JANE EYRE
MRS REED:
Jane Eyre!
(Young Jane turns to Mrs Reed and shakes her head, bewildered.)
A precious book! Completely destroyed! How could you do such a wicked, wicked
thing?
YOUNG JANE: It was John. John did it.
(Mrs Reed looks at John, who turns on Young Jane in outraged innocence)
JOHN:
Liar!
(Crying)
Mama!
(Mrs Reed turns back to Young Jane, her fury suddenly brimming over.)
MRS REED:
How dare you accuse your kind young master. You vile, deceitful child.
YOUNG JANE: How is he my master? Am I a servant?
MRS REED:
You are less than a servant. For you do nothing to earn your keep. God should
strike you dead for the ingratitude you show.
(She starts to leave through the trap door, John Reed following)
YOUNG JANE: Then let him strike me dead. For I cannot bear to live here any longer.
(Mrs Reed is silenced briefly by Young Jane’s outburst)
MRS REED:
The violence is repulsive. Come along, John.
JOHN REED:
(Still snivelling)
Yes, Mama.
MRS REED:
It’s all right, my darling, I know what I must do.
(Turning back to Young Jane.)
I abominate lying, particularly in children. My duty obliges me to purge you of your
faults.
(As Mrs Reed descends through the trap-door a clock chimes seven in the hall
below. John Reed follows her, turning to make a hideous face at Young Jane before
disappearing down the stairs. Young Jane collects up the torn pages of the book and
starts to piece them together, as Jane starts to sing.)
#1 – The Attic
JANE:
A FLOOD OF MEMORY WASHES OVER ME
A LONELY GIRL BETRAYED AND BATTERED
RETRIVES THE PIECES
OF A LIFE THAT’S TORN APART
AND TRIES IN VAIN TO MEND
THE TATTERED PAGES OF HER HEART
IT’S SEVEN O’CLOCK IN THE EVENING
ANOTHER DAY OF THEIR ABUSE
REPEATED PERSECUTION
FOR BEING OF SO LITTLE USE
(Young Jane closes the torn pages into the book as best she can and returns to her
dusty cranny under the gable)
SHE CURSES THE INJUSTICE
AND BEGS TO KNOW THE REASON WHY
SHE SUFFERS IN THIS PRISON
WHEN ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS FLY
(Young Jane peers out through a crack in the roof at the night sky beyond).
OVER MOUNTAINS
OVER OCEANS
HOW HER RESTLESSNESS STIRS
FOR SHE LONGS FOR HER LIBERTY
WHEN WILL LIBERTY BE HERS?
(Young Jane turns back to the audience and sits hugging her knees and rocking
gently to and fro)
HER LIFE IS NOT OF VALUE
POVERTY SECURES HER FATE
CONDEMNED TO BE A WOMAN
BARELY FIT TO EDUCATE
SHE SWALLOS HER REBELLION
BUT THERE’S A STORM WITHIN HER BREAST
SHE TRIES TO QUELL THE DOWNPOUR
YET CANNOT TAME HER SOUL’S UNREST
(Young Jane rises and moves towards the audience, her face lit by a crack of light
coming through the roof.)
AND THE LIGHTNING
STRIKES INSIDE HER
AS SHE LOOKS TO THE SKY
AND SHE PLEDGES TO SPREAD HER WINGS
THROUGH A HURRICANE SHE’LL FLY.
(Both Janes look out over the audience.)
OVER MOUNTAINS
OVER OCEANS
HOW HER RESTLESNESS STIRS
FOR SHE LONGS FOR HER LIBERTY
WHEN WILL LIBERTY BE HERS?
(Brocklehurst emerges from the shadows, tall, dark clad and forbidding, Mrs Reed
behind him. Young Jane shrinks away from him, a tiny figure kneeling at this feet.
Jane kneels behind her, both of them looking up at Brocklehurst.)
BROCKLEHURST:
THERE’S NO SIGHT SO SAD
NO STENCH SO BAD
AS THAT OF A NAUGHTY GIRL
NO CRIME SO GRAVE
AS CHILDREN WHO MISBEHAVE
WHEN A GIRL CAN’T BE SAVED
GOD HEARS HER PLEA
BUT HE LEAVES HER SOUL TO ME
(The music crashes into the next scene, as Jane takes Young jane to one side of the
stage and dresses her in the uniform of Lowood School)
ACT 1, Scene i
(Brocklehurst, the owner of the Lowood, shouts out over the sound of the music as
the school takes shape around him.)
