Jane Eyre Marriage Quotes

It does good to no woman to be flattered by her superior who does not intend to marry her; and it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead, ignis-fatuus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 16. Jane is talking to herself about her feelings for Rochester and the situation she finds herself in. She concludes that a woman falling in love with her employer, someone who does not intend to marry her, is a really bad idea. It only leads to danger and heartache. She is embarrassed at allowing herself fall for the flattering attentions of Rochester.

“Whenever I marry,” she continued, after a pause which none interrupted, “I am resolved my husband shall not be a rival, but a foil to me. I will suffer no competitor near the throne; I shall exact an undivided homage: his devotions shall not be shared between me and the shape he sees in his mirror.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 17. So what makes a good marriage? For the very vain and shallow Blanche Ingram it is a passive husband, who worships her beauty and submits to her control and domination. Her husband, above all, must not must not be her rival or compete with her. No prize for guessing who’ll wear the trousers with Blanche!

Ere long, a bell tinkled, and the curtain drew up. Within the arch, the bulky figure of Sir George Lynn, whom Mr. Rochester had likewise chosen, was seen enveloped in a white sheet: before him, on a table, lay open a large book; and at his side stood Amy Eshton, draped in Mr. Rochester’s cloak, and holding a book in her hand. Somebody, unseen, rang the bell merrily; then Adèle (who had insisted on being one of her guardian’s party) bounded forward, scattering round her the contents of a basket of flowers she carried on her arm. Then appeared the magnificent figure of Miss Ingram, clad in white, a long veil on her head, and a wreath of roses round her brow: by her side walked Mr. Rochester, and together they drew near the table. They knelt; while Mrs. Dent and Louisa Eshton, dressed also in white, took up their stations behind them. A ceremony followed, in dumb show, in which it was easy to recognise the pantomime of a marriage.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 18. Jane has to watch while the man she loves, Rochester, teams up with Blanche Ingram for an elaborate game of charades. They pantomine a wedding ceremony in which Rochester is the groom and Blanche Ingram the bride. After it Rochester tells Miss Ingram, “remember, you are my wife.”

Miss Ingram was a mark beneath jealousy; she was too inferior to excite the feeling…She was very showy, but she was not genuine. She had a fine person, many brilliant attainments; but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature…She was not good, she was not original…Tenderness and truth were not in her…Other eyes besides mine watched these manifestations of character…Yes, the future bride-groom, Mr. Rochester himself, exercised over his intended a ceaseless surveillance; and it was from this sagacity…this obvious absence of passion in his sentiments toward her, that my ever-torturing pain arose.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 18. Jane has watched Rochester and Blanche Ingram move closer to marriage, with both taking part in a mock-marriage charades game during Blanche’s stay Thornfield. But Jane doesn’t feel any jealousy. She ironically calls Blanche “inferior,” even though Blanche belongs to an aristocratic family and is a social class above Jane. But the real Blanche, as Jane sees her, is poor in mind and character, lacking in heart and full of show. Jane believes that Rochester doesn’t love Blanche, so it hurts her that he is going to marry her.

I saw he was going to marry her, for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connections suited him; I felt he had not given her his love, and that her qualifications were ill adapted to win from him that treasure. This was the point – this was where the nerve was touched and teased – this was where the fever was sustained and fed: she could not charm him.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 18. The big question is – who should Rochester marry: Blance Ingram or Jane? A jealous Jane accepts that Rochester has social and family reasons for marrying Blanche, and on those levels they would be compatible. But Jane is convinced that Rochester doesn’t love Blanche and a woman like her kind would never, metaphorically speaking, win such a “treasure.”

I have not yet said anything condemnatory of Mr. Rochester’s project of marrying for interest and connections. It surprised me when I first discovered that such was his intention; I had thought him a man unlikely to be influenced by motives so commonplace in his choice of a wife; but the longer I considered the position, education, etc., of the parties, the less I felt justified in judging and blaming either him or Miss Ingram, for acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them, doubtless, from their childhood. All their class held these principles; I supposed, then, they had reasons for holding them such as I could not fathom. It seemed to me that, were I a gentleman like him, I would take to my bosom only such a wife as I could love; but the very obviousness of the advantages to the husband’s own happiness, offered by this plan, convinced me that there must be arguments against its general adoption of which I was quite ignorant: otherwise I felt sure all the world would act as I wished to act.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 18. Jane is considering the possible marriage between Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram. She concedes that both have grown up in a world where they are expected to follow the rules of their social class. But she finds it difficult to understand why a man like Rochester would be influenced by these rules to marry simply for “interests and connections.” Jane, who is in love with Rochester, is adament that she would have to love the person she marries.

