TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS 63 and safely cared for, but is still his wife by law, which does not allow for divorce. Jane will not stay at Thornfield to be with Mr. Rochester as long as he is married, even though she pities him for his circumstance: “Reader, I forgave him at the moment and on the spot.” He begs her to remain with him, telling her that she would be his true wife, the one he wants to be faithful to. She replies, “If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.” Jane continues to stand her ground when he presses her, and it is here that her convictions become most clear in what she is willing to sacrifice. Truth is most important to her: “The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself… Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour… If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?” That night, Jane cannot sleep, and while watching the night sky, she senses a voice telling her, “My daughter, flee temptation.” So she packs her things and escapes Thornfield Hall while it is still dark, making her way across the moors and empty land. Even though Jane does eventually marry Mr. Rochester with the famous “Reader, I married him” line, once Bertha tragically perishes after setting Thornfield on fire, her convictions to follow what she knew was right are what set her apart as a character of virtue. She is able to search herself and, while treating others with kindness and empathy, still hold to her self-respect. She flees the situations tempting her to compromise her integrity. Helen’s biblical advice from her childhood remains with her: “It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you.” Even though Jane tempered her passionate need to avenge herself in the face of unjust wrongdoings, she channeled her strong convictions into an unwavering sense of quiet self-respect that allowed her to stand firm against temptations that would risk it. Her convictions gave her strength to refuse and to find freedom in those firm denials, even if they brought internal sorrow. She stayed true to her beliefs, and so kept her self-respect.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=