BROCKLEHURST:
Form classes! Silence! Order!
#2 – Children of God
(We are in a large, gloomy school-room, more like a prison that a school. There are
benches arranged in rows on two sides of a central aisle with a dusty chalk-board at
the front of the room. Hanging on one side of the chalk-board is a well-used leather
strap. The Schoolgirls enter in a regimented line. They are supervised by Miss
Scatcherd, a grim looking woman of indeterminate age, and Marigold, a servingwoman with a vacant, semi-moronic face.)
GIRLS:
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
AND WE PRAISE HIS WORD
WE ARE BLIND IN HIS LOVE
IN HIS LOVE WE WILL TRUST
FOR WE ARE TAUGHT THAT WE MUST
MISS SCATCHERD:
GIRLS, DON’T SLOUCH, KEEP IN LINE
OR MY NERVES WILL SNAP
DO NOT WISHPER OR BREATHE
OR I’LL SHOW YOU THE STRAP
(Brocklehurst greets Mrs Reed and John Reed at the side of the stage)
GIRLS:
OH, GRATEFUL WE ARE FOR OUR DAILY BREAD
MINDFUL ARE WE OF WHAT JESUS SAID
TRUST IN HIM, TURN THE CHEEK
EVER BLESSED ARE THE MEEK
(The girls sit on the benches as Brocklehurst goes to the front of the class and
addresses them)
BROCKLEHURST:
I HAVE A WORD TO ADDRESS TO THE STUDENTS
HERE IS A GIRL WHO IS NEW TO OUR SCHOOL
(Miss Scatcherd has collected Young Jane from Jane and leads her to the front of the
school-room)
Her name is Eyre, Jane Eyre, and she is brought here by her excellent benefactress,
Mrs Reed.
(Mrs Reed steps forward to reply to Brocklehurst, but she includes the whole school
in her address.)
MRS REED:
I should wish her to be brought up in a manner suiting her prospects – to be made
useful – to be kept humble.
ONE MUST PUNISH THE FLESH
SHE’S PRONE TO DECEIT
I WOULD CAUTION YOU NOT TO BE
FOOLED BY HER LIES
BROCKLEHURST:
DECEIT IS A SIN
MRS REED:
SHE KNOWS NOT THE DANGER SHE’S IN
(Brocklehurst looms over young Jane, who faces forward, seemingly impervious.)
BROCKLEHURST:
Do you know where liars go after death?
YOUNG JANE: They go to hell.
BROCKLEHURST:
And what is hell?
YOUNG JANE: A pit full of fire.
BROCKLEHURST:
And should you like to be falling into that pit, and to be swimming there forever?
YOUNG JANE: No, sir.
BROCKLEHUST:
Then what must you do to avoid it?
YOUNG JANE: I must keep in good health and not die.
(This is not the right answer, and Brocklehurst is momentarily non-plussed before
angrily responding)
BROCKLEHURST:
Children younger than you die daily
(He walks amongst the other girls)
THESE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
SHE WILL QUICKLY LEARN
THAT A CHILD DECEITFUL
FOREVER SHALL BURN
(As Brocklehurst points out Young Jane with his stick, she turns on him.)
YOUNG JANE: I am not deceitful! I have never told a lie!
(She turns back and faces Mrs Reed who freezes in horror.)
If I told lies, I would say I love you, Mrs Reed. But I declare I do not love you. I
dislike you worst of anybody in the world. I will never come to see you when I’m
grown up – even when you ‘re dying – for the very thought of you makes me sick.
You are the liar!
(Mrs Reed reels back and is helped onto a chair by John Reed.)
BROCKLEHURST:
Shocking conduct!
(Brocklehurst takes Young Jane by an ear and pulls her to the head of the class
where Marigold places a stool. As the whole school joins in the condemnation, Miss
Scatcherd puts Young Jane up on the stool. Mrs Reed and John Reed cross the
Brocklehurst who escorts them away from the classroom. Marigold chalks the word
‘LIAR’ up on the chalk-board behind Young Jane as Miss Scatcherd leads all the other
girls off into the darkness.)
