoming the target of these powers. 17. Organ of Adhesiveness – another of Bronte’s many references to the pseudoscience of phrenology;’ this organ was supposedly located at the back of the head. 18. Mustard-Seed – one of the fairies in Shakespear’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream 19. Aerial – like air; ntoe the similarity of the word’s sound to Ariel and Eyre 20. Ahasuerus – allusion to the Book of Esther; Ahasuerus was a wealthy Persian king who made the Jewish woman Esther his queen and promised her half of his kingdom 21. Bairn – (Scottish) child 22. Tyne (Scottish) lose 23. Suttee – former Hindu custom in which a widow threw herself onto her husband's funeral pyre
Chapters 25-281. D.V. – abbreviation for Deo volente, Latin for “God Willing” 2. Blonde – a type of lace, so called because of its flaxen color 3. Funchal – capital of Madeira 4. Puck out you right eye; yourself cut off your right hand – an allusion to the sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:27-30); it foreshadows Rochester’s fate. 5. Achan – an allusion to Joshua 7:19-26; Achan was stoned by the Israelites for having hidden an “accursed thing” in his tent 6. Upas-tree – a Javanese tree that yields a poisonous fluid; thus, anything harmful or deadly in its influence 7. Will-o’-the-wisp - wandering spirit that supposedly haunts marshes; any delusive hope 8. Grafinnen – countesses 9. Messalina’s attribute – Messalina, wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, was notorious for her promiscuity. 10. My solitary way – an allusion to the conclusion of Milton’s Paradise Lost, describing Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise
Chapters 29-381. Coruscating – sparkling; flashing 2. Peri – in Persian mythology, an elf or fairy 3. Lusus naturae (Latin) a freak of nature 4. Mammon – personification of riches and greedy pursuit
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