Jane Eyre - Chapters 30-34:
In these chapters, we see the relationship between Jane and her new residents develop and grow. Finally, Jane regains a good portion of her health and is able to actually recommence studying, drawing, sewing, etc. She begins to converse more with Diana and Mary and show them her drawings. They each begin to teach each other - Jane to Mary in drawing and sketching, and Diana to Jane with learning German. This in turn begins to draw them all closer together, and they truly grow a sister-like relationship and bond. Jane is quite independent, however, and is still concerned with her life beyond them with regard to making a living for herself. She does not want to stay there, simply becoming dependent upon them for her sustenance. She inquires of St. John if he intends to keep up his offer of finding her a job, to which he replies that he already has, except he delayed it until his sisters (Diana and Mary) have left, as he sees Jane seeming to be happy, getting along with them and making them, also, happy. I think this portrays a bit of a weird contradiction in his character. It is kind and considerate of him to take the time to find Jane a job, yet, it is inconsiderate and controlling of him to not discuss his change of plans with her and simply assume he knows what is best. This contradiction in character and controlling personality is not a one time occurrence with St. John. As Jane continues to describe his personality and his overall countenance, it is often described as very stern and cold, yet at other times he comes across as amiable and caring. Soon we also learn that John, Diana, and Mary receive a letter stating that their Uncle John has been ailing and has died. Jane does not think anything of it and I believe, due to her lack of reaction, I did not either at first. But HELLO? Uncle John? Jane has an Uncle John as well, one who actually sought to give her his fortune and accidentally ruined her marriage to Mr. Rochester by informing Richard Mason that Jane was going to marry the already betrothed Mr. Rochester. Perhaps it is a far off assumption, but usually parallels such as these do not occur in novels by coincidence. I remain uneasy and anxious to know who their Uncle John is or if he will emerge later in this story.
In any regard, after all of the dust has settled and his sisters have set off, John offers Jane a job as school teacher at an all girls small school in another town called Morton. When Jane arrives she tries to be joyful, but after her first day as a teacher to girls who are not refined, not learned, in a house that is too small, lacking in amenities, and frankly, along with being in a dreary, lonely town, Jane feels despondent and lacking purpose.. She begins to have an inner torment as to whether her decision to leave Mr. Rochester, the love of her life, and Adela was the right decision. She says something that indicates to me that she will never love anyone else in the way that she loves Mr. Rochester. Jane states, "... [ N ]o one will ever love me the way he loved me..." When Jane gave him her heart, she gave him near all of it and kept very little, if anything for herself of it. Just as Jane is entrancing into this state of mind, considering what could have been in comparison to what her life is now, St. John Rivers comes to check on her at Morton. While he is there, a woman comes to see him and meet Jane. This woman was Miss Rosamond Oliver. Soon, through her keen observance of the change in countenance of Mr. Rivers, Jane realizes that St. John is completely in love with Miss Oliver. From this point on, Jane continually asks him about her, but his answers are quite peculiar to me. We see that he keeps her at a distance not because he does not love her, but rather because he does and far more so than he knows what to do with the rare emotions. He is seeking a " missionary's wife " and her personality, while lively, joyous, vivacious, and of a high-class manner, is the opposite of a missionary's wife. I feel as though this could be part of the reason why he is so reserved and keeps himself almost blocked off to the world. St. John Rivers views people in categories, as ideal or as unfit. If you are reasonable and logical, then you fit his ideals. If not, you are simply a pleasure and a trifle he can not enjoy. What a cold life and a miserable way to view the world!
Jane subsequently meets with Miss Oliver, as she is the woman paying Jane and Jane agrees to draw a portrait of her. While Jane is working on it one day, Mr. Rivers comes to visit Jane and sees the art, and Jane asks if he would like a copy of it. While he is there, he notices a slip of paper Jane uses to rest her hand on while she does art amongst her work. He is surprised, tears off a piece, and then hastily leaves. Jane goes to determine what it is he wanted from the slip of paper, but she only sees smudges of pencil marks. However, Jane and the reader soon discovers why he wanted, and left with, this torn slip of paper.