(Mrs Reed, Miss Scatcherd, Mr Brocklehurst and Ensemble 1, 2 & 3 sing the
following lyrics simultaneously.
MRS REED:
LET THIS TEACH YOU!
LET THIS TEACH YOU!
WICKED CHILD
HORRID, WRETCHED CHILD.
GOD DESPISES YOU!
MISS SCATCHERED:
(To Mrs Reed)
SHE IS DEPRAVED.
(To Mr Brocklehurst)
THE GIRLS WILL BE WATCHED
SIR EV’RY HOUR
(To Young Jane)
STAND VERY STILL
ALL EYES WILL BE WATCHING
WATCHING A SHAMEFUL CHILD.
BROCKLEHURST:
PUNISH THE FLESH
TO CHASTEN THE SPIRIT
DISCIPLES ARE BORN
TO BE HUMBLE AND SUFFER.
PURITY COMES FROM THE
PAIN OF CORRECTION
DISCIPLES ARE BORN
TO BE HUMBLE AND SUFFER.
THE TORMENT OF MARTYRS
IS HOLY AND CHRISTIAN.
STARVING THE BODY,
YOU’LL NEVER EXTINGUISH THE SOUL.
ENS. 1, 2 , 3
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
WE MAKE ONE REQUEST
THAT THE PORRIDGE BEFORE US
IS PROPERLY BLESSED
AND SAFE TO INGEST
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
BUT WE FIND IT QUEER
IF WE’RE REALLY HIS CHILDREN,
WHY ISN’T HE HERE?
SCHOOLGIRLS: BLIND IN HIS LOVE
WE’RE CHARITY CHILDREN
NO MORTHER OR FATHER JUST HEAVENLY CARE
GOD BLESSES OUR SOULS
AND YET WE DESPAIR
(Silence. Young Jane stands on the stool in the empty hall. A chapel bell tolls the
hour in the distance. Helen Burns comes out of the darkness and approaches Young
Jane, looking round to make sure the coast is clear. She is one of the school-girls we
have seen earlier and is dressed exactly like them. She is 14 or 15 years old, quiet,
gentle and serious. Young Jane notices her.
HELEN:
I’ve brought you some bread.
(Young Jane shakes her head)
Come, you must eat something
(Another shade of the head. Helen looks round again.)
Please....
(She holds out the curst of bread, but gets no response, so she tucks it into Young
Jane’s apron pocket.)
If you don’t want it now, you can save it for later.
(Helen starts to leave, Young Jane watching her with great suspicion.)
JANE:
What is your name?
HELEN:
BURNS – Helen Burns.
YOUNG JANE: Why do you talk to a girl everyone believes to be a liar?
HELEN:
Everyone, Jane? Only forty people have heard you called so, and the world contains
hundreds of millions.
YOUNG JANE: What have I to do with millions? The forty people here despise me.
HELEN:
No one despises you. Many I’m sure feel for you.
(Helen returns to Young jane at the stool.)
But even if all the world hated you and believed you wicked, if your own conscience
approved you, you would not be lonely.
YOUNG JANE: (Passionate)
No, no! If others don’t love me, I’d rather die than live.
HELEN:
Hush, Jane! You think too much of the love of human beings. Apart from this earth,
there is a kingdom of spirits who watch over us and protect us.
YOUNG JANE: Where?
HELEN:
Everywhere.
(Mr Brocklehurst emerges from the shadows.)
BROCKLEHURST:
Burns! Taking to the new girl!
(Bellowing at the top of his voice)
Scatcherd!
(Helen looks up at Young Jane with a little smile of regret as Miss Scatcherd hurries
into the hall, closely followed by Marigold, the servant.)
Burns is talking to the new girl against my express command!
MISS SCATCHERD:
Hardened child! Will nothing break your spirit?
BROCKLEHURST:
The strap, Scatcherd, will do her spirit no harm.
(Young Jane watches in horror as Miss Scatcherd fetches the strap from its hook on
the chalk-board.)
MISS SCATCHERD:
(Beating Helen)
Let – this – teach – you - willful – child!
(As Helen is beaten, Young Jane winces at every stroke, Brocklehurst observing her
with interest. Miss Scatcherd then hands the strap back to Helen who curtseys to
her and then turns to look calmly at Young Jane before returning the strap to its
hook.)
