Sunday, December 6, 2009

No compromises

"I repeat:I freely consent to go with you as your fellow missionary; but not as your wife; i can not marry you and become a part of you." (415)

These are the words Jane tells to St. John when he ask her to marry him. Jane will not and can not make compromises when it comes to love. We have seen this throughout the novel through her choices. For instance the situation with Mr. Rochester. Jane was madly in love with Mr. Rochester; she loved him with all her heart, with every ounce of her being, with every cell of her body. But, Jane is unable to marry Mr. Rochester because he is already married. He reassures Jane that his wife was forced upon him and is not his true wife; he also proposes to run off to France with her were they can be together despite the law. But, Jane can not do this. She can't be with Mr. Rochester if she can't be his wife; so instead of taking Mr. Rochester up on his offer she leaves Thornfield without telling him. Jane will not make any compromises when it comes to love. She will not marry Mr. Rochester because he is already married and she will not marry St. John because she does not love him and he does not love her.
Readers at first may think Jane made a grand mistake when she left Mr. Rochester. They might believe that she left her true love and will never see him again. But in the end things work out for the best; the fact that Jane refused to make compromises worked best for her in the end. Because she did not make any compromises she gets what she always wanted. She meets Mr. Rochester later and many things have changed. Mr. Rochester's wife died in a fire at Thornfield hall and he lost the use of an arm and is blind as a result of the fire, and now Jane has inherited twenty thousand pounds. Now Jane can be with Mr. Rochester on her terms. As my class mate Eduardo says "In the end love truly did conquer all. Though it was not an easy choice Jane made it: it was truly for the best" If Jane had made compromises then she wouldn't be in the position she now is.

5 comments:

  1. I agree with Otilio, because Jane Eyre didn't make any compromises everything worked out for her. Although she was in love with Mr.Rochester she can't help but to leave him since he's already married. WHat if she was to done what he told her? It would of been a completely different story. Yeah, they would of been in love but the connection would'nt of been the same. She'll still feel like he's hiding something from her. But after she waited, the couple has nothing to hide from each other and then they can say they are truly in love.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with you, Otilio. Surprisingly, Jane was very patient. She waited a long time to finally be with the one she loves. I guess it's surprising to me because I'm not really a patient person and I don't think I would've waited as long as she did. But do you really think that if Jane would've made compromises with other people, she wouldn't be in a similar position as she is now?

    ReplyDelete
  3. To be honest, I'm not really sure what you mean by "no compromises". Is it the fact that Jane waited? Or that if she couldn't have all of what she wanted, then she would reject it? Though I respect your opinion, I don't really agree with it. I think that Jane would have been just as happy if she had made some compromises and that in the end, though she got her happiness and what she wanted, others suffered.
    When Jane returned, Bertha was dead, Rochester was blind and injured, St. John had lost his love, and it just seems to me that the only one that was happy was Jane. Yes, it is true that Mr. Rochester still got Jane, and that Bertha was never the nicest person, but many of these tragedies could have been avoided if Jane had been a bit more rational and stayed to work things out.
    Do you think their loved prevailed more because of Jane's lack of cooperation? Or is Bronte trying to tell us that there is another reason for it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with you. Jane went through a lot and at the end she got what she wanted. When people are patient like Jane then you end up getting what you wished for. She left someone she loved, Mr. Rochester even though she was going to marry him. She did the right thing of not marrying him. Even though she didn't marry him earlier later on she ended up marrying him. She didn't end up rushing things.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I see you feel that Jane made a mistake by not taking the offer Mr. Rochester made her and I think that's a very reasonable thing to say. But I disagree with you when you say that its basically Jane's fault that she isn't happy with Mr. Rochester because she refused to marry him. I don't think that Jane can't make compromises I just think she is protecting her feelings. If she would get married with Mr. Rochester who's to say that he wont leave her for another woman like he left his wife for Jane. I do understand that his wife is mentally incapable of being sane but he abandoned her. Jane is being smart and making the best decisions she possibly can so that she wont get hurt. Jane knows that she cannot marry Mr. Rochester right now because he is still married. And I think that it was the best idea she had. In the end we do learn that things end up working out how they shoul've. Jane and Mr. Rochester end up together when the time is right and they're both ready for each other. Well just something to think about.

    ReplyDelete