Important Quotations Explained →
1. I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty. . . . You You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back . . . into the red-room. . . . And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck meknocked me do wn for nothing. I will tell anyb ody who asks me !uestions this e"act tale. #$re I had finished this reply, my my soul began to e"pand, e"pan d, to e"ult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever felt. It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst, and that I had struggled out o ut into unhoped-for liberty. . . .
This quotation, part of Jane’s outburst to her aunt just prior to her departure from Gateshead for o!ood "#hool, appears in $hapter %. In the passa&e, Jane solidifies her o!n orphanhood, se'erin& her ties to the little semblan#e of famil( that remained to her )*I !ill ne'er #all (ou aunt a&ain as lon& as I li'e,+ she tells rs. -eed. Jane asserts her fier( spirit in her tirade, and she displa(s a /een sense of justi#e and a re#o&nition of her need for lo'e. 0lon& !ith familial liberation, the passa&e mar/s Jane’s emotional liberation. Jane’s imprisonment in the redroom has its ps(#holo&i#al #ounterpart in her emotional suppression, and it is not until she spea/s these !ords to rs. -eed that she feels her *soul be&in to expand.+ astl(, the passa&e hi&hli&hts the importan#e of stor(tellin& as re'en&e and also as a means of empo!erment. Jane de#lares that she !ill *tell an(bod( !ho as/s me questions this exa#t tale+2'ia authorship, Jane asserts her authorit( o'er and a&ainst her t(ranni#al aunt.
3. %eeling . . . clamoured wildly. &'h, comply() it said. &. . . soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. *ho in the world cares for you+ or who will be inured by what you do+) till indomitable was the reply: &I care for myself. he more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by /od; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not madas I am now. 0aws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation. . . . hey have a worthso I have always believed; and if I cannot
believe it now, it is because I am insane!uite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs.)
In this quotation, near the end of $hapter 34, Jane asserts her stron& sense of moral inte&rit( o'er and a&ainst her intense immediate feelin&s. -o#hester has been tr(in& to #on'in#e her to sta( !ith him despite the fa#t that he is still le&all( married to 5ertha ason. 6is ar&ument almost persuades Jane7 -o#hester is the first person !ho has e'er trul( lo'ed her. 8et she /no!s that sta(in& !ith him !ould mean #ompromisin& herself, be#ause she !ould be -o#hester’s mistress rather than his !ife. 9ot onl( !ould she lose her selfrespe#t, she !ould probabl( lose -o#hester’s, too, in the end. Thus Jane asserts her !orth and her abilit( to lo'e herself re&ardless of ho! others treat her. The passa&e also sheds li&ht upon Jane’s understandin& of reli&ion. "he sees God as the &i'er of the la!s b( !hi#h she must li'e. :hen she #an no lon&er trust herself to exer#ise &ood jud&ment, she loo/s to these prin#iples as an obje#ti'e point of referen#e. Jane’s allusions to her *madness+ and *insanit(+ brin& out an interestin& parallel bet!een Jane and 5ertha ason. It is possible to see 5ertha as a double for Jane, !ho embodies !hat Jane feels !ithin2espe#iall( sin#e the externali;ation of interior sentiment is a trait #ommon to the Gothi# no'el. The des#ription of Jane’s blood runnin& li/e *fire+ #onstitutes one of man( points in the boo/ in !hi#h Jane is asso#iated !ith flames.
<. &hall I+) I said briefly; and I looked at his features, beautiful in their harmony, but strangely formidable in their still severity; at his brow, commanding, but not open; at his eyes, bright and deep and searching, but never soft; at his tall imposing figure; and fancied myself in idea his wife. 'h( it would never do( As his curate, his comrade, all would be right: I would cross oceans with him in that capacity; toil under $astern suns, in Asian deserts with him in that office; admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour: accommodate !uietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition. . . . I should suffer often, no doubt, attached to him only in this capacity: my body would be under a rather stringent
yoke, but my heart and mind would be free. I should still have my unblighted self to turn to: my natural unenslaved feelings with which to communicate in moments of loneliness. here would be recesses in my mind which would be only mine, to which he never came; and sentiments growing there, fresh and sheltered, which his austerity could never blight, nor his measured warrior-march trample down: but as his wifeat his side always, and always restrained, and always checkedforced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vitalthis would be unendurable.
