Jane Eyre has a fair number of characters who are polar opposites. Struggling with distance learning? But unlike, The headmistress of Lowood school. I scorn the weakness. Jane Eyre is largely the story of Jane becoming an increasingly Christian character as she learns to tame her romantic but often misguided and egotistical passions, cultivating in their stead the Christian virtues of love, charity, and humility. You would think him gentle, yet in some things he is inexorable as death.It is right, noble, Christian: yet it breaks my heart!'. St. John RiversAlthough not introduced into the novel until the third part, his character plays a dramatic role in the final development of Jane. St. John goes to India and undertakes his missionary work. Unmarried to him, this would never grieve me; but can I let him complete his calculations - coolly put into practice his plans - go through with the wedding ceremony? SparkNotes PLUS Can I receive from him the bridal ring, endure all the forms of loveand know the spirit was quite absent?.No: such a martyrdom would be monstrous.'. I could never rest in communication with strong, discreet, and refined minds, whether male or female, till I had passed the outworks of conventional reserve, and crossed the threshold of confidence, and won a place by their heart's very hearthstone. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Jane speaks these words shortly after St. John asks her to accompany him to India as his wife. (including. St. John leaves Moor House and goes to Cambridge for two weeks to say goodbye to friends before leaving for India. The main contradiction in him is that, although he is a devout and zealous missionary, he has no real peace of mind, and has never enjoyed that serenity or tranquility which a true clergyman should be able to enjoy. reader that Diana and Mary both have married respectable and caring husbands and visit regularly. The last letter which Jane receives from him moves her to tears though she also feels happy to learn that he feels almost certain of the reward that he would receive from the Lord. 'St. St. John Rivers as a character in the novel is important from yet another point of view. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre tells the love story of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. These are weakness, a failure of the flesh that drives one away from one's Christian duty. Dont have an account? There tends to be a lot of emphasis on endings in literature, so thats probably important. At the end, we are told that St. John remains unmarried, and that he has decided never to marry. Whereas Rochester is passionate, St. John is austere and ambitious. Ace your assignments with our guide to Jane Eyre! 11 Jane Jack and Margaret Smith, "The Chronology of Jane Eyre" (Appendix I), in Jane Eyre (Clarendon edition), suggest that Jane Eyre's "autobiography" may begin on Guy Fawkes Day: "The action begins after dinner on a 'drear November I know it is ignoble: a mere fever of the flesh: not, I declare, the convulsion of the soul. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Summary & Analysis | What is Jane Eyre About? From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Throughout the novel, Jane is referred to as an imp, a fairy, a relative of the "men in green." St. John returns to Moor House only to find that Jane is gone. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Instant PDF downloads. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% . AP ENGLISH 12 Literature and Composition Ms. Linda Hume You will be working on this assignment over the winter break. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. jobs as governesses in wealthy households. He hates the passionate love he feels for Rosamond, seeing it as a failing, a mortal temptation to be rebuked, a sinful distraction that would deflect his soul from its divine course. Although St. John initially appears perfect, Jane soon detects a restlessness or hardness under his seemingly placid features; he is "no longer flesh, but marble" and his heart seems made of "stone or metal." Diana and Mary Rivers are the complete opposites of Georgiana and Mary Reed, for example, and I see St John Rivers as the near-polar opposite of Mr Rochester. The way the content is organized, The protagonist and narrator, Jane is an orphaned girl caught between class boundaries, financial situations, and her own conflicted feelings. Bertha Mason. Independence would be accompanied by loneliness, and joining St. John would require Jane to neglect her own legitimate needs for love and emotional support. Thus, the intensity and the depth of Janes love for Mr. Rochester acquire an even greater force and momentum now because of St. Johns continuing pressure on her to marry him. Struggling with distance learning? Teachers and parents! From the novel's opening chapters to its close, Jane reads a variety of texts: Pamela, Gulliver's Travels, and Marmion. and spends a happy Christmas with Mary and Diana, who have returned from their jobs. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. EN RU CN DE ES. April 2008, 2Pages Mary and Diana are still in school and afterwards will look for governess jobs. Continue to start your free trial. reader that Diana and Mary both have married respectable and caring husbands and visit regularly. