The first article I read was comparing Charlotte Bronte's meaning of love with Jane Austen's view. I focused mainly on reading the sections dedicated to Bronte. I found an interesting paragraph on why God played a role in the actions Jane made in her "love life". She left Rochester because of his sinful lust for her and his attempt to marry her while he, himself, was still married. She knew marrying him would be a sinful act so she fled and came across St. John and his sisters. She was drawn to him by his Christain self- sacrifice, but his passion and " loving" emotions were non-existent. This caused Jane to ponder about Rochester and how he might be. She then hears his voice and leaves St. John. When she meets Rochester after all this time apart, she finds that his hand and eyes are damaged. The author of this essay wonders if it is a repercussion of his lust for Jane during his ongoing marriage to Bertha.
I also read an essay about the struggle between Rochester and Jane. This novel also had very much to do with the meaning of love in the novel. The author of this essay thinks that Jane had a duty to leave Rochester. It was her duty as a follower of God to not betray her morals by marrying him. However, Bronte had to resolve the novel with her usual ending method: positive action. Since Jane could not bring herself to marry St. John, she wants to go back to Rochester. This author also thought that Rochester's injuries were a consequence for being so lustful of Jane. However, since Rochester has paid his dues to the Lord, it is okay for Jane to marry him (His dues were the sacrifice of his eyes and had).
The third essay had a lot more to do with the way I want to write my essay. It was about Jane and her moral decisions in the novel. This essay says that Jane makes her decisions on grace and nature. The grace aspect of this thesis is that she is very religious and makes decisions that will be better morally and for the church. The nature aspect says that Jane is only human and has the same impulses other humans have. An excerpt from the novel and essay says how these two different factors caused two different consequences: "I was a fool both times. To have yielded then would have been an error of principle; to have yielded now would have been an error of judgment." This quote that Jane said showed that both factors had made a difference in the outcome, so in the end she went with her judgement.
