I think that Jane’s decision to only take a fourth of the money really reflects her good hearted nature. Throughout the novel, Bronte has always characterized Jane with a heart of gold. This is done primarily through sweet, and at time sassy, nature and her ability to truly live a life of God depicted through the numerous allusions. Now, five million pounds is still plenty of money but Jane’s realization of other person’s importance and equal fairness show Jane’s true golden heart. Jane even remembers that Mary and Diane, who are both governesses, said they could live off five thousand pounds and thus distributes the money accordingly. Even if the Rivers did not share the same entitlement as Jane I believe that she would give the money because they cared for her at her lowest point and St. John was able to get her a job. This also shows that money does provide happiness to Jane and in excess it destroys her. As soon as Jane is offered the money she begins to freak out and through the shortened syntax Bronte is able to convey Jane’s distraught nature. This is even seen a little bit when Rochester and she are getting married and buying expensive things. Jane starts to shut down in that situation just the same way as she does with St. John when he informs her of the inheritance. Money does control Jane but not in the typical greedy way that it normally does. Instead Jane is fearful of money especially after she has seen how it has destroyed the Reed family and to an extent her mother’s reputation when she decided to marry Jane’s dad. Ultimately Jane is able to prove her strength with the money. This allows Bronte to further develop the characterization of Jane.
I predicted that Jane and the Rivers' family had the same Uncle John when St. John said that their Uncle John died and left all his wealth to an unknown relative. I agree with Trace that the splitting of her inheritance with her cousins was a really kind for her to do. Even after splitting the money with him, St. John still acts coldly to her, which I can understand. Uncle John has never even met Jane before and he decided to give all his money to her while leaving the Rivers' family with nothing. I would expect the siblings to be a little surprised because they were doing poorly financially also and it is Uncle John's fault for ruining their business. However, I feel that this inheritance allows Jane to be more comfortable with Rochester in the end. She doesn't have to be financially dependent on her husband any more. Money and social class was one of the reasons why Jane was uneasy marrying Rochester even though she loved him. Since they could be seen as more equal, and since Rochester's wife died, she can marry Rochester without feeling guilty of anything.
I agree with Trace and Susan, what Jane was kind and it did show that she was selfless. I believe that though inheriting the money was important to her, learning that she now had a family was more important to her hence making her distribute the money amongst Diana, Mary and St. John. Coming from a childhood of being unloved by her family members (Aunt Reed) this was a chance for Jane to form another family bond. Additionally, when Jane first met Diane and Mary without the knowledge of them being her cousins, they welcomed her and helped her. St. John also helped Jane find a job. All they had done for Jane was for the good of Jane and never put her down; therefore, it led Jane to distribute the fortune.
I agree with everyone above and I liked the fact she shared her inheritance with St.John and her cousins it shows her good-willed nature and how selfless she can be. Money was never the extent of what she wanted to achieve, she wanted to find a sense of belonging and when she found out it was her family and how financially they had be struggling she wanted to split this money to enable such loneliness and discomfort in her life would be. With this she becomes the good-willed person and wantes to make sure that she did not control the money and she did not want all the powers money had to offer. This is important because it further develops what us the reader needs to see in the perspective that Bronte wants.Because money was one of the key factors she did not to marry Rochester because he would have the power and now she has a large inheritance she also had some power which is exactly one of the goals she wanted to achieve before marriage.
I agree with the people above. Jane finds out about her uncle from her aunt on her death bed. It turns out that her uncle had wanted to adopt her but her aunt hid the letters from Jane out of spite. When Jane learns the truth, she reaches out to her uncle in hopes that she will be claimed as his heir. Later on, Jane receives a notice that her uncle had passed away and left her his fortune. It is more than Jane would ever need. After seeing that the Rivers had taken her in and that they were struggling financially, Jane decides that she will help them out. This reveals how Jane doesn't really care about money or the luxury goods it can buy. When it is revealed that the Rivers are actually her cousins, Jane splits the money evenly. I feel as though she did this to help them, and to also win over their affection and it worked. Jane wanted to just fit in somewhere and to have loving people around her. She gained the affection of her cousins, but it took money to cause it.
