Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë & Emily Brontë
Contents
Jane Eyre — CHAPTER XXX
Overview
Jane recovers at Moor House, forming deep intellectual kinship with Diana and Mary, while St. John’s reserve and restless ambition emerge. He offers Jane a humble but independent post as schoolmistress at Morton, which she accepts. News of Uncle John’s will dashes financial hopes. The household disperses, setting new courses.
Summary
Jane regains strength at Moor House and discovers rare harmony with Diana and Mary Rivers. They share tastes in books, art, and the moorland’s stark beauty, and Jane studies German with Diana while teaching Mary to draw. Their companionship restores Jane’s spirits and steadies her purpose.
In contrast, St. John Rivers remains distant, absorbed in parish duties and inward conflict. Jane hears him preach a powerful, austere sermon that reveals zeal without peace. She recognizes in St. John a restless ambition akin to her own unresolved longings.
As Diana and Mary’s departure nears, Jane presses St. John about work. He outlines a modest position: mistress of a new girls’ school at Morton, with a simply furnished cottage and a small salary, supported by Miss Oliver. He doubts the post will satisfy Jane’s deeper nature, yet predicts she will accept it for a time.
Weighing safety and independence against status, Jane readily accepts the school. St. John, pleased yet skeptical of her staying long, notes her strong human affections and his own chafing against confinement, exposing his inner contradiction between principle and propensity.
On the eve of separation, the siblings learn their uncle John has died, leaving his fortune to another relative and granting them only funds for mourning rings. The news stings but does not devastate them, underscoring lost possibilities. Soon after, Jane leaves for Morton to open the school; Diana and Mary depart to distant posts; St. John and Hannah return to the parsonage, and Moor House is closed.
Who Appears
- Jane EyreConvalesces at Moor House, bonds with Diana and Mary, assesses St. John, and accepts the Morton girls’ schoolmistress post.
- St. John RiversReserved clergyman; delivers austere sermon, reveals restless ambition, and offers Jane the Morton school position.
- Diana RiversWarm, vigorous sister; teaches Jane German, shares deep kinship, grieves impending parting, explains uncle’s will.
- Mary RiversQuiet, thoughtful sister; studies drawing with Jane, shares sadness at leaving, reflects on the lost inheritance.
- Miss OliverWealthy benefactor who funds the girls’ school and furnishes the mistress’s cottage at Morton.
- Mr. OliverMiss Oliver’s father; wealthy factory owner and leading parish figure mentioned in St. John’s plan.
- Uncle John (Rivers’ uncle)Dies leaving fortune to another relative; bequeaths only mourning rings to St. John, Diana, and Mary.
- HannahHousekeeper who later accompanies St. John to the Morton parsonage as Moor House is closed.