An essay by Fredric Lam

For Prof. Marie-Thérèse Blanc’s course entitled Love Among the Ruins

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is the story of the eponymous young woman who searches for true love after an unfortunate childhood. Jane’s marriage to Edward Rochester is disrupted and, refusing to be his mistress, she flees and encounters St John Rivers. St John teaches Jane that true love is the ultimate goal that will truly fulfill all her needs and wants. She learns from St John that she cannot thrive as a cold and purely logical person like the parson, and realizes that St John’s austere accommodations lack the warmth that true love brings. Jane is pushed by St John’s proposal of marriage to make the decision to return to Rochester, her true love.

Like St John, the protagonist of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre makes logical sacrifices for the sake of morality and duty; unlike the parson, however, Jane is not a cold, calculating person who needs only the love of God. St John, though infatuated with the beautiful Rosamond Oliver, tells Jane that Rosamond’s “promises are hollow” (Vol. 2, 178); logical and efficient, St John gives up his desire for Rosamond, because the latter will not be a useful missionary’s wife. The parson thus acts as a foil to Jane, allowing her to see that though she adheres to morals and duty in leaving Rochester, she is loving and caring, and wants to experience true love, much unlike the stone-cold St John. In addition, Jane, who is greatly disappointed by her aborted wedding, tries to help St John and Rosamond have a good chance at marriage by telling the parson that Rosamond is interested in him (Vol. 2, 177). St John represents Jane’s psychological Shadow: although Jane claims that she does not want to marry, and shall never marry (Vol. 2, 197), she subconsciously wishes to be married. Through St John’s refusal to marry Rosamond, Jane is reminded of her own obstinate decision to leave Rochester. Had the marriage of Jane and Rochester been possible, the latter would have provided her with a much warmer home than St John.

Though he saves Jane from death and provides for her, St John indirectly shows Jane that only her true love will provide her with warmth. Indeed, Jane thinks that she is comfortable and content living in her private space at Morton, but is soon “surprised to find [herself] ere long weeping” (Vol. 2, 160). Jane has only the company of the unloving St John, and longs for her home at Thornfield with Rochester. Both St John and Rochester give Jane food, employment and shelter, and she learns through the contrast of these two homes that true love brings warmth, and is indeed her home. Though she spends time, effort and money meticulously decorating Moor-house with her best choice of furniture (Vol. 2, 202), Jane chooses to remain in Ferndean, an old house “deep buried in a wood” (Vol. 2, 254) and secluded from the rest of the world. At Ferndean, however, Jane finds her fire, a metaphor for her passion for Rochester. Asking the reader, “Can you tell when there is a good fire?” (Vol. 2, 262), Jane shows that she has learned, during her period of healing with St John, that love provides her with the warmth she needs; St John only provides a fire that consumes the heart as a sacrifice (Vol. 2, 170). Thus, St John provides the contrast of a simple abode with a home that provides her with all the warmth she needs. In fact, Jane’s decision to leave for the better shelter and to reunite with her heart’s destiny is finalized by St John’s marriage proposal.

            St John presents Jane with the choice to die at her duty as a missionary’s wife in India or, seemingly hopelessly, return to Rochester; Jane ultimately decides to pursue love. The parson puts Jane in a phase of initiation during her quest for recovery, and though she respects St John and is willing to do missionary work with him, she acknowledges that “he will never love [her], but he shall approve [of her]” (Vol. 2, 219). Before her stay with St John, loving Rochester seemed to Jane to be insane, unreal; Jane is reminded by Rochester’s housekeeper that relationships between gentlemen and their governesses often end poorly (Vol. 2, 33). Jane’s obsession with Rochester is symbolized by Bertha Mason, Rochester’s mad wife who lives in a hidden room in Thornfield. Jane, almost convinced to leave for India, ultimately chooses to pursue her passion over duty (Vol. 2, 239-240) and, upon leaving St John for Rochester, learns that Bertha is dead. Thus, St John helps Jane realize that returning to Rochester is a wise decision, and that pursuing her duties in India is the truly unreasonable choice.  Finally, Jane does not regret her decision to return to Rochester: after two years, she is happy with her husband, and having left St John, Jane is still filled “with Divine joy” for St John’s ultimate sacrifice to his Lord (Vol. 2, 282-284).

            St John, a cold character, then, helps Jane Eyre realize that true love is her priority. Being cold and devoted, St John shows Jane she cannot live as an unloving person; by offering a comfortable home without feeling, the parson brings out Jane’s memories of the warmth of Rochester’s home; pushing Jane to marry him, St John instead leads Jane to realize that her desire to fully experience love is greater than other priorities. In the end, the God who punished Rochester for his transgressions is merciful and brings Jane and Rochester together through the pious St John.

 

 

Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Vintage Classics, 2009.

Eppel, Alan. “Love.” Love Among the Ruins. Ed. Marie-Thérèse Blanc. Montreal: Dawson College, 2012. 10.