Duty in Jane Eyre
Duty in Jane Eyre
A theme in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is the conflict between personal desire and duty that is the dilemma each of the main characters has to face in making major decisions. Jane, Mr. Rochester, and Saint John each make a major decision; Jane and Saint John act on their duty while Mr. Rochester acts upon his desire. Thus the author shows that the willingness to do “the right thing” is within all of us, but some choose not even though they know what they are doing is wrong.
Jane has a dilemma that is to choose between her duty to herself or to act upon her desire to stay with Edward Rochester. Jane is a morally up right person ever since she was little, she always tires to do the right thing. Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester, not knowing he has a wife, and tries to marry him. But it is reveal that Mr. Rochester has a wife. Since Jane had morals she didn’t want to say with Edward as his mistress so she left him. So Jane decides to up hold her morals and not to say with Edward and she leaves him.
Edward Rochester has the dilemma between duty to stay with Bertha, his wife, or to act on his desire, love for Jane, and deceive her. Edward has tried many times at failed love, including his marriage to Bertha (who ends up becoming insane), and he thinks he has found someone who he can truly love and wants to marry. But he has a problem, he is he is married to someone. Edward chooses to comity bigamy and to deceive Jane, by not telling her he is married to someone; be believes she is protecting her is someway by hiding the truth. “Quote” Edward ends up choosing his desire to marry Jane over his duty to his wife.
Finally, Saint John has a dilemma between choosing his desire to marry Roseland or his duty to god. Saint John is a clergyman to the rural parish in Morton. He wants to become a missionary in India. There is a woman who has fallen in love with him, Roseland, and wants to marry him. Saint John wants to marry her to but he is devoted to his...