As for St. John, he sadly was never able to find the Glory of God. At least, that was the conclusion that I came to in the end. While I still carry a slight hope that he, St. John, was able to realize his mistakes and
learn before it became too late, sadly, that light of hope is dim. But the
words to cling to are: "No fear of death will darken St. John's last hour:
his mind will be unclouded, his heart will be undaunted, his hope will be
sure, his faith will be steadfast. His own words are a pledge of this-" (p
143) So, I cling to those words, hope in them, and know that all is according to His own plan.
Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers are both extremely interesting characters. They have deep personalities so that it requires some thought to fully understand their actions. They can both do the same thing, under the same circumstances, with different motivations and in different ways.
Rochester is an unkempt bachelor, owner of several estates. He is a globetrotter who rarely stays in one place long. He has a tendency to be loud and demanding. St. John is a handsome and well kept
pastor in a small town who feels called to work as a missionary in India. He is quiet, if he says anything it is to the point and very clear. He is studious and very active in his parish.
Rochester seems to go about doing things fairly spontaneously and very boldly, without much thought as to religion. All of his actions are selfish and abrupt.
St. John does everything very quietly and well planned, doing everything under the pretence of religion and his calling. Everything that he does is said to be done for the benefit of his mission.
Where matters of Jane are concerned, Rochester would do anything, or give up anything for her contentment. He desires her for his wife because he loves her. St. John wishes for Jane to give up any plans that she may have and marry him and go to India with him, to help him in the mission field. He does not care that Jane has no feelings for him, or that she does not want to marry him, he says that love does not matter, that it is Jane's calling.
The similarity that appears to be the most obvious is how they acted towards Jane. They both were extremely selfish about how they treated her. Neither of them showed much, if any, compassion for her feelings.
In the creation of the characters of Mr. Rochester and St. John, Charlotte Bronte uses a dark and light comparison to show that a person's appearance does not always match their character. When looking at St. John's appearance, you see the ideal, fair-complexioned man. He is gorgeous, tall, decently-dressed, and a parson. Then when you compare that to Mr.
Rochester, you find they are the direct opposites. Mr. Rochester has, as Bronte says, "a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow;" he is homely, outspoken, and very worldly. When they are compared and contrasted, they are like indeed, as Mr. Rochester says, Apollo and a Vulcan.
St. John's character is not outgoing. He keeps to himself and his job, but you find out through Jane's eyes that for such a beautiful person St. John is very unfeeling and does not love God with his whole heart and mind and soul. You get to know him better later on and find out that St. John feels his calling in life is to go to India and be a missionary.
When Jane first meets Mr. Rochester, he is very abrupt and mysterious. He talked to Jane about his mistresses. He told Jane he needed her to reform him. Mr. Rochester played with Jane's mind and emotions, to find out if she was really in love with him. He was manipulative, selfish, and deceitful. He had a wife, but he wanted Jane so bad he was willing to do what ever it took to get her. Mr. Rochester loved her, but it had to do with desire, not life-long love.
St. John started to take special notice of Jane after she inherited the money and split it between her cousins. St. John singled Jane out because he thought she had been
self-sacrificing and that was what he respected. St. John told Jane that he wanted her to come with him to India as his wife. St. John told Jane, "You were not made for love, but
labor." He informed her it was God's will that she come, and against what he stood for, used the Bible and prayer to try and manipulate Jane into going. He would have succeeded
if it was not for a miracle.
When Jane comes back to Mr. Rochester, she finds a transformed man. She had heard that his wife, who was insane and living on the third floor of his house, had set fire to the mansion and while trying to save her, Mr. Rochester had been badly burned. So badly that he lost sight in one eye completely, the other eye partially and lost a hand. Before the fire Mr. Rochester had blamed God for everything, and after the fire he realized that God had used the fire to punish him for trying to commit bigamy. Mr. Rochester then realized that he had been wrong and changed.
Jane took him back because she saw that Mr. Rochester really repented and the love that he wanted to give her was now a lifetime love.
In Bronte's comparison Mr. Rochester was the dark, selfish and manipulative character who completely wronged Jane. St. John was the light character. He was the man of God, he saved Jane from death and took care of her, but you find out that he was selfish and manipulative also. But unlike Mr. Rochester, he was not willing to change and admit he was wrong. In the end Mr. Rochester was the hero, and in personality, he turned out to be the light character by coming to know the real God and by changing. Bronte showed through her comparisons the age old lesson of not judging by a person's appearance.
Key Literary Elements Jane Eyre….Available From ‘Pink Monkey’
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Chapter Summaries with Notes
Edward Fairfax Rochester - the second son of a wealthy
landowner. He has a gruff, self-important manner. He has lived an
interesting life, filled with travel and adventure. He appears quite
worldly, especially to the inexperienced Jane. His attitude towards
Jane is at first vague and questionable. He then grows affectionate
with her; finally, he treats her with the honor she deserves. Mr.
Rochester is married to Bertha Mason, an insane woman whom he
hides in the attic of Thornfield Hall. Since Jane does not know about
Bertha, she accepts Mr. Rochester's proposal of marriage. After his
wife's death and his own disfigurement, he is quite humbled, and
when he marries Jane, he is a changed man.
