Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë & Emily Brontë
Contents
Jane Eyre — CHAPTER XXXIV
Overview
Jane closes Morton school and prepares Moor House for Diana and Mary’s return, delighting in domestic joy that St. John subtly disdains. St. John intensifies his influence, having Jane study Hindostanee and revealing Rosamond’s engagement. On a solitary walk, he proposes marriage and a joint mission to India. Jane consents to serve as a fellow-missionary but refuses marriage, provoking his cold disappointment and a tense truce.
Summary
As Christmas nears, Jane closes Morton school, parting warmly with her sixty pupils. She persuades St. John to release Hannah to help ready Moor House for Diana and Mary. Despite Jane’s meticulous refurbishments and festive preparations, St. John shows little interest, revealing his indifference to domestic pleasures and foreshadowing incompatibility.
Diana and Mary arrive to a joyful welcome; their lively reunion contrasts with St. John’s reserve. When summoned to a dying parishioner, St. John departs into the bitter night and returns content from duty fulfilled. Over the holiday week, he avoids the household gaiety, focusing on parish work.
At breakfast, St. John confirms his fixed plans to depart for India and announces Rosamond Oliver’s sudden engagement to Mr. Granby, meeting the news with icy composure. Back at home, he studies an Eastern language and insists Jane switch from German to Hindostanee to drill his foundations; she consents, and his exacting, steady tutelage slowly overmasters her freedom of spirit. Prompted by Diana, he gives Jane an experimental, emotionless kiss that feels like a seal on her growing servitude.
Privately, Jane still longs for news of Mr. Rochester. Letters to Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Fairfax bring no answers, and months of silence deepen her anxiety. St. John, valuing fortitude, urges work over distraction and presses her harder in her studies.
One May day, after tears over a disappointing letter, St. John takes Jane to Marsh Glen and, after declaring his imminent June sailing, asks her to go to India as his wife and fellow-labourer. He argues that her discipline and selflessness suit the calling, framing refusal as resistance to God’s will. Jane, envisioning the cost, concedes she could work beside him but refuses marriage, insisting they are not suited as husband and wife.
St. John deems marriage indispensable for propriety and unity of purpose; Jane rejects his austere “love” and repeats her offer to go only as a colleague. He postpones pressing her further, leaving for Cambridge and warning that refusal means choosing selfish ease. That night he withholds even a handshake until Jane requests it, signaling a strained, conditional peace.
Who Appears
- Jane EyreCloses Morton school, prepares Moor House, studies Hindostanee under St. John, yearns for news of Rochester, refuses St. John’s marriage proposal but agrees to serve as fellow-missionary.
- St. John RiversDisdains domestic pleasures, confirms plans for India, has Jane learn Hindostanee, reports Rosamond’s engagement, proposes marriage and mission, insists marriage is required.
- Diana RiversReturns home delighted, appreciates Jane’s preparations, teases St. John into kissing Jane, observes tension between them.
- Mary RiversReturns with Diana, enjoys the homecoming, inadvertently mentions Rosamond, shares the household’s lively spirit.
- HannahHelps Jane clean and prepare Moor House; announces visitors and messages.
- Rosamond OliverOffstage; her engagement to Mr. Granby confirms St. John’s renunciation of personal love.
- Mr. BriggsSends only business notes; unable to provide Rochester’s whereabouts.
- Mrs. FairfaxOffstage; Jane’s letters to her go unanswered, deepening Jane’s suspense.