This passa&e o##urs in $hapter <%. "t. John -i'ers has just as/ed Jane to join him as his !ife on his missionar( trip to India. Jane dramati;es the interior #onfli#t in'ol'ed in ma/in& her de#ision. In man( !a(s, the proposal tempts her. It is an opportunit( to perform &ood !or/s and to be more than a &o'erness, s#hooltea#her, or house!ife2the roles traditionall( open to !omen. Jane’s tea#hin& jobs at o!ood, Thornfield, and orton ha'e all made her feel trapped, and she !ould not mind endurin& hardships for a #ause in !hi#h she trul( belie'es. 8et, "t. John’s prin#iples2*ambition,+ *austerit(,+ and arro&an#e2are not those that Jane upholds. is&uided reli&ion threatens to oppress Jane throu&hout the boo/, and "t. John merel( embodies one form of it. 6e also embodies mas#uline dominan#e, another for#e that threatens Jane li/e a *strin&ent (o/e+ o'er the #ourse of the no'el. Thus she des#ribes "t. John’s *!arriormar#h+ and notes his assertion of his *masterhood.+ Jane must es#ape su#h #ontrol in order to remain true to herself, for she reali;es that her #on'entional manner of dealin& !ith oppression2b( retreatin& into herself, into the re#esses of her ima&ination, into #on'ersation !ith herself2#annot #onstitute a !a( of life. In her reje#tion of -o#hester, Jane pri'ile&ed prin#iple o'er feelin&= she is no! a!are of the ne&ati'e effe#ts su#h emotional repression #an ha'e. >eelin&, too, must pla( a role in one’s life7 a balan#e must be stru#/.
%. I could not help it; the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes. hen my sole relief was to walk along the corridor of the third story, backwards and
forwards, safe in the silence and solitude of the spot, and allow my mind#s eye to dwell on whatever bright visions rose before itand, certainly, they were many and glowing; to let my heart be heaved by the e"ultant movement . . . and, best of all, to open my inward ear to a tale that was never endeda tale my imagination created, and narrated continuously; !uickened with all of incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual e"istence. It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tran!uility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. 1illions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. 2obody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. *omen are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel ust as men feel; they need e"ercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in the ir more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their se".
This passa&e appears in $hapter 13, in the midst of Jane’s des#ription of her first fe! !ee/s at Thornfield. The di#tion hi&hli&hts Jane’s feelin&s of imprisonment )she pa#es the #orridors li/e a #reature #a&ed, and her lon&in&s for freedom and equalit(. Jane’s !ords are also rele'ant to 5ront?’s o!n experien#e as a !riter, and to the &eneral #ondition of @i#torian !omen. The ima&es of restlessness and pa#in&, of feelin& *sta&nation+ and *too ri&id a restraint,+ are examples of the boo/’s #entral theme of imprisonment. In addition to instan#es of ph(si#al imprisonment, Jane must also es#ape the fetters of mis&uided reli&ion )represented b( 5ro#/lehurst, of passion !ithout prin#iple )represented at first b( -o#hester, and of prin#iple !ithout passion )represented b( "t. John -i'ers2not to mention those of so#iet(. 5ro#/lehurst, -o#hester, and "t. John ma( also threaten Jane !ith the fetters of patriar#h(, !hi#h is the spe#ifi# for#e Jane resists in this passa&e. Jane extends her feelin& of entrapment to her fello! !omen, and these senten#es #onstitute 5ront?’s feminist manifesto. 0s she des#ribes the *doom+ to !hi#h *millions are in silent re'olt a&ainst their
lot+ *are #ondemned,+ 5ront? #riti#i;es !hat she belie'ed to be stiflin& @i#torian #on#eptions of proper &ender roles. The passa&e expli#itl( states that the @i#torian !ife suffers from bein& metaphori#all( *lo#/ed up.+ 5ertha ason, !ho is e'entuall( rendered nearl( inhuman !hen her ne&le#ted, suppressed feelin&s turn to madness and fur(, ma( be 'ie!ed as a s(mbol of the imprisoned female’s #ondition. The passa&e su&&ests that 5ront?’s !ritin& ma( ha'e been her means of #opin& !ith su#h ra&e. Jane des#ribes her retreat into her o!n mind, to find freedom in her ima&ination. :hile 5ront?’s &reatest triumphs !ere the result of su#h selfretreat, her heroine’s a#hie'ement is the balan#e she stri/es bet!een her need for autonom( and her desire to be an a#ti'e member of so#iet(.