BROCKLEHURST:
This floor is filthy. Since Burns and the liar are so keen to converse, let them be
usefully employed while they do so.
(Brocklehust goes. Marigold dumps a bucket down on the floor and nudges Young
Jane off the stool.)
MISS SCATCHERD:
The whole room, mind you – ‘til I can see my face in it.
(Miss Scatcherd and Marigold go. Helen and Young Jane are now alone in the
schoolroom. They take rags from the bucket and start polishing. Young Jane is
furious, her words tumbling out of her in an angry torrent.)
#3 – Forgiveness
YOUNG JANE: If she used that strap on me, I would take it from her hand.
HELEN:
You would do no such thing.
YOUNG JANE: I would beat her with it.
HELEN:
YOU MUSTN’T BE REVENGEFUL
YOUNG JANE: She would deserve it, and so would he!
HELEN:
YOU HAVE TO BE STRONG
YOUNG JANE: Wicked, unjust people...
HELEN:
TO OFFER GOOD FOR EVIL
YOUNG JANE: They should be the ones to suffer.
HELEN:
RETURN RIGHT FOR WRONG
WE MUST NOT HOLD A GRUDGE
AND WE MUST LEARN TO ENDURE
YOUNG JANE: I will never learn.
HELEN:
THEN AS GOD IS OUR JUDGE
YOUNG JANE: You should learn – to strike back at them
HELEN:
AT LEAST OUR HEARTS WILL BE PURE
FORGIVENESS
IS THE MIGHTIEST SWORD
FORGIVENESS
OF THOSE YOU HATE
WILL BE YOUR HIGHEST REWARD
YOUNG JANE: And those who hate me?
HELEN:
WHEN THEY BRUISE YOU WITH WORDS
WHEN THEY MAKE YOU FEEL SMALL
WHEN IT’S HARDEST TO BEAR
YOU MUST DO NOTHING AT ALL
FORGIVENESS IS THE SIMPLEST VOW
FORGIVENESS OF ALL THEIR CRIMES
IS YOUR DELIVERANCE NOW
(Helen rises and refers Young Jane to the scrawled ‘LIAR’ on the chalk-board.)
BLESS THOSE SOULS
WHO WOULD CURSE YOUR NAME
WHEN THE LAST BELL TOLLS
YOU’LL BE FREE OF BLAME
YOUNG JANE: No, Helen. It’s not possible.
(Helen takes a testament from her apron pocket and looks up a reference.)
HELEN:
YOU CAN RESIST IF YOU WISH
YOUNG JANE: I must hate those who hate me.
HELEN:
BUT KNOW THE GOSPEL IS TRUE
(She gives the book to Young Jane and points to the reference she has found.)
YOU MUST FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN
YOUNG JANE: I will never forgive Mrs Reed.
HELEN:
AND BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU
YOUNG JANE: I will never bless her son, John.
HELEN:
FORGIVENESS
IS THE MIGHTIEST SWORD
(Young Jane reads on in the testament.)
FORGIVENESS
OF THOSE YOU FEAR
WILL BE YOUR HIGHEST REWARD
(Young Jane hands the book back to Helen.)
YOUNG JANE: But when, Helen? When will we get our reward?
HELEN:
The time will come when we will leave this world, and then the injustice and the
pain and the sin will fall away from us, and only the spirit will remain – returning to
God who created it.
(Young Jane is calm now, watching Helen with a quiet reverence.)
#4 – Willing to be Brave
YOU MUST NEVER LOSE FAITH
YOU MUST NEVER LOSE HEART
GOD WILL RESTORE YOUR TRUST
AND I KNOW YOU’RE AFRAID
I’M AS SCARED AS YOU ARE
(Helen puts out a cautious hand to Young Jane)
BUT WILLING TO BE BRAVE
(Young Jane slips her hand into Helen’s)
BRAVE ENOUGH FOR LOVE
(The light fades on the two girls.)
ACT 1, Scene ii
#5 – The Death of Helen Burns
(As Jane takes up the story, Helen and Young Jane spread an old blanket on the
ground and sprawl on it, surrounding themselves with books and sketch-pads. All
around them is the dappled light of a springtime glade.)
JANE:
Spring drew on and the snows of winter melted. April dawned with sunshine and
warmth. Helen and I would steal away to a secret hollow in the neighbouring
woods. There we would talk and read and paint for hours and hours, surrounded by
wild primrose plants.
(Helen reads from a school poetry book)
HELEN:
‘The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide
They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way.’
(Music changes. The light around the girls begins to darken.)
JANE:
But the forest dell where Lowood lay was a cradle of fog and pestilence. Typhus
Crept into the orphan’s dormitory infecting the lungs of the semi-starving girls.
(Young Jane and Helen look at each other, Helen reaching out a protective hand to
Young Jane’s face.)
Helen and I were spared a t first from the deadly plague, but there came a day when
Helen fell ill and her bed was moved to the infirmary.
(Helen rises and moves off into the darkness, taking the books with her. Young Jane
is left sitting on her won in the glade.)
The weeks went by and all alone I watched our primroses fade in the woods. I was
kept from Helen for fear of infection, and heard no news of her, or her condition.
(Young Jane rises, wraps herself in the blanket and stands hesitantly under the
shadowy trees as the scene moves to a darkened hallway at the school.)
BUT SYMPATHIES EXIST
PRESENTIMENTS AND SIGNS
THAT BAFFLE OUR MORTAL COMPREHENSION
(Miss Scatcherd hurries past with bottles of medicine and a blanket. Young Jane
approaches her, quite boldly.)
YOUNG JANE: Please, Miss Scatcherd
MISS SCATCHERD:
What is it girl?
YOUNG JANE: How is Helen today?
MISS SCATCHERD:
Burns? Not Well. Not well at all.
YOUNG JANE: Is she going to die?
(Miss Scatcherd turns away, caught unawares by Young Jane’s candor.)
MISS SCATCHERD:
(Gruffly)
She’s very ill.
(Young Jane puts a hand to her head and looks intently at Miss Scatcherd as Jane
sings.)
JANE:
TO DREAM OR TO SEE
OR TO FEEL OR TO HEAR
WHAT SEEMS NOT TO BE THERE.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Get back to bed, girl.
YOUNG JANE: I had a dream that Helen died, and I became a ghost and lost my soul.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Nonsense girl. You can never lose your soul. As for ghosts – there are no such
things.
(Miss Scatcherd hurries away. Young Jane stands pondering as Jane continues to
sing.
JANE:
BUT SUCH THINGS EXIST
THINGS BEYOND THIS EARTH
THINGS BEYOND OUR SACRED THOUGHTS OF HEAVEN
THESE ARE THE THINGS
THAT REASON DEFIES
BUT REASON SOMETIMES LIES.
That very night I awoke from my bed with a terrible start. Helen was dying. I knew
it, but knew not how I knew it. I rose from my bed...
(Young Jane arrives, breathless, at the door of the infirmary. Helen lies in a little
bed, deathly pale. She sees Young Jane and smiles.
HELEN:
Jane, what are you doing here? Have you come to say good-bye?
YOUNG JANE: Good-bye? Are you going home, Helen?
HELEN:
Yes, Jane. To my long home. My last home.
(Young Jane runs over to Helen’s bed and embraces her.)
YOUNG JANE: No, no Helen!
(Helen draws back the covers of the bed and Young Jane crawls in beside her.)
HELEN:
THERE IS A FEVER ON MY BROW
AND I FEAR THE TIME HAS COME
WHEN AT LAST I LEAVE YOU
I KNOW MY DEATH MAY GRIEVE YOU
BUT DO NOT CRY FOR ME TONIGHT
I LEAVE WITH NO REGRET
MY ANGELS BRING ME HOME
THEY CALL MY NAME ACROSS THE SKY
I HEAR THEM JANE
AND WHEN I GO TO GOD
I’LL FEEL NO PAIN
AND I’LL BE WATCHING YOU FROM HEAVEN.
(They fall asleep. Jane emerges from the shadows behind them.)
JANE:
Miss Scatcherd found me the next morning, laid in Helen’s little crib, my face against
Helen’s shoulder, my arms round her neck. I was asleep – and Helen was dead.
(The light fades on the infirmary)
ACT 1, Scene iii
(A graveyard with moss-covered tombstones. Young Jane comes through the
graveyard, a lily in her hand. Jane watches her as she kneels at one of the graves. At
the foot of the simple stone cross there is a small pile of old roses in various stages
of decay.)
JANE:
From the moment her body was cold in the earth, there was not a day I did not visit
her grave.
YOUNG JANE: HELEN, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU A LILY TODAY
FOR THE ROSES WERE FRAIL
AND THE PETALS FELL AWAY
THE MORNING MIST HAS KISSED YOUR GRAVE
REST NOW IN SLEEP
OUR SECRETS WILL KEEP
TILL WE SPEAK AGAIN TOMORROW.
(Jane kneels at the grave with Young Jane)
JANE:
And so, gentle audience, as the days and the weeks and the months passed by, and
the seasons altered – the spirits that Helen said watch over us – seemed to grow
stronger all around me.
(The ensemble emerges from the darkness of the graveyard.)
ENSEMBLE
ONE:
What they were I cannot tell...
TWO:
..fragments of memory, perhaps...
THREE:
...or thoughts of hope.
FOUR:
Spirits from the past...
FIVE:
...or the present...
SIX:
...or the future –
JANE:
- but all of them part of me...
ENSEMBLE
SEVEN:
...protecting...
EIGHT:
...warming...
NINE:
...imagining...
TEN:
...or knowing...
JANE:
...just beyond the edges of my mind.
(Jane walks amongst the Ensemble as they sing.)
ENSEMBLE
ONE:
MY HOPE OF HEAVEN LIES
TWO:
BEYOND ALL EARTHLY TIES
THREE:
I HEAR GODS CHERISHED VOICE
FOUR:
ACROSS THE OPEN SKIES
ENSEMBLE:
HIS GRACE AND POWER CALL TO ME FROM HEAVEN.
(Jane and Young Jane look out over the graveyard, transfixed by the same vision.
The Ensemble watch them from one side of the graveyard).
BOTH JANES:
AS I LAY MYSELF DOWN TO SLEEP TONIGHT
I PRAY I MIGHT
KNOW WHY GOD HAS TEMPERED JUDGEMENT
NOT WITH MERCY BUT WITH SORROW
LET THE WORLD FORSAKE ME
LET THEM DO THEIR WORST
I WILL WITHSTAND IT ALL
THEY WILL NOT BREAK ME
THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD THAT WATCHES US
I’M NOT AFRAID
THE ANGELS KNOW WHEN WE HAVE SINNED
OR WE HAVE BETRAYED
(Miss Scatcherd and a small group of schoolgirls come through the graveyard. Miss
Scatcherd addresses Young Jane, who starts up guiltily.)
MISS SCATCHERD:
Jane Eyre!
YOUNG JANE: Yes, Miss Scatcherd.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Get to breakfast! You’re late as usual.
YOUNG JANE: Yes, Miss.
(Young Jane leaves Helen’s grave and walks off through the churchyard with the
other schoolgirls, Miss Scatcherd following.)
MISS SCATCHERD:
Morbit little child!
(As Young Jane and the other schoolgirls disappear, Jane continues to kneel at
Helen’s grave. The lights change as Miss Scatcherd suddenly turns back to face jane.
In this little moment, eight years pass.)
Well, Miss Eyre?
(Jane starts up guiltily, just as Young Jane did.)
JANE:
Yes, Miss Scatcherd.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Your class is waiting!
JANE:
(Rising)
Yes, of course.
MISS SCATCHERD:
You never miss a day, do you?
JANE:
No...no I don’t.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Well, she’s in a better place now, I’m sure.
JANE:
Indeed...
(Miss Scatcherd goes off towards the school, but stops as Jane calls her back. A
chapel bell tolls seven.)
JANE:
Miss Scatcherd...
MISS SCATCHERD:
Yes?
JANE:
I should tell you, I’m thinking of leaving here.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Leaving,? To go where?
JANE:
I don’t know. But I can’t stay here forever.
MISS SCATCHERD:
Meaning that I have, I suppose?
JANE:
Well...
MISS SCATCHERD:
You’d be mad to leave here. A girl with no money, no talents, no beauty and no
class. Don’t think of it.
(She turns to go.)
And don’t be late for breakfast!
(Miss Scatchered disappears into the darkness upstage. Jane walks slowly through
the graveyard, looking out at the sky beyond.)