Another trait of her character which comes to the surface, or which receives an emphasis, during her association with St. John is her firmness and her resolute attitude towards people and things. Whereas Rochester is passionate, St. John is austere and ambitious. ago. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. St. John is the foil of Mr. Rochester. Those who had saved my life, whom, till this hour, I had loved barrenly, I could now benefit. Reading, education, and creativity are all essential components of Jane's growth, factors that help her achieve her final success. Mr. Brocklehurst advocates a severe religious program of self-improvementdenying the body to save the soul. Jane notices that St. John is in love with Rosamond Oliver, but he supresses his feelings for her. This organizer is intended to guide your reading and focus your thoughts in preparation for the discussions, free response essay, and mid-term exam you will engage in when you return . (See "Whats Up With the Ending?" Not content with his humble local ministry, St. John would like to have been a politician, a poet, or anything that could have offered him glory, fame, and power. And St. John basically turns into Jell-O every time he sees her. St. Teachers and parents! This is the conflict between duty and passion that plays such a vital role in this novel. He is, at the end, certainly a pathetic figure but one who can also serve as a source of joy and inspiration to many of us because of his certainty about his future state (namely his state after death). Essentially, she has an affectionate heart, and this becomes perfectly clear from her telling St. John about her need to have a sense of belonging to a family. After a long period of labor, he becomes sick in the extreme climate of India and expects to die soon. March 2013, {"hostname":"studymode.com","essaysImgCdnUrl":"\/\/images-study.netdna-ssl.com\/pi\/","useDefaultThumbs":true,"defaultThumbImgs":["\/\/assets.studymode.com\/stm\/images\/placeholders\/default_paper_1.png","\/\/assets.studymode.com\/stm\/images\/placeholders\/default_paper_2.png","\/\/assets.studymode.com\/stm\/images\/placeholders\/default_paper_3.png","\/\/assets.studymode.com\/stm\/images\/placeholders\/default_paper_4.png","\/\/assets.studymode.com\/stm\/images\/placeholders\/default_paper_5.png"],"thumb_default_size":"160x220","thumb_ac_size":"80x110","isPayOrJoin":false,"essayUpload":false,"site_id":1,"autoComplete":false,"isPremiumCountry":false,"userCountryCode":"DE","cookies":{"unlimitedBanner":"off"}}, StudyMode - Premium and Free Essays, Term Papers & Book Notes, Sign up to continue reading St. John Rivers>, Next Section: Chapter Summary and Analysis>. St. John pressures Jane to marry him for several weeks, but Jane continues refusing. He is later revealed to be Jane Eyre 's cousin. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Mostly, this makes sense; he just isnt happy living calm, normal, domestic life. and no connections in England, and asks for help looking for work of any kind. To say the least, Jane Eyre is a controversial character. Subscribe now. He thinks, though, that shed be a bad missionary wife, and so he refuses to let himself act on his feelings for her. St. John is the man who saves Jane Eyres life when she is starving and would have died of sheer exhaustion and hunger. St. John Rivers is a key character in the novel Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre Essay St. John, no doubt, would have given the world to follow, recall, retain her, when she thus left him; but he would not give one chance of heaven, nor relinquish, for the elysium of her love, one hope of the true, eternal Paradise. In the character of St. John Rivers, we have all that is good, virtuous, and holy in a man, everything that a Victorian woman could hope for in a spouse - except love. This view implies that Charlotte Brontes portrayal of him inconsistent. Besides being the Founder and Owner of this website, I am a Government Officer. St. John Rivers is a foil to Edward Rochester. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Previous You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. He wants a wife he can "influence efficiently" and "retain absolutely," rather than someone he loves. Jane Eyre is largely the story of Jane becoming an increasingly Christian character as she learns to tame her romantic but often misguided and egotistical passions, cultivating in their stead the Christian virtues of love, charity, and humility. Like nature, Jane's God is filled with bounty, compassion, and forgiveness qualities lacking in many of the spiritual leaders she criticizes in the novel. Rochester's wife, suffering from mental illness, had been hidden in a locked attic in Rochester's family estate. St. John RiversAlthough not introduced into the novel until the third part, his character plays a dramatic role in the final development of Jane. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. Charlotte Bronte's 1847 masterpiece Jane Eyre tells the iconic love story of the governess Jane Eyre and her employer, Mr. Rochester. Helen Burns, Jane's friend at Lowood School, serves as a foil to Mr. Brocklehurst as well as to Jane. Discount, Discount Code ago. and no connections in England, and asks for help looking for work of any kind. Mary Rivers: Jane's cousin and the sister of St. John and Diana Rivers. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. In the novel Jane Eyre as a whole, St. John Rivers is only a subsidiary or secondary character. Someone should tell this guy that love conquers all. St. John Rivers in Jane Eyre: Character Analysis & Quotes 5:33 Mrs. Reed in Jane Eyre: Character Analysis & Quotes 5:42 Helen Burns in Jane Eyre: Character Analysis & Quotes 4:26 The main contradiction in him is that, although he is a devout and zealous missionary, he has no real peace of mind, and has never enjoyed that serenity or tranquility which a true clergyman should be able to enjoy. He may be handsome, blonde, and blue-eyed, but he might as well be "no longer flesh, but marble"like some kind of Greek statue of Apollo. December 2012. Charlotte Bronte could have brought her novel to an end by letting Jane die at this point, and could thus have made it into a tragic novel, something Tike Thomas Hardys Tess of the Durbervilles. He arranges for her to teach a village girls school in Morton and to have a cottage. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. The weakness of his supposed Christianity is his lack of compassion for or interest in the people he is supposedly helping. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Best Online Learning Platforms to Transform Your Career in 2023, The Top 12 Online Spoken English Classes in Kolkata, Mastering Calculus with Desmos Graphing Calculator: A Step-by-Step Tutorial, Shooting an Elephant as a Narrative Essay, Prose Style of George Orwell in Shooting an Elephant, St. Johns Firmness and Resolute Attitude, The Contrast between St. John and Mr. Rochester, Helen Burns | Character Analysis in Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte | Complete Summary. Connecting herself with the mythical beings in Bessie's stories, Jane is affiliated with the realms of imagination, with the fantastic. The first thing to explain about St. John Rivers is how to pronounce his first name, "St. It's Me, Margaret Study Guide, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Study Guide, Praxis Reading for Virginia Educators: Elementary and Special Education (5306) Prep, 11th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, Common Core ELA Grade 8 - Writing: Standards, Jane Eyre Time Period & Historical Context, Religion in Jane Eyre: Analysis & Examples, Jane Eyre: Summary, Characters and Analysis, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Stoical, cold, and strictly devoted to Christianity, St. John's religion is far too detached for Jane. Jane's personality balances social awareness with spiritual power. You can view our. Independence would be accompanied by loneliness, and joining St. John would require Jane to neglect her own legitimate needs for love and emotional support. Removing #book# Thus, the intensity and the depth of Janes love for Mr. Rochester acquire an even greater force and momentum now because of St. Johns continuing pressure on her to marry him. They were under a yoke,I could free them: they were scattered,I could reunite them: the independence, the affluence which was mine, might be theirs too. Some passages from Bronte's text may shed light. Helen Burns Helen is Jane's pious best friend at Lowood Institute. Free trial is available to new customers only. St. John is living at Moor House with his sisters Diana and Mary; he works as the clergyman in the nearby town of Morton while preparing to go to India on a missionary trip. reader that Diana and Mary both have married respectable and caring husbands and visit regularly. He's not actually a saint, eitherit's just a weird first namealthough he . (including. She distinguishes herself at Lowood School because of her hard work and strong intellectual abilities. He offers a contrast to Mr. Rochester who represents one order of mind while St. John represents another order of mind. Written by Charlotte Bronte, the work was originally titled Jane Eyre: An Autobiography and was published in 1847. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs Sample A+ Essay: Is the Novel a Criticism of Victorian Class Prejudices? St. John (pronounced sin-jin) and his sisters, Mary and Diana, rescue Jane when she flees from Thornfield. quickened with all incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence." Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Why does Jane decline St. John Rivers marriage proposal? Continue to start your free trial. In Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bront, the main character, 3Pages But it is the lesser-known character of St. John Rivers who ultimately forces Jane to choose between passion and duty. That is just as fixed as a rock, firm set in the depths of a restless sea. St John Rivers is another important character of the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront. character was given the name that her father had intended to give a son. A companionless lonely man, his life is now drawing to its close. 11 Jane Jack and Margaret Smith, "The Chronology of Jane Eyre" (Appendix I), in Jane Eyre (Clarendon edition), suggest that Jane Eyre's "autobiography" may begin on Guy Fawkes Day: "The action begins after dinner on a 'drear November Detailed analysis of Characters in Charlotte Bront's Jane Eyre. Mr. Rochester can be yielding, whereas St. John is more often relentless in his austerity. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. St. John Rivers. One reached. Besides rejecting traditional views of class, she also denigrates society's attempts to restrict women's activities. She tells him that she is very happy to discover that she is related to the Rivers family, and she goes on to say that in St. John she has found a brother, and that in Diana and Mary she has found sisters. For Jane to refuse this proposal, St. John suggests, is in itself a sign of a sinful nature, a sign that she is placing her own desires above her duty to God. Unmarried to him, this would never grieve me; but can I let him complete his calculations - coolly put into practice his plans - go through with the wedding ceremony? Mr. Brocklehurst Character Analysis Jane Eyre The novel charts the growth of Jane Eyre, the first-person narrator, from her unhappy childhood with her nasty relatives, the Reeds, to her blissful marriage to Rochester at Ferndean. At the same time, life with St. John would mean life without true love, in which Janes need for spiritual solace would be filled only by retreat into the recesses of her own soul. Jane Eyre The orphaned protagonist of the story. Jane, however, cannot consent to take holy vows where no real love is present, nor can she give her body to a man she does not love, even if he is her husband. When he invites her to come to India with him as a missionary, St. John offers Jane the chance to make a more meaningful contribution to society than she would as a housewife. Drop me a line anytime, whether its about any queries or demands or just to share your well-being. A parson with two sisters at Moor House, and Jane's cousin. So far we had been thinking Jane to be cynical, and she had ample reason to have developed a cynical outlook upon life and to have become bitter about human nature. from your Reading List will also remove any Diana and Mary both approve of her marriage, but Jane receives no response from St. . For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Bertha Mason. They take her in and nurse her back to health. By falling in love with Rochester, she implicitly mutinies against the dictates of class boundaries that relegate her, as a governess, to a lower status than her "master." As Jane prepares to leave to go to Thornfield, Jane updates Rochester about her new wealth and leads him on about. He had not imagined that a woman would dare to speak so to a man. Before returning to school, you will need to read Jane Eyre and complete the assignment below. 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