“Love me, then, or hate me, as you will,” I said at last, “you have my full and free forgiveness: ask now for God’s and be at peace.”
Poor, suffering woman! It is too late for her to make now the effort to change her habitual frame of mind; living, she had ever hated me – dying, she must hate me still.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 21. Even as Mrs. Reed remains vengeful on her deathbed, confessing that she kept the truth about Jane’s uncle and relatives from her, Jane forgives her. She urges her to seek God’s forgiveness and find peace. Mrs. Reed’s vindictiveness and hatred of Jane has brought more suffering to herself than to Jane. Jane’s essentially good nature allows her to rise above such destructive emotions and feelings.