St. John Rivers - a young minister at Morton who lives at Marsh
End. He saves Jane from starvation after she runs away from
Thornfield Hall. He is self-important and somewhat cold and
demanding. He has a generous impulse towards the poor, but Jane
suspects that he does not perform his work with much real feeling.
He wants to marry Jane, but she rejects him. CHAPTER 37
It is evening by the time Jane arrives at Ferndean. She sees Mr.
Rochester groping his way out into the twilight and then returning to
the house. She finds him of the same physical aspect as before,
except that his face wears a "brooding" look. She announces herself
to Mary and John who are taking care of Mr. Rochester. She carries
his tray into the parlor for him and gives him a chance to recognize
her voice. He wonders if he is awake or just dreaming. Jane
embraces him and assures him of her physical presence. She informs
him of her newly gained independence and claims that she has
returned for him. She also promises that she will never leave him.
Mr. Rochester declares that because of his invalid condition, they
may have to be more like a father and daughter than a husband and
wife. When he expresses his fear that she will leave him owing to his
ugly scars, she points out in a light manner that he was always
"hideous." He is obviously pleased to have her back.
They spend the next day together. She narrates to him her
experiences of the previous year. She deliberately mentions St. John
Rivers to provoke his jealousy and in the process, to lighten his
sorrow. However, she quickly reassures him of her undivided love.
She goes on to compare what the two men in her life mean to her:
she concludes that while she respects St. John, she loves Mr.
Rochester. As there is no barrier to their marriage now, Rochester
loses no time in asking her to marry him. Jane learns that at the very
time that she had seemed to hear his voice, he had actually cried out
her name after begging God for his help. Mr. Rochester feels that
Jane has come in response to his anguished call. He also reveals how
he has come to trust God as never before.
Notes
The mood of this section at Ferndean is that of reconciliation. There
are overtones of temporizing and of lessons learned, that give this
chapter a quiet, autumnal quality. It is difficult to believe that the
Jane of this chapter is still only nineteen years old, perhaps because
her attitudes have matured and become those of the older Jane, who
is the real narrator of the novel. There is little of the youthful, lyric
quality of the scene of the proposal in the garden at Thornfield. Both
Jane and Mr. Rochester have learned to face life directly without
illusions and to make happiness out of a human lot that is less than
ideal. To Rochester's question, "you are altogether a human being,
Jane!," she answers, "I conscientiously believe so, Mr. Rochester."
Mr. Rochester is also a completely changed man. He has been
"charred and scorched" by the fire of Thornfield. He has also been
disfigured and blinded. His character has undergone a major change.
The readers see him in a penitent mood at the end of the chapter. His
"stiff-necked rebellion" has been chastened and subdued. His
arrogance has given way, yielding to humility. His pride in his
strength has been softened. In his own words he has turned to his
Creator. He humbly entreats his redeemer to give him the "strength
to lead henceforth a purer life" than he has led so far.
However, the teasing humour of the conversation between Jane and
Mr. Rochester shows how they are restored to their loving sympathy.
She is born to serve and to give. She can now give ungrudgingly to
the man she loves. His consuming need for her will provide her with
a completely fulfilling job. In many ways she is now happier than
she ever was during the summer of their first, guilt-haunted
courtship.
In creating the Jane-Rochester relationship, Charlotte Bronte produced a new animal. The give and take in their relationship created by their conflicting dual pigheadedness and eternal love for each other then intensified by their fondness for light conversation produced a new archetype of relationship. One can speak of a Jane-Rochester relationship now and mean something quite distinct (isn't this what literature is for?). Jane's conscience and restlessness combined with Rochester's bluntness and commandeering tones ("It would please me now to draw you out--to learn more of you--therefore speak.") prevent their love from becoming over-sentimental. I was glad to read that after the (hard-to-swallow) telepathic message discovery, that Jane did not feel the unimpressive need to proclaim that she, indeed, had been at the receiving end of the psychic SOS message. That she kept the little secret to herself gave her character. Also, the fact that the control of the relationship switches from Jane (the rescuer) to Rochester (the master) back to Jane (leading and caring for the blind and crippled man) gave depth to their relationship.
The book was nicely broken up into five sections:
- 1. gateshead (child)
2. Lowood (student/teacher)
3. Thornfield (governess)
4. Moor House (cousins)
5. Ferndean (with Rochester)
In each section, you enter a new geographic world with a new set of characters. This keeps the book fresh.
Jane’s first contact with Rochester is lending her shoulder to help him, which she eventually does for the rest of his life.
In fact, I am glad the book ended with the focus on the character of St. John instead of with Jane or Rochester, as it hints to us that the importance of the book is not about finding the right person, falling in love, and living happily ever after. The theme of this book is about following your conscience. In this regard, Jane and St. John both did the same thing in this story: They both had strong, driving consciences; they both were tempted but pursued their course; and they both found a satisfying life in the end. This book is not about developing a relationship with a romantic partner, but about developing a relationship and learning to follow and live in tune with your own moral conscience
