Rivers Moral Obscurity The character St. John Rivers, present towards the end of the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Brontë, plays an integral role in the evolution of Jane Eyre’s character towards the end of her story arc. Rivers is first introduced to Jane in chapter 29 where he takes her into his home after she arrives on his doorstep, tired, sad and alone. St. John Rivers, throughout the final chapters of the book, proves himself to be a polarizing character to both the reader and to Jane. He is completely infatuated with the idea of becoming more than he is presently by becoming a missionary, cementing his personage after he dies. But he also is a man of god, following the lord's will in the end, even though he may see the bible in a different light then Jane or the reader. But his truly selfish intentions become clear at the end of his and Jane’s relationship, when he attempts to convince Jane to marry him. His marriage proposal shows him to be encompassed by greed, and overcome with a lust for glory. Throughout his interactions with Jane previous to his proposal, St. John Rivers is always kind, yet cold and devoid of emotion. In many ways he is comparable to Mr. Rochester in that he is completely the opposite of him. St. John Rivers is consistent and calculated, returning to Jane regularly, and keeping a similar mindset throughout his arc. Rivers shows no passion for anything other than himself, which is present in his proposal to Jane. His intentions to marry
Jane and Rochester officially meet at Thornfield, the day after his arrival, Rochester invites Jane for tea. His attitude towards Jane is abrupt and quite cold, although he is charmed by Jane's drawings. Jane feels unusually comfortable around
The vulnerability of Jane Eyre's childhood, loss of innocence and exposure to death, rejection, abuse and disease at such an early age due to her initial complicated family background, being an orphan and thus avoiding poverty through her aunt’s charity, shows the initial 'violent' gothic convention used in this novel.
In Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte intertwines various religious ideas in her mid-nineteenth century English setting. Throughout the novel, Jane Eyre blends various religious insights which she has learned from different sources. While Jane was young, she had only a Biblical textbook outlook on life combined with the miserable emotional conditions of her surroundings. This in turn led to Jane being quite mean with Mrs. Reed. When Jane eventually goes off to Lowood and meets Helen Burns, she learns of her religious philosophy far more than the words would mean. Over the course of many years Jane then applies the basis of Helen's religious philosophy and adjusts it for herself in relation to the
Throughout Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre is afflicted with the feud between her moral values, and the way society perceives these notions. Jane ultimately obtains her happy ending, and Brontë’s shrewd denouement of St. John’s fate juxtaposes Jane’s blissful future with St. John’s tragic course of action. When Jane ends up at the Moor House, she is able to discover a nexus of love and family, and by doing so, she no longer feels fettered to Rochester. Moreover, Rochester is no longer Jane’s only form of psychological escape, and thus Jane is in a position to return to him without an aura of discontent. At the end of the novel, Jane is finally able to be irrevocably “blest beyond what language can express” (Brontë 459) because she is “absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh” (459).
Throughout the novel, Charlotte Bronte introduces characters that challenge Jane’s spirituality and impress their religious beliefs on her. However, these characters, whom of which are Mr. Brocklehurst and St. John, all live in such a way that contradicts what they claim to believe. Therefore, Jane rejects the religion presented to her and attempts to become her own savior.
St. John Rivers is one character who dramatically changes throughout the story. He begins as a kind man who saves Jane from death and brings her into his home. After Jane leaves Thornfield to pursue a new life, she becomes lost, and after days of searching for food and a job, she finds the Moor House in Morton. After carefully watching the people inside, a man named Rivers, who is on his way home, walks by and brings Jane in and gives her food and shelter. Jane’s first thoughts of St. John Rivers are positive, and she thinks he is a perfect person.
Faith and religion rests in the core of Jane’s character and actions, but also causes tension with her independence. At Lowood, she struggles to reconcile her desire to rebel against oppression and injustice with the words of Helen saying to submit like Christ. She chooses to submit, experiencing an “extraordinary sensation”, feeling “as if she was a martyr” (67). Through her submissions, she learns to be virtuous. This virtue is challenged when she must choose either to be Rochester’s mistress, or to forsake the man she loves, jeopardizing her happiness. Abiding by God’s law, she leaves, believing that “God directed [her] to a correct choice” (366). Jane faces her fiercest tension when she faces St. John’s proposal to marry him and become a missionary’s wife. She desires to continue in God’s will, telling St. John that “I will give my heart to God”, but knows that marrying him goes against her every desire. She wishes to be free from St. John; she desires her independence. She nearly submits, were she “but convinced that it is God’s will” that she marry St. John (426). She prays for Heaven to “show [her] the path” (426). Jane truly seeks God’s will, and in return, “seemed to penetrate very near a Mighty Spirit” (427). Her devotion to God is rewarded as she prays in her “different way to St. John’s” (427). God releases Jane from a life married to St. John and allows her to return to Rochester and become his wife. Jane’s faith in God allows her to make virtuous
Thomas Foster encourages readers to look at authors’ works with inquisitive lenses, observing and analyzing small details. In Jane Eyre, readers note Charlotte Brontë’s dramatic descriptions of the weather, each scene’s climate tailored to the intended mood, which help readers predict and connect to the novel. Many scenes open with vivid descriptions of the weather before introducing characters or dialogue. These passages do more than set the scene; they are heavily symbolic. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë deliberately uses weather to set the mood, mirror Jane Eyre's emotions, and as a means of foreshadowing.
