Junie Jeong Mrs. Mesdjian English 2 H 21 February 2013 Jane Eyre Persuasive Essay In the novel Jane Eyre, our protagonist Jane faces many difficult situations that can be solved by different solutions. In one specific situation, Jane is faced with a complicated problem that demands her to decide either to marry Mr. Rochester and live comfortably while feeling personally restricted or to leave Rochester and start a sudden life on her own. Jane eventually decides to leave Mr.
Rochester and runs away from Thornsfield, going through many trials and tribulations and eventually marries Rochester in the end. Although many people may feel that Jane’s runaway was inconvenient and unnecessary because the end result was similar, I believe that Jane’s journey away from Thornsfield was important and significant to her. Many people believe that Jane would have saved time and energy if she had married Rochester instead of running away on their wedding day.
This can hold to be very reasonable because Jane’s runaway resulted in several bad omens such as the Thornsfield mansion burning, the struggles of her friends and relatives to try and find her, and the unhappiness of her acquaintances, such as Adele. In the book, Bronte even writes about Adele’s unhappiness while at school; “Her frantic joy at beholding me again moved me much. She looked pale and thin: she said she was not happy. (Bronte 173)” One can possibly argue that these events could have been avoided if Jane had not run away and married Mr. Rochester on the spot.
It is true that Jane could have saved much time, energy, and heartbreak if she decided to go along with the marriage on her wedding day. But sometimes, wasting time, energy, and going through heartbreak is necessary in order for a certain outcome. When Jane left Thornsfield, she was in a fragile emotional state—confused, betrayed, and still not confident in herself and her status, both as a woman and economically. Her childhood had left her scarred, thinking she was a person who would and could not receive love from others, so she could not love others in return. You never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love. (Bronte 137)” Jane’s journey away from Thornsfield helped to slowly change that and build her confidence—the fact that she had people who loved her and had friends who enjoyed her company soon hit her with realization and helped her understand that she was a person who deserved love too. If Jane had married before she realized this, she would have felt uncomfortable and restricted living with Mr.
Rochester, always thinking that she “owed” him for loving her, and that she was not deserving of his love. If this mindset were constantly to be in Jane’s mind, it would result in an unhappy atmosphere for Jane and eventually an unhappy Jane. Whereas, in the ending, Jane lives happily with Rochester knowing that they are equals. From the moment Jane was born, she believed that there were no other relatives besides her—and that she was alone ever since Mrs. Reed had raised her.
Jane had always wished for a family, someone else to be there other than her. When Jane runs away from Thornsfield, she quickly resorts to begging, and the Rivers take Jane in and care for her. Later on in the story, she finds out that the Rivers are Jane’s relatives—something Jane has wanted ever since she was a child. When Jane is brought with news that she has other family, she decides to split her new fortune into equal parts with all her new relatives, something she also treasured, which proved how thankful she was for her new family. …. cannot at all imagine the craving I have for fraternal and sisterly love. I never had a home, I never had brothers or sisters; I must and will have them now... (Bronte 413)”. When it comes to making right decisions, I believe Jane made the correct one when she left Thornsfield. There may have been many difficult times she had to suffer through, but the end results all paid off when she lived the happy ending she had always wished for.
Other people may disagree and mention that the end result was the same, and that Jane put herself and others through too much because of her decision, that may be true, but in return everyone found happiness and got something even better in return. If she had never left, she may not have been able to find her cousins, a real gift she had been yearning for ever since she was young. I believe the decision Jane made in the story helped her reach the best personal level she could reach, and she gained happiness she would not have been able to gain through her pains.