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. Mr. Rochester can be yielding, whereas St. John is more often relentless in his austerity. Marriage to St. John would traumatically erase Jane's identity and douse her passions for life. Mr. Brocklehurst advocates a severe religious program of self-improvementdenying the body to save the soul. . Dont ask us why this is; the English have this adorable accent. death is imminent and vowing to wait for God's will. Although artistic and educational pursuits are essential elements of Jane's personality, she also feels a need to assert her identity through rebellion. Like Mr. Rochester, St. John has a commanding personality, but the two men contrast in their range of feelings. Contact us Both stepfamilies do so unwillingly, one due to a paternal linkage and the other due to a promise to Jane's uncle. The way the content is organized, A parson with two sisters at Moor House, and. Sample A+ Essay: Is the Novel a Criticism of Victorian Class Prejudices? For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. quickened with all incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence." He can by no means be counted among the principal or leading characters. Dive into this love story, a character analysis of Jane's two suitors, and quotes from St. John Rivers. He receives a letter from her saying that she has married Mr. Rochester. Stories provide Jane with an escape from her unhappy domestic situation, feeding her imagination and offering her a vast world beyond the troubles of her real life: By opening her inner ear, she hears "a tale my imagination created . The weakness of his supposed Christianity is his lack of compassion for or interest in the people he is supposedly helping. For me, I felt at home in this sort of discourse. They were under a yoke,I could free them: they were scattered,I could reunite them: the independence, the affluence which was mine, might be theirs too. He's extremely religious; Rochester is anything but. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. While Mr. Brocklehurst embodies an evangelical form of religion that seeks to strip others of their excessive pride or of their ability to take pleasure in worldly things, Helen represents a mode of Christianity that stresses . Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. The first thing to explain about St. John Rivers is how to pronounce his first name, "St. John." It's not "Saint John," although of course that's what it means; it's pronounced "SIN-jun." Don't ask us why this is; the English have this adorable accent. When the Rivers siblings discover her nearly frozen on their doorstep, they take her in and nurse her back to health. A companionless lonely man, his life is now drawing to its close. And St. John basically turns into Jell-O every time he sees her. Most important, she cannot persuade herself to believe that refusing to do so is a sin. For him, missionary work isn't about joy, but a form of "warfare" against the prejudices of the natives, just as he "wars" against Jane's rejection of his marriage proposal. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you All you need to know about Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront! Wed love to have you back! Again the surprised expression crossed his face. And it is in the section preceding that St. John plays a most important role in the plot of the novel. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. For Jane to refuse this proposal, St. John suggests, is in itself a sign of a sinful nature, a sign that she is placing her own desires above her duty to God. One reached. St. John, no doubt, would have given the world to follow, recall, retain her, when she thus left him; but he would not give one chance of heaven, nor relinquish, for the elysium of her love, one hope of the true, eternal Paradise. These words put Janes earthly happiness with Rochester into perspective. Charlotte Bront and Jane Eyre Background. Marriage with Rochester represents the abandonment of principle for the consummation of passion, but marriage to St. John would mean sacrificing passion for principle. Once Jane realizes that hes the natural end-point of that philosophy, she goes running back to her true love, Rochester, as fast as she canBertha or no Bertha.Remember, Jane Eyre ends with St. John Rivers; hes the last character we think about, alone out there in India, missionary-ing and stuff. She tells him she would only go to work in India as his sister. An aspiring missionary, St. John is unforgiving in his views on sexual desire and romantic love. Actually there are only two principal or leading characters and they are Jane Eyre herself and Mr. Rochester. ago. | St. John tells Jane she has admirable qualities, and proposes that she marry him and accompany him on his missionary work. Identity and douse her passions for life tends to be a lot of emphasis on endings in,... Among the principal or leading characters and they are Jane Eyre and Mr.,. To assert her identity through rebellion by no means be counted among the principal leading! And caring husbands and visit regularly Eyre tells the love story, a fairy, a failure of novel. The way the content is organized, a relative of the novel a Criticism of Victorian Class Prejudices at end. Litcharts account analysis | What is Jane Eyre has a commanding personality, but the two men contrast in range... 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