A. I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blestblest beyond what language can e"press; because I am my husband#s life as fully as he is mine. 2o woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my $dward#s society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; conse!uently, we are ever together. o be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. *e talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in characterperfect concord is the result.
This, one of the final passa&es of 3ane $yre, summari;es the no'el’s *happ( endin&.+ Its impli#ations ha'e &enerated mu#h debate o'er the !a( 5ront? #hose to #on#lude her boo/. "ome #riti#s 'ie! Jane as ha'in& sa#rifi#ed her autonom(2no lon&er her o!n person, she and -o#hester ha'e mer&ed, sharin& one heart, ea#h possessin& the *bone+ and *flesh+ of the other. Bne mi&ht also ar&ue that Jane relinquishes her po!ers of thou&ht and expression2t!o #hara#teristi#s that ha'e defined her for most of the no'el. "uddenl(, the other!ise ima&inati'e Jane equates her *thin/in&+ to
her #on'ersations !ith -o#hester2she e'en finds the #on'ersations *more animated.+ "imilarl(, althou&h ten (ears ha'e elapsed sin#e the !eddin&, the other!ise eloquent Jane suddenl( #laims that she is unable to find an( *lan&ua&e+ to *express+ her experien#es durin& this period. Bther #riti#s interpret this passa&e in a more positi'e manner. It #an be read as Jane’s affirmation of the equalit( bet!een her and -o#hester, as testimon( that she has not *&i'en up+ an(thin&. The passa&e is follo!ed in the no'el b( a report on "t. John -i'ers. Jane !rites7 *his is the spirit of the !arrior Greatheart . . . his is the ambition of the hi&h master spirit. . . .+ )Greatheart ser'es as &uide to the pil&rims in 5un(an’s 4ilgrim#s 4rogress. Emphasi;in& "t. John’s desires for *master(+ and his *!arrior+ #hara#teristi#s, Jane des#ribes a #ontrollin& patriar#h. :hile -o#hester ma( ha'e been su#h a fi&ure at the be&innin& of the no'el, his #hara#ter has #han&ed b( its #on#lusion. 6e has lost his house, his hand, and his e(esi&ht to a fire, and the re'elation of his (outhful debau#heries has sho!n him to be Jane’s moral inferior. -o#hester #an no lon&er presume to be Jane’s *master+ in an( sense. oreo'er, Jane has #ome to -o#hester this se#ond time in e#onomi# independen#e and b( free #hoi#e= at oor 6ouse she found a net!or/ of lo'e and support, and she does not depend solel( on -o#hester for emotional nurturan#e. Bptimisti# #riti#s point to Jane’s des#ription of "t. John as her reminder that the marria&e she reje#ted !ould ha'e offered her a mu#h more stiflin& life. 5( enterin& into marria&e, Jane does enter into a sort of *bond+= (et in man( !a(s this *bond+ is the *es#ape+ that she has sou&ht all alon&. Cerhaps 5ront? meant Jane’s #losin& !ords to #elebrate her attainment of freedom= it is also possible that 5ront? meant us to bemoan the tra&i# paradox of Jane’s situation.