John Rivers has plans to travel to India as Jane’s husband in order to spread Christianity and promote their race (Brontë 424), indicating his feelings of moral and religious superiority in comparison to the foreigners. His passion is described as a “wild field of mission warfare” (Brontë 338), implicitly demonstrating that his intentions aren’t purely moral. Rather, the description attests to how he plans to “pitilessly” (Brontë 479) also join the spread of colonialism onto the natives. Likewise, the militaristic and violent nature of his intentions are stressed through his descriptions as he “enlist[s]” (Brontë 468) her to join and his plans of a “warrior-march” (Brontë 470) in the eyes of
Jane Eyre is a coming of age story following a young woman and her journey of self-growth. At the start of the novel Jane is living with her aunt and three cousins. They continuously abuse her, treating her like a stranger rather than a family member. At the age of ten Jane leaves her aunt's house and attends boarding school. It is at this school where she learns lessons of forgiveness and hope from a meek young woman named Helen Burns. Subsequently studying and teaching at the school for eight years Jane decides to become a governess at the mysterious Thornfield mansion. She falls in love with the owner of Thornfield and the two make plans to marry. Nonetheless on the day of there wedding Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester is already married and that he keeps his insane wife Bertha trapped away in the attic of Thornfield. Devastated by this information, Jane flees Thornfield and nearly dies from cold and starvation. Soon after she is taken in by the Rivers, two sisters and one brother. The passing of Jane's uncle reveals that she and the Rivers are cousins. It is also revealed that this uncle has left Jane all his fortune. This in turn leaves Jane extremely wealthy. Her cousin St. John Rivers ask Jane for his hand in marriage. However Jane comes to the conclusion that she still loves Mr. Rochester. After declining St. John's proposal Jane journeys back to Thornfield. When she arrives at Thornfield Jane discovers the mysterious mansion in burnt ruins. It is revealed that the
This fluidity was circumstantial, and can be portrayed by Joan herself in her letter to the English, 22 March 1429 through the way she references herself when writing demands to the Duke of Bedford to leave France and offer compensation (Joan of Arc 182). When Joan of Arc wishes to portray herself in a feminine way that displays how she is supposed to act, she refers to her own self as “the Maid”. An example of this is when she is beginning to describe to the Duke what she wishes to gain from him. “Return to the Maid…she has come here by God’s will…she is quite ready to make peace” (Joan of Arc 182). In this, she is offering peace if the Duke with succumb to her will, and this offer of peace presents her as soft and docile, which is traditionally what is expected of a woman. Therefore, this
St. John Rivers seemed to be a very suitable marriage partner; however, Jane’s ideal marriage was based on love rather than suitability. Jane came to the Rivers household as a desperate beggar, and as a result, was dependent on St. John Rivers and his decisions regarding aiding her. For this initial part of their relationship, Jane and St. John are unaware that they are cousins. Jane’s true identity is revealed when her uncle passes away and she inherits a large fortune from him. At this point in their relationship, Jane is working as a teacher in the village school Morton that St. John Rivers arranged. St. John is a passionate and extremely dutiful clergyman who carries out his tasks of aiding the poor and in need regardless of any extreme
This novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë is about the life a woman named Jane Eyre undergoing many changes that wound up shaping the person she had eventually grown up to be. This type of novel which accounts for the psychological development of the protagonist as they grow up is known a bildungsroman. One particular moment or action, which accounts for Jane’s psychological development, that is described in this novel is the adoption of Jane by her relatives known as the Reed family (Chapter 3).
Jane Eyre is a story of a quest to be loved. Jane searches, not just for romantic love, but also for a sense of being valued and belonging. However, this search is constantly hindered by her need for independence. She starts of as an unloved orphan who is desperate to find love and a purpose. For example, Jane says to Helen, “to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest”. However, over the course of the novel, Jane learns to gain love without harming herself in the process. Although she is despised by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she finds parental figures throughout the book. Miss Temple and Bessie care for Jane and give her love and guidance. However, Jane does not feel as though she has found
Through the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from a certain freedom. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. John Reed controls Jane, Mr. Brocklehurst humiliates Jane, and Mr. Rochester sees women, in general, as objects. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.