"I will keep the laws of God; sanctioned by man".
We see his lack of faith in God (no references are made about God by him). Jane is believes so completely in her faith, that she renounces her earthly bliss and gives up the only happiness she has ever had in her life, for something better [heaven]. This comparison between Rochester and Jane shows the representatives of the two different views on religion that were originating among the Victorian population.
Although Rochester does not make any religious connotations, he certainly speaks with extreme zeal and vigour. His passionate words are again typical of a Victorian character.
"All happiness…torn away with you" "…condemn me to live wretched…die accursed" “You snatch love and innocence from me?”
It is improbable to find a twenty-first Century novel, whose characters speak with such fervour and passion. Jane’s feelings are also ardently expressed:
“When body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour…” - “I am insane – quite insane: with my veins running fire…” The drama is definitely emphasised by this language.
However Jane thinks its wrong of her to feel this passionate about Rochester,
“Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by…” and this was a very Victorian view, especially for women.
One of the most striking features of this passage is the way that the story is told. We hear it from the principal character, Jane herself, as the narrative voice. This was not uncommon in the Victorian era; nor is it unusual for this style to be used in modern novels. Novels such as David Copperfield, and Great Expectations, are classic examples of how effective this autobiographical form was.
The narrator of a Victorian novel is usually identified as an ‘omniscient narrator’ and these novels seem to allow the reader too see into the minds of other characters, and even gives an opinion on their actions. This power of presenting, commenting and judging the story, is often given to principal characters by Victorian authors and is given by Charlotte Brontë to Jane Eyre thereby allowing us to get an almost total insight into the thoughts and beliefs of Jane by reading just this passage – a minute section of the whole novel.
Jane Eyre is shown to be a novel, which is almost completely typically Victorian. However, there is a small element of difference, which makes Jane Eyre slightly unique. The passage ends with Jane finally deciding against living with Rochester, showing her to be a woman that is not ruled completely by her feelings; in actuality, it is Rochester who is shown to be venerable and in dire need of Jane. It is usual in a Victorian novel for it to be the other way around, with the women who is dependent on the man, and is almost completely overwhelmed her emotions. Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a prime example of this. Tess herself is described as ‘a mere vessel of emotion’. When Angel decides to leave her, Tess is distraught and can hardly bear the though of living without him, Angel meanwhile believes it would be wrong for him to stay with her for she had sinned – Jane too believed it would be wrong to stay with Mr. Rochester.
Victorian novels, such as Jane Eyre, often discussed moral dilemmas, and since Victorians were very firm in what they believed to be pure or sinful they were also very interested in the inside struggle and turmoil people went through when they were confronted with a decision to chose between right and wrong – and as in Jane Eyre, religion was always part of this struggle.
There are many characteristics, which distinguish a Victorian novel. The language, style and content of a passage from Victorian novels will tend to have parallelisms with which we can identify. They often relate to similar themes and topics that Victorian novelists wrote about. Jane Eyre has certainly many qualities, which are attributed to a Victorian novel. Written in the Nineteenth Century, at the height of the Victorian people’s enthusiasm with novels, Jane Eyre is celebrated as one of the finest works of fiction to be produced from that era.