Mr. Rivers, in a later conversation with Jane, begins to bring up Mrs. Reed, Lowood, Adela, and a Jane Eyre. He tells Jane that he has received a letter from Thornfield inquiring of a Jane Eyre, but he only knows her as Jane Elliot. He proceeds to tell her she does in fact resemble the description of Jane Eyre. The details of her life matches that of Miss Eyre. Jane begins to become very unsettled and begins to inquire of Mr. Rochester. Despite all that Mr. John is trying to convey to her, Jane only wishes to know of how Rochester is doing, whether he is well, if has inquired about her, and what Mr. Rivers knows about him, if anything. This saddens me for Jane, because it is painfully obvious that he has become her obsession, and she is very much still in love with him. She is tormented daily in both mind and heart by the thought of him and her love for him. She has let the flame of passion burn her on her stake of reason till she has now become engulfed in the flames of love for Mr. Edward Rochester. Mr. Rivers tells her that he knows nothing of nor cares very little about Mr. Rochester. Further, he informs Jane, the person he received the letter from was a Mr. Briggs, who is the lawyer of his Uncle John. I knew that this "uncle John" would come back around at some point! Mr. Rivers tells Jane that when he saw the slip of paper that had her name, her real name: Jane Eyre on it, he realized that they are in fact cousins, and she is the one that their Uncle has left all of his estate and fortune to. Jane sits in shock and is silent for quite some time. Having come from a background of poverty, punishment, a life of drudgery, and even mental and physical abuse, it is hard for her to comprehend that she is now capable of being independent and has come into riches! Finally, Mr. Rivers informs Jane that she has just be granted twenty-thousand pounds. That today comes out to be about 2.1 million dollars! I could not even fathom coming from nothing and at the age of nineteen coming into that kind of wealth. At first, this news baffles and even stymies Jane, but then seems to invigorate her, She begins to get giddy at the news of her actual relation to her cousins, the Rivers, and she then proceeds to propose that the four cousins split the money four ways, evenly. She proposes they take five-thousand pounds each for Diana, Mary, John, and her. As many people are not so generous, St. John tells Jane that she is being hasty and she needs to stop and consider what she is doing, before she simply gives away all her money. At this point, however, her generous heart has already overcome her, and she chooses to do so anyway. This theme of looking beyond material matters is consistent with Jane throughout the entire novel. She demonstrated this trait during her time in the Reed home, when she found more joy in her playtime with dolls, reading whatever books were available, and with her friendship Bessie, the servant, rather than trying to position herself for gain within the Reed family. She did so again when at Lowood, as she found beauty in the eyes, intelligence, nature, and personality of Helen Burns rather than with the beauty of her face or even her possible status in her former community. Once again, she demonstrated similar wholesome values at Thornfield Hall when she fell in love with a man who was not particularly handsome and found the ones who were wealthy and of high social status rather unattractive, because she cared more about the love and personality of a person than the surface and social status of a being. She feels that those carry little depth and meaning when it comes to lifelong endeavors or friendships. When she was in her courtship with Mr. Rochester, instead of focusing on his wealth, she wanted only to be loved honestly, and for her truest self. She did not wish to be showered with material things. The same character shines through against in this circumstance. She desires, finds joy in, and cares more about her family ties and one day finding a pure love she has not ever been able to experience far more than becoming a rich woman of stature and high societal class.
I stated in my last post that I imagined some kind of relationship would occur between Mr. Rivers and Miss Eyre. However, I did not comprehend that this would be the odd relationship it is discovered to become. I began to suspect something other than simple " brotherly love " when St. John Rivers requests, one day when he and Jane are alone while studying, that she forget German for a little while and help him learn Hindustani instead. I immediately found this to be odd as he had been studying it by himself for many days if not weeks up to this point. Then, a couple days later, he asks her to take a walk with him alone. I knew this must be a momentous occasion, something would occur that would completely change their interactions, permanently. Would he kiss her? Would he declare his love for her? No. Instead, he skips all of that and decides to ask her to marry him. When he does, however, it is not in a romantic way. Rather, it is in a matter-of-fact and almost stern way. He tells Jane that she is "an ideal missionary's wife" and informs her that he wishes to take her to India with him to serve the Lord. Jane, through all of his discussing and reasoning with her, realizes that she only loves him as a brother. She further realizes he is not asking her to marry him because of love, rather because she is the sort of woman who might fit the role well. She explains to St. John that she will help him in the work of God and go with him to India, but she wishes to go, not as his wife, because she does not love him, but in the role of a pseudo-sister. He explains to Jane that "this is not good enough and does not fulfill the "work of God sufficiently." He firmly tells Jane that he will not accept her in this role of companion, unless she agrees to marry him. In her feeling of desire to please him, Jane is left feeling torn between her devotion and loyalty to family and to this man who saved her life, and her knowledge of what she feels so deeply inside for a man she is no longer with.
Personally, I hope she chooses not to marry him. Jane deserves true love, and she is not the type of person to conform to a life where she fits neatly into a predefined category, one provided for her by someone who wishes to confine her to their view of the most perfect suitable role for her. How can she marry someone who is not even in love with her, nor whom she will ever love, when she is still so deeply in love with Mr. Rochester? Simply, I believe she cannot and will not. To do so would poison her very soul. To marry Mr. Rivers would be to douse her passions and the reawakened fire in her soul with sand and water. I believe St. John would attempt to control her and strip her of her identity. I say he would "attempt to." I think her strength will surprise him, just as she once greatly surprised Edward Rochester. I can't wait to read on!
No comments:
Post a Comment