Jamaica

Jamaica and, more broadly, the West Indies are repeatedly referenced in Jane Eyre. This region of the British Empire occurs repeatedly in the context of Rochester's mysterious past and fortune. For example, in Chapter 18, Mason arrives and the narrator remarks, "Presently the words Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, indicated the West Indies as his residence; and it was with no little surprise I gathered, ere long, that he had there first seen and become acquainted with Mr. Rochester.  He spoke of his friend’s dislike of the burning heats, the hurricanes, and rainy seasons of that region" (Bronte).

To a contemporary Victorian audience, the West Indies would carry connotations of colonialism and slavery. These concepts are never addressed in Jane Eyre, despite the fact that slavery and colonialism can be deduced to be the ill-begot source of Rochester's fortune, or rather, his dowry. The very fact that he was able to travel so far at that time is indicative of Rochester’s privilege and generational wealth, even if he wasn’t originally supposed to inherit that wealth.

It's worth noting that to Bronte's contemporary audience, slavery had been abolished in 1833, fourteen years prior to the novel's publication (Lemonius). The novel itself, however, is set in the Georgian Era when slavery would have still been a reality in British colonies. 

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Service and Patton. 1847. Project Gutenberghttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/1260-h.htm.

Lemonius, Michele. “‘Deviously Ingenious’: British Colonialism in Jamaica.” Peace Research, vol. 49, 2, July 2017, pp. 79–103. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=131028203&site=eds-live.

Coordinates

Latitude: 18.109581000000
Longitude: -77.297508000000