4. Jane Eyre: (pg. 175)
“The library looked tranquil enough as I entered it, and the Sibyl-- if Sibyl she were--was seated snugly enough in an easy-chair at the chimney-corner.”
A Sibyl is a woman who is assumed to have powers of prophecy or divination. Bronte is showing expressing Jane Eyre’s disbelief in the gypsy that is here to tell her of her future. Jane questions the powers of this lady, “if sibyl she were”, Jane is only seeing the gypsy for fun. Bronte uses the gypsy to further reveal Jane’s nature – skeptic and realist. The story is told from Jane’s point-of-view (writer’s tool). Bronte also uses the Sibyl to create sinister and supernatural tone which was popular at the time.
Erlich, Julie. Afterword. Jane Eyre. By Charolotte Bronte. The Reader’s Digest Association. September 1984. 25 November 2009.
"SIBYL." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 26 November 2009. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SIBYL
Steinberg, Briel. The supernatural element in Jane Eyre. The Victorian Web. 1993. 26 November 2009. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/steinberg1.html.
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