“What tale do you like best to hear?”
“Oh, I have not much choice! They generally run on the same theme – courtship; and promise to end in the same catastrophe – marriage.”
“And do you like that monotonous theme?”
“Positively, I don’t care about it: it is nothing to me.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 19. The old gypsy woman (Rochester in disguise) and Jane discuss courtship and marriage. Rochester is trying to manipulate and draw Jane out and admit that she loves him. Jane is in love with her employer Rochester, but she doesn’t believe there is any future in it.

I began to cherish hopes I had no right to conceive: that the match was broken off; that rumour had been mistaken; that one or both parties had changed their minds. I used to look at my master’s face to see if it were sad or fierce; but I could not remember the time when it had been so uniformly clear of clouds or evil feelings…Never had he called me more frequently to his presence – never been kinder to me when there – and, alas! never had I loved him so well.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 22. As Rochester continues to show a lot of attention to Jane, she wishes that he was not marrying Blanche Ingram. She entertains hopes that the wedding has been called off. Jane’s love for Rochester is at its strongest at this point.

“Come to my side, Jane, and let us explain and understand one another.”
“I will never again come to your side: I am torn away now, and cannot return.”
“But, Jane, I summon you as my wife: it is you only I intend to marry.”
I was silent: I thought he mocked me.
“Come, Jane – come hither.”
“Your bride stands between us.”
He rose, and with a stride reached me.
“My bride is here,” he said, again drawing me to him, “because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you marry me?”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 23. When Mr. Rochester proposes to Jane, she is full of doubt that a man of his social stature and wealth would want to marry a poor governess like her. She also thinks that Rochester is engaged to Miss Ingram. Rochester assures Jane of his feelings for her, saying that she is his equal and the one he wants for a bride. While Rochester loves Jane, his love is imperfect. For he doesn’t have the courage to tell Jane that he already has a wife – the mad Bertha Mason. So there is unintentional irony when Jane declares that “your bride stands between us,” mistakingly believing this to be Miss Ingram.

What love have I for Miss Ingram? None: and that you know. What love has she for me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused a rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to see the result; it was coldness both from her and her mother. I would not – I could not – marry Miss Ingram.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 23. Rochester reveals to Jane that there is no love between him and Miss Ingram. He tells her that Miss Ingram simply wanted to marry him for his money. When she learned that he wasn’t as wealthy as she thought, she turned cold.

“Jane, accept me quickly. Say, Edward – give me my name – Edward – I will marry you.”
“Are you in earnest? – Do you truly love me? Do you sincerely wish me to be your wife?”
“I do; and if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear it.”
“Then, sir, I will marry you.”
“Edward – my little wife!”
“Dear Edward!”
“Come to me – come to me entirely now,” said he: and added, in his deepest tone, speaking in my ear as his cheek was laid on mine, “Make my happiness – I will make yours.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 23. Jane accepts the marriage proposal of the fiery, passionate and emotional Rochester. This passage, along with others in this very important chapter, shows why Jane Eyre is considered one of the greatest love stories.

I laughed at him as he said this. “I am not an angel,” I asserted; “and I will not be one till I die; I will be myself, Mr. Rochester; you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me, for you will not get it any more than I shall get it of you, which I do not at all anticipate.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 24. After Rochester describes Jane as “a very angel” she laughs at him and dismisses the very idea. Jane is an untypical independent woman in Victorian England, determined to retain her autonomous spirit in a marriage with Rochester. Her own woman, Jane is nobody’s angel. Rochester has been trying unsuccessfully to lavish her with jewels and fine clothes, which she has refused. She makes clear that she will continue to be true to who she is after they marry.

“I only want an easy mind, sir; not crushed by crowded obligations. Do you remember what you said of Céline Varens? – of the diamonds, the cashmeres you gave her? I will not be your English Céline Varens. I shall continue to act as Adèle’s governess; by that I shall earn my board and lodging, and thirty pounds a year besides. I’ll furnish my own wardrobe out of that money, and you shall give me nothing but – ”
“Well, but what?”
“Your regard; and if I give you mine in return, that debt will be quit.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 24. Jane’s struggle for independence continues. Jane is a very modern woman, an emancipated 19th century feminist who challenges domination by men and the subordination of women in Victorian society. Here she tells Rochester that after they marry she will continue to work as Adele’s governess and earn her keep. She sees herself as equal to Rochester and Adele and wishes to pay her own way.

“The marriage cannot go on: I declare the existence of an impediment…It simply consists in the existence of a previous marriage; Mr. Rochester has a wife now living.” My nerves vibrated to these low-spoken words as they had never vibrated to thunder – my blood felt their subtle violence as it had never felt frost or fire…I looked at Mr. Rochester; I made him look at me…He disavowed nothing…Without speaking, without smiling, without seeming to recognize in me a human being, he only twined my waste with his arm, and riveted me to his side.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 26. Rochester’s secret that he aleady has a wife is ironically revealed at the altar of his wedding ceremony with Jane. It happens moments before they are to take their vows together and Jane is about to marry a bigamist. The heartbreaking news is delivered by London solicitor Mr. Briggs who interrupts the ceremony just as the clergyman asks Rochester will he take Jane for his wedded wife. It seems that Rochester married Creole woman Bertha Mason fifteen years earlier in Jamaica.

