St John Rivers the Christian Missionary
Representations of Religion in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
Sep 21, 2009
Jane Eyre is a popular classic novel that is undoubtedly enjoyed for its strong characterisation and compelling plot. However, there is also much to be learnt about contemporary views of religion in the 19th Century.
The character of the hypocritical Reverend Brocklehurst, presented early on in Jane Eyre, encapsulates all that was bad about the Church of England in the 19th Century. To redress the balance, St John Rivers is presented as a man who possesses true, noble, Christian virtues. Many 21st Century readers may approach this character with something of a sceptical outlook, knowing about the implications of colonisation and the effects of forced conversation to Christianity. However, Bronte's portrayal of St John Rivers offers today's readers a view of the esteem in which missionaries were held during the Victorian era.
Victorian Missionaries
From the outset, Rivers makes clear that his ultimate ambition is to forego all personal comforts and desires in order to become a missionary in India. He is a sincere, honest man who, like so many Victorian missionaries were, is inspired by Christ's own ultimate sacrifice.
He often preaches the virtues of self-discipline to Jane, believing that 'It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know from experience.' His own personal sacrifices include turning his back on marriage with Rosamund Oliver, a beautiful heiress whose love for St John is plain. St John himself loves Rosamund but puts aside his own feelings in order to fulfil what he believes to be his ultimate destiny.
St John Rivers the Man
It is clear that Jane admires the sacrifice that she believes St John is making in giving up his life of comparitive comfort for one of toil as a missionary in India. This reflects the respect that celebrated missionaries were granted at the time.
However, also Jane recognises in St John a cold, unyielding quality which he displays in his unrelenting campaign to make Jane marry him so that she can accompany him in his missionary work. It is, perhaps, these qualities that Charlotte Bronte identified as being harmful to the missionary's cause. Such sