Rosie Cavaliero portrays Grace Poole in Jane Eyre (2011). Though she is not a necessarily famous actress her face would be recognizable to fans of British television. The character of Poole is an example of an already minor character being reduced for the on-screen adaption. In the novel, the character is often used as a scapegoat for the actions of Bertha Mason aiding in keeping Jane Eyre in the dark about the wife in the attic. However, despite the reduction in the movie, one scene and one line, her importance cannot be ignored. In Christian Keathley’s essay “Pass the salt… and other bits of business” they discuss how certain topics are revealed to the audience while the actors do another thing. Poole is the ‘business.’ She is never the center of attention but is referenced or seen when other characters are doing something else. Grace Poole is Bertha Mason’s caretaker and keeper at Thornfield Hall. Though not much is known about her, what we do know is that her role is to make sure that Bertha remains locked up, so she does not do damage to herself or others, particularly Rochester. However, it is her failure at this role that we have the story of Jane Eyre. Being unable to fulfill this role she allows Bertha to escape not once, but twice. Both escapes lead to fires, the first a direct attack at Rochester, and the second she succeeds at injuring him and destroying Thornfield. This failure at her job as caretaker is revealed through Mrs. Fairfax who states that Poole most likely had been drinking too much. Due to the fire not being a singular occurrence it is insinuated that this may be the reason behind previous escapes. This revelation only comes at the very end of the movie, a revelation that does not include a mention to Grace Poole’s fate at the end.
Works Cited
Jane Eyre. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, performances by Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, and Rosie Cavaliero, 2011.
Keathley, Christina. “Pass the salt… and other bits of business.” Screen, vol. 52, no. 1, March 2011, Pages 105–113, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjq065
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