Jane Eyre · Chapter
XXXI explained
Jane settles into her new life as a village schoolmistress in Morton, living in a modest cottage.
What happens
Jane settles into her new life as a village schoolmistress in Morton, living in a modest cottage. She reflects on her decision to leave Mr. Rochester, contrasting the temptation of being his mistress with her current life of honest poverty. St. John Rivers visits, offering counsel and a gift from his sisters, and Jane observes his painful interaction with Rosamond Oliver, recognizing his own sacrifices.
Themes in this chapter
Self-Respect and Integrity
Jane grapples with her decision to leave Mr. Rochester, ultimately affirming her choice to adhere to principle and law over passion, finding strength in her integrity.
Love and Morality
Jane contrasts the 'delusive bliss' of being Rochester's mistress with her current 'free and honest' life, highlighting the conflict between love and moral duty.
Social Class and Inequality
Jane reflects on her 'degraded' feelings as a schoolmistress among poor, coarse villagers, yet resolves to see the inherent worth in her students regardless of class.
Characters to notice
- Jane Eyre
Jane reflects on her new role as a schoolmistress, her feelings of desolation and degradation, and her resolve to adhere to principle and law.
- St. John Rivers
St. John visits Jane, offering a parcel from his sisters and counsel to resist looking back; he later interacts with Rosamond Oliver, revealing his own inner struggle.
- Rosamond Oliver
Rosamond appears briefly, inviting St. John to visit her father and displaying a flirtatious manner, which St. John resists.
- Carlo
Old Carlo, Mr. Rivers' pointer, is seen pushing the gate with his nose as St. John arrives.
- Diana Rivers
Diana is mentioned as having left a parcel for Jane and as having described her brother as 'inexorable as death.'
- Mary Rivers
Mary is mentioned as having left a parcel for Jane along with Diana.
Key passages
“I felt desolate to a degree. I felt—yes, idiot that I am—I felt degraded. I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence.”
Jane admits to feeling lonely and ashamed, worrying that her new position as a schoolmistress has lowered her social standing.
Jane's internal conflict about her social status and self-worth.
“Whether is it better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool’s paradise at Marseilles—fevered with delusive bliss one hour—suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next—or to be a village-schoolmistress, free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England?”
Jane questions whether it is better to be Rochester's mistress in a luxurious but morally compromised life, or to live honestly and freely as a poor schoolteacher.
Jane's moral reasoning and rejection of temptation.
“God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance!”
Jane believes that divine guidance led her to make the right decision in leaving Rochester.
Jane's reliance on faith and providence.
“It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know from experience.”
St. John tells Jane that resisting natural desires is difficult but possible, based on his own experience.
St. John's advice reflects his own struggles with ambition and desire.
“This spectacle of another’s suffering and sacrifice rapt my thoughts from exclusive meditation on my own.”
Watching St. John's painful interaction with Rosamond Oliver distracts Jane from her own troubles.
Jane's empathy and recognition of shared human struggle.
