Reason In Jane Eyre

The protagonist in Jane Eyre, Jane herself, faces various struggles throughout her life. One of the greatest of these struggles is not with an antagonist, but is within her own mind. Though she does face mistreatment from others, these experiences merely cause obstacles in her mind that are ultimately what she must overcome. She incorporates ideals from various characters into her own thoughts, while still rebelling against these same beliefs. The battle in Jane Eyre’s mind is between passion and reason. While Jane acts passionately at times, she counters these actions with reason and logic. Jane must learn how to combine passion and reason in her life, without losing her independence. The opposition of these two emotions is a constant within …show more content…
Jane grows up in Gateshead with the Reeds who view her as “less than a servant” (7), which causes her to begin to act in defense and with anger. Similar to anger, love is a passionate feeling that Jane later discovers when she meets Edward Rochester. Jane feels a passionate love for Rochester, and acts almost solely on this passion when he reciprocates these feelings. Rochester proposes to Jane and she accepts, “sir, I will marry you” (296). Though she considers reason and hesitates on her decisions momentarily, she ultimately agrees to wed, despite his engagement to Blanche Ingram. In defending herself from John Reed and agreeing to marry the man she loves, Jane is choosing to do what she wants, despite the consequences. Often, Jane must fight between what is logical and what she truly desires. Ultimately, Jane states, “no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will” (294) showing that her passion is a way for her to be rebellious and to not lose sight of …show more content…
After leaving Rochester, Jane is living with St. John Rivers who she finds to be her cousin. St. John then tells Jane, “God and nature intended you for a missionary’s wife. . . . A missionary’s wife you must be-shall be” (468). Though in an act of passion, Jane leaves St. John to go see what has become of Rochester over the time that they have been apart, but when she gets there she finds that he is a widower. This reunion is one that leads to Jane making a decision that is both passionate and reasonable, “To be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth” (518). Essentially, by agreeing to marry Rochester, Jane learns it is possible to find a concession between the seemingly contradictory passion and