Morality In Jane Eyre

In Charlotte Brönte’s Jane Eyre, morality is tied to Jane’s understanding of religion and spirituality. Morality is presented to Jane through Christianity and Jane’s spirituality. Throughout the novel, characters such as Brocklehurst and St John present Jane with their interpretations of Christian moral guidelines: Brocklehurst presents the rejection of physical nourishment, while St John presents ideals such as the rejection of emotional fulfillment in order to carry out God’s will on Earth. Meanwhile, Jane’s spirituality communicates to her the morality of her situation, usually in Christian terms, and guides her to emotional fulfillment through dreams and interactions with nature. The text suggests not only that religion is used to present …show more content…
Jane’s spirituality communicates with her through both physical and non-physical realms, by way of natural events and dreams, respectively. Jane often experiences dreams throughout the novel regarding the morality of her situation. This type of non-physical communication is the purest form of spirituality one can experience. As Jane prepares to marry Rochester, she dreams a moonlit picture of Thornfield in ruins, accompanied by the presence of a small, feeble child who “clung round my neck in terror, and almost strangled me”, and as she tries to climb the crumbling wall to see Rochester galloping away into the distance, “the blast blew so strong I could not stand… the child rolled from my knee” (326). Jane’s dream serves to warn her of the natural immorality of her relationship. Rather than communicating that a relationship is emotionally fulfilling and therefore immoral, as Brocklehurst or St John would argue, Jane’s spirituality shows her that there is a natural obstacle that demoralizes her relationship with Mr Rochester. Prior to this experience, Jane refers to her future married-self as an unborn child: “Mrs Rochester! She did not exist: she would not be born till to-morrow” (317). This sheds light onto the meaning of Jane’s dream: the feeble infant is representative of Jane’s conception of her unborn married-self, who seems to be strangling her as she struggles to climb the crumbling ruins of Thornfield. Nature takes action in this image through the forms of the moon’s presence, the crumbling stone, and the blasts of wind, which overthrow Jane’s strength to stand, ultimately causing the feeble infant to fall from her lap. Nature intervenes Jane’s blissful reality, communicating to her that Rochester is