You shall see what sort of a being I was cheated into espousing, and judge whether or not I had a right to break the compact, and seek sympathy with something at least human.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 26. After being outed as already married at his wedding ceremony to Jane, Rochester pities himself. Claiming he was forced into marriage by his father, he tells Jane that his wife Bertha Mason is mad and comes from a family of idiots and maniacs going back three generations. He demonizes Bertha, suggesting she is less than human, and invites Jane to come to the house and see the patient for herself.

“That is my wife,” said he. “Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know – such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have” (laying his hand on my shoulder): “this young girl, who stands so grave and quiet at the mouth of hell, looking collectedly at the gambols of a demon. I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout. Wood and Briggs, look at the difference! Compare these clear eyes with the red balls yonder – this face with that mask – this form with that bulk; then judge me, priest of the Gospel and man of the law, and remember, with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged!”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 26. Rochester gives his reasons for attempting to remarry while he already has a wife. Introducing Bertha to Jane, he portrays her as a grotesque monster, her physical appearance reflecting her inner madness. She has “red balls” for eyes, a “mask” for a face, and “bulk” for a body. Jane by contrast has “clear eyes,” a proper “face,” and “form.” To Rochester Bertha is no human wife but a devil from the “mouth of hell.” He challenges religious priests and lawyers to judge him for his bigamous attempt to marry Jane.

The house cleared, I shut myself in, fastened the bolt that none might intrude, and proceeded – not to weep, not to mourn, I was yet too calm for that, but – mechanically to take off the wedding dress and replace it by the stuff gown I had worn yesterday, as I thought, for the last time.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 26. After having her heart broken at the altar and learning that Mr. Rochester has a wife who is mad, Jane calmly takes off her wedding dress. She metaphorically shuts herself in, closing down her emotions. The word “mechanically” emphasizes her machine-like, emotionless response to her happiness being undone. Jane will sacrifice happiness with Rochester rather than her moral principles.

I was sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for me. My father said nothing about her money; but he told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty: and this was no lie. I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic. Her family wished to secure me because I was of a good race; and so did she. They showed her to me in parties, splendidly dressed. I seldom saw her alone, and had very little private conversation with her. She flattered me, and lavishly displayed for my pleasure her charms and accomplishments. All the men in her circle seemed to admire her and envy me. I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 27. Rochester tells Jane the story of his wife Bertha, a woman of Creole descent. He was shipped to Jamaica to wed her in a marriage arranged by his “avaricious, grasping” father. His father had left his estate to Rochester’s older brother, so the father arranged for Rochester to marry a wealthy woman. Bertha was supposted to receive a fortune of thirty thousand pounds from her father. Bertha was a beautiful woman and Rochester was dazzled by her and thought he loved her.

St. John, no doubt, would have given the world to follow, recall, retain her, when she thus left him; but he would not give one chance of heaven, nor relinquish, for the elysium of her love, one hope of the true, eternal Paradise.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 32. St. John refuses to marry Rosamond even though they love each other. He simply cannot envisage her settling down to missionery life with him in India, a path he intends to follow. For him the love he will experience serving God is more important than human love.

“It is strange,” pursued he, “that while I love Rosamond Oliver so wildly – with all the intensity, indeed, of a first passion, the object of which is exquisitely beautiful, graceful, fascinating – I experience at the same time a calm, unwarped consciousness that she would not make me a good wife; that she is not the partner suited to me; that I should discover this within a year after marriage; and that to twelve months’ rapture would succeed a lifetime of regret. This I know.”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 32. St. John Rivers displays his cold and unemotional side in this speech. Describing his mixed feelings about Rosamond, he speaks in a calm, almost disinterested way about his intense love for her, and how unsuitable she is as a missioner’s wife.

“While something in me,” he went on, “is acutely sensible to her charms, something else is as deeply impressed with her defects; they are such that she could sympathise in nothing I aspired to; cooperate in nothing I undertook. Rosamond a sufferer, a labourer, a female apostle? Rosamond a missionary’s wife? No!”

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 32. St. John Rivers may have received the missionary call from God, but he doesn’t believe Rosamond Oliver has. He is responding here to Jane’s suggestion that he should marry Rosamond. While he admits being attracted by Rosamond’s charms, he rules her out as a missionary’s wife. Rivers is not looking for love, but a wife who will benefit his work.
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