Jane Eyre at Marsh End
The Fourth Section of Bronte’s Classic Novel
Jane's journey to and residence at Marsh End is the most criticised section of Jane Eyre, yet this part of the story is crucial to Jane's development as a character.
When we last saw Jane, she was fleeing Thornfield after finding out that Rochester, her husband-to-be, already had a wife, a madwoman kept locked in the attic. This would of course be a shock for any woman, but for Jane the situation is simply untenable. She loves Rochester with the passion of someone who truly believes they have found their soulmate, but his suggestion that they live together in France as man and wife cannot be reconciled with her ideas of what is right.
She tells him she must leave Thornfield, and that night hears in a dream confirmation that she has made the right choice: “a white human form shone in the azure, inclining a glorious brow earthward. It gazed and gazed on me. It spoke to my spirit: immeasurably distant was the tone, yet so near, it whispered in my heart – ‘My daughter, flee temptation.’ ‘Mother, I will.’” (chapter 27).
Jane's Journey to Marsh End
Jane’s exit from Thornfield marks a key moment in Jane’s development. She cannot be seen to compromise her moral and religious beliefs by entering into what would seem to her a sinful relationship, and her strength in leaving indicates a new maturity and independence.
We have seen before how each journey she makes moves her from one stage of her life to the next; this journey is physically the toughest of them all – not only must she endure the mental agony of leaving Rochester, but also physical privations, having to sleep outside and beg for leftover scraps of food.
Fate or Coincidence?
Jane wanders aimlessly on, becoming increasingly distressed, and eventually finds herself guided towards a house by a mysterious light: “My eye still roved over the sullen swell and along the moor-edge, vanishing amidst the wildest scenery, when at one dim point, far in among the marshes and the ridges, a light sprang up” (chapter 28).
On arrival at the house, Jane is taken in by the kindly occupants, Diana and Mary Rivers, and their brother St. John. It is for this huge coincidence that the novel has received most criticism: these turn out to be Jane’s cousins. Modern readers find it hard to accept that Jane’s seemingly random travels lead her to the door of her only family: we must suspend our disbelief and understand that Fate has brought her here, guiding her through her hour of need to the very people who can help her.
The Importance of the Rivers Family
The Rivers family is key to the plot of this novel in a number of ways. First of all, Diana and Mary show her true kindness even before they know she is their cousin, continuing the line of positive female role models who have encouraged Jane’s spiritual and intellectual development. Secondly, St. John Rivers proposes marriage to Jane in such a way that makes her realise that no man can ever live up to what she feels for Rochester.
A Marriage of Equals
Most importantly, however, Jane becomes truly independent whilst at Marsh End. Even before her discovery of Bertha’s existence, Jane had been uncomfortable with the idea of her marriage to Rochester being so unequal in terms of money and status. Now, however, she discovers her uncle has died, leaving her a sum of £20,000; even after sharing this with her cousins, Jane is now a woman of independent means, and need feel inferior to Rochester no more. Thus we are ready to move towards the final location in the novel, and a marriage of equals.
Read about the other stages in Jane's life: Gateshead, Lowood , Thornfield and Ferndean.
