Jane Eyre - Onion Peel
“… I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendliness, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad – as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times where there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rises in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth – so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane – quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs” (Bronte 356).
In this quotation, Jane states her strong sense of moral integrity over and against her intense feelings. Rochester is the first person who has truly loved Jane. However, now that Jane knows that Rochester has a wife, she has to abandon him. Rochester has been trying to persuade Jane to stay with him at Thornfield. Yet, she knows that staying with him would mean compromising herself. By marrying a man who has a wife already, she thinks, she would lose her self-respect. This passage also shows Jane’s understanding of religion. She sees God as a giver of laws by which she must live. When Jane cannot take judgment, she looks to these principles for reference. The laws made by God are for everyone and should be obeyed in any condition. For instance, when I have strong desire to do something which is inappropriate, I have to think that it is inappropriate and God will punish me for that. If I were Jane, I would have probably taken the same decision as her because I think that it is immoral and unacceptable to come in between a husband and a wife.
When Jane uses words like ‘mad’ and ‘insane’ for herself, it brings out an interesting parallel between Bertha and her. Bertha is a double for Jane, who represents what Jane feels within herself. Also, the description of Jane’s blood running like ‘fire’ symbolizes the passion ad suffering Jane goes through.
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