Jane Eyre (Grades 9–1) York Notes

In this extract St John Rivers is being described as someone who thinks that being a good Christian is more important than anything else. He works very hard for everyone else in the community and puts himself last all the time. He thinks that doing his duty is much more important than anything else. He even goes out to look after the poor and sick people in the area when the weather is bad: ‘when the day was very unfavourable’. This shows that he takes his duty very seriously and wants to be a good Christian. He sacrifices himself all the time for other people by going out and seeing them even when his sisters don’t want him to and the weather is really bad. In this passage it shows that he doesn’t want to be around his sisters and goes off all the time to visit other people and when he is at home he is working or thinking rather than talking to them.

His sisters worry about him and think that he should put himself first sometimes, but he calls it ‘a sprinkling of rain’ and takes no notice. This makes them worry about him and be ‘mournful’. His work doesn’t make him happy though because the passage describes him as if he is ‘more solemn than cheerful’. The language Brontë uses to describe St John Rivers in this passage shows that he seems to be unsettled and not as peaceful as his sisters are. He is described as ‘brooding’ and ‘reserved’ rather than contented and happy in his work. In the evenings he works all the time and then sits thinking and looking like he is unhappy.

Jane’s attitude towards religion is different. She says that he is doing all the right things but doesn’t get any rewards from it. He is ‘blameless in his life and habits’ but seems restless and unhappy. Jane thinks that being a good Christian means enjoying the life that you have been given and trying to do the best you can for the people around you that you love. She tries hard to do the right thing and this is why she walks away from Mr Rochester even though she loves him because she thinks that if she stayed with him it would not be the right thing to do as a Christian because he is already married. This shows that at the time being married is very important and that you can’t go against this in society or you will be judged and cast out. Jane thinks this is more important than her love for Mr Rochester which is why she leaves him. She believes it is wrong in the eyes of God and the church to live with someone when you are not married to them.

Mr Rochester and St John Rivers are very different and both of them are not happy with the way they live their lives. Jane believes that being happy comes from doing the right thing but enjoying the life you have been given as well.