I think that Jane’s decision to only take a fourth of the money really reflects her good hearted nature. Throughout the novel, Bronte has always characterized Jane with a heart of gold. This is done primarily through sweet, and at time sassy, nature and her ability to truly live a life of God depicted through the numerous allusions. Now, five million pounds is still plenty of money but Jane’s realization of other person’s importance and equal fairness show Jane’s true golden heart. Jane even remembers that Mary and Diane, who are both governesses, said they could live off five thousand pounds and thus distributes the money accordingly. Even if the Rivers did not share the same entitlement as Jane I believe that she would give the money because they cared for her at her lowest point and St. John was able to get her a job. This also shows that money does provide happiness to Jane and in excess it destroys her. As soon as Jane is offered the money she begins to freak out and through the shortened syntax Bronte is able to convey Jane’s distraught nature. This is even seen a little bit when Rochester and she are getting married and buying expensive things. Jane starts to shut down in that situation just the same way as she does with St. John when he informs her of the inheritance. Money does control Jane but not in the typical greedy way that it normally does. Instead Jane is fearful of money especially after she has seen how it has destroyed the Reed family and to an extent her mother’s reputation when she decided to marry Jane’s dad. Ultimately Jane is able to prove her strength with the money. This allows Bronte to further develop the characterization of Jane.
ReplyDeleteI predicted that Jane and the Rivers' family had the same Uncle John when St. John said that their Uncle John died and left all his wealth to an unknown relative. I agree with Trace that the splitting of her inheritance with her cousins was a really kind for her to do. Even after splitting the money with him, St. John still acts coldly to her, which I can understand. Uncle John has never even met Jane before and he decided to give all his money to her while leaving the Rivers' family with nothing. I would expect the siblings to be a little surprised because they were doing poorly financially also and it is Uncle John's fault for ruining their business. However, I feel that this inheritance allows Jane to be more comfortable with Rochester in the end. She doesn't have to be financially dependent on her husband any more. Money and social class was one of the reasons why Jane was uneasy marrying Rochester even though she loved him. Since they could be seen as more equal, and since Rochester's wife died, she can marry Rochester without feeling guilty of anything.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trace and Susan, what Jane was kind and it did show that she was selfless. I believe that though inheriting the money was important to her, learning that she now had a family was more important to her hence making her distribute the money amongst Diana, Mary and St. John. Coming from a childhood of being unloved by her family members (Aunt Reed) this was a chance for Jane to form another family bond. Additionally, when Jane first met Diane and Mary without the knowledge of them being her cousins, they welcomed her and helped her. St. John also helped Jane find a job. All they had done for Jane was for the good of Jane and never put her down; therefore, it led Jane to distribute the fortune.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above and I liked the fact she shared her inheritance with St.John and her cousins it shows her good-willed nature and how selfless she can be. Money was never the extent of what she wanted to achieve, she wanted to find a sense of belonging and when she found out it was her family and how financially they had be struggling she wanted to split this money to enable such loneliness and discomfort in her life would be. With this she becomes the good-willed person and wantes to make sure that she did not control the money and she did not want all the powers money had to offer. This is important because it further develops what us the reader needs to see in the perspective that Bronte wants.Because money was one of the key factors she did not to marry Rochester because he would have the power and now she has a large inheritance she also had some power which is exactly one of the goals she wanted to achieve before marriage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people above. Jane finds out about her uncle from her aunt on her death bed. It turns out that her uncle had wanted to adopt her but her aunt hid the letters from Jane out of spite. When Jane learns the truth, she reaches out to her uncle in hopes that she will be claimed as his heir. Later on, Jane receives a notice that her uncle had passed away and left her his fortune. It is more than Jane would ever need. After seeing that the Rivers had taken her in and that they were struggling financially, Jane decides that she will help them out. This reveals how Jane doesn't really care about money or the luxury goods it can buy. When it is revealed that the Rivers are actually her cousins, Jane splits the money evenly. I feel as though she did this to help them, and to also win over their affection and it worked. Jane wanted to just fit in somewhere and to have loving people around her. She gained the affection of her cousins, but it took money to cause it.
ReplyDelete