… still going on about Jane Eyre.

She is immune to coercion. Not immune to passion or pity or the call of duty, but instinctively resistant and thoughtfully opposed to the imposition of external ideas onto her own judgment. She examines systems of thought and accepts those parts that seem right to her. In a world of “legless angels,” she refuses to deny either her humanity or her spirit. Examples that I love:

• As a child, she is terribly embarrassed by her unjust punishment at the hands of Mr. Brocklehurst, but she never concedes or apologizes. She is not a liar; she has told the unpleasant truth more times than her aunt can bear and will not retract it.
• As a governess, she has not the slightest thought of leaving her post when her charge is revealed to be the illegitimate child of a courtesan. Her only concern is for Adele’s feelings; Jane knows well what it is to be unwanted and Mr. Rochester’s denial of his probable paternity irritates her (inasmuch as she ever really becomes angry with him).
• She holds fast to the idea of a union based on love or none at all, a relatively new idea at the time, and an almost unbelievable position for a woman of no means, whose only real chance of financial and social security is marriage.
• She respects St. John’s ideas of service before self, but rejects his plans for her. It is my opinion that she sees the fundamental hypocrisy of his “sacrifice.” True, he loves and has denied himself the love of a beautiful young woman, but he tells Jane candidly that in the long run, he knows he could never be happy with Rosamund. His spiritual ambition would eat away at his conscience and his pride. If St. John is sincere in his self-knowledge, then what does he truly sacrifice? He is following his deepest desires while urging Jane to forgo her own.

More later on Jane. More, in fact, than anyone may really want to read…