At Thornfield too Jane finds pleasure in everyday relationships based on mutual esteem and affection. She finds that Mrs. Fairfax treats her with respect and is kindly and amiable. Adele as well gives her some pleasure, in that she is reasonably teachable and affectionate. Even when it seems that Mr. Rochester will marry Blanche Ingram and alter his household arrangements, Jane hopes that he will find some way to keep the three of them together.
The account of Jane at Morton also shows how deeply she values the affection of friends and companions. She is delighted when her pupils respond to her courtesy toward them. She delights too in the affection of Diana and Mary for her, and returns it in full measure. When it is revealed that they are her cousins, she rejoices more in her new family than in her fortune. St. John too is a brother she can love and be proud of, though his attitude toward his "third and youngest sister" is not always an understanding one.
Through these scenes, Charlotte Bronte displays her own conviction that "attachments" matter deeply in the life of every human being. In the story of Jane and Rochester, she reveals her profoundest feelings about romantic love.
Even though she realizes her position at Thornfield is a comfortable one, Jane longs for wider horizons. She writes: "I valued what was good in Mrs. Fairfax and what was good in Adele; but I believed in the existence of other and more vivid kinds of goodness."
Mr. Rochester supplies that "more vivid kinds of goodness." Jane's life is fuller and more interesting, even before she is aware that she is in love with him. After he thanks her for saving his life, she glimpses a vision of love. She is aware, as Charlotte Bronte was aware, that "It is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feed it …." When she observes Mr. Rochester's attentions to Blanche, she blames him in her heart for marrying her because she is of high rank. She had thought better of him. "Were I a gentleman like him, I would take to my bosom only such a wife as I could love." This opinion foreshadows her own magnificent declaration to Mr. Rochester, when she thinks he is sending her away to Ireland: "Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! – I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it so hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, or even of mortal flesh – it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if booth had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal – as we are!" It is a mark of Mr. Rochester's stature that he acknowledges her claim: "My equal is here, and my likeness." It was Charlotte Bronte's frankness in describing these expressions of love which offended some of her contemporaries. To her, as to Jane, "it seemed natural; it seemed genial to be so loved, so caressed by him."
Though she is deeply in love, Jane is not drowned in sentiment. After the revelation of Bertha Rochester's existence, Jane is torn from what she called "the paradise of union" – torn by her own act. Only "a remembrance of God" leads her on. She has the strength to say "Mr. Rochester, I will not be yours," to evade his embrace, to steal out of the house and go by coach far away. In fact, she re-establishes herself in Morton – even congratulates herself that she is better off as an independent school teacher than she would have been as Mr. Rochester's mistress. Yet, she still suffers, still dreams of Mr. Rochester: "… I still again and again meet Mr. Rochester, always at some exciting crisis."
Jane rejection of Mr. Rochester shows that Charlotte Bronte disapproved of a liaison with a married man, however much one was in love with him. When St. Jones Rivers comes on the scene, Miss Bronte illuminates her theme still further by having him offer her heroine a contrary temptation. Jane's struggle to resist St. John shows that Miss Bronte disapproved of a legal and highly respectable union where there was no genuine love. Jane realizes that St. John "has no more of a husband's heart" for her than a rock. She also states that he is "as cold as an iceberg." Even so, St. John is very persuasive, and Jane almost gives in, against her better judgment. She is saved by the mysterious voice.
The last part of the book, which describes the reunion of Jane and her "master", is Charlotte Bronte's picture of an ideal marriage. Their relationship is marked by deep tenderness and passion, mingled with lively teasing. When they meet and she is "entwined and gathered to him," Jane cries "God bless you, sir! I am glad to be so near you again." When she, wondering if she has been too anxious, tries to withdraw from his embrace, he presses her closer. His helplessness touches her deeply, while to him she is his skylark, bringing music and sheer.
All in all, it has been shown that the theme of love happens to be the key theme is Bronte's Jane Eyre. Truly, Jane Eyre is "the vindication of all those who believe that life without understanding and love is a shadow."
A.Khalifa
