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B00, I didn’t see ‘Lost’, but some people told me it was confusing.
Margie, I don’t believe money, big houses, or lovely dogs would have influenced Jane Eyre. She was well aware of her status in life, but her self-respect was such that she would never have compromised it by taking a path that was alien to her forthright and rational nature. Jane Eyre knew herself very well indeed and suffered no illusion. Charlotte conveys quite brilliantly the intellectual compatibility that Jane and Rochester shared - despite their differences in social standing. Apart from that, I think there was a very definite sexual chemistry between the two of them but their initially unspoken attraction to each other went far beyond physical attributes. I suppose some would say they were ‘soul mates’.
Until she and Rochester stood at the altar, Jane was unaware of the existence of the hidden wife. Don’t forget that Rochester was tricked into marrying Bertha Mason, discovering her condition – and that of other members of her family - only after the wedding. However, his sense of responsibility, the same sense of responsibility that had induced him to adopt Adele, demanded he care for Bertha rather than abandon her to the horrors of a Victorian madhouse, and Jane understood that. Nevertheless, Jane’s innate sense of self-worth would not allow her to become his mistress, hence her departure and her meeting with St John Rivers, and his subsequent proposal. Despite his love for Rosamond Oliver, St John Rivers knew that she was incapable of fulfilling the demanding role he expected from the wife of a missionary, and therefore his sole purpose in proposing marriage to Jane was to acquire such a wife. Had Jane accepted his offer she would have been committing emotional suicide – and she knew it. Jane was not to be bought – and her principles were not for compromise.
Em, Like you, I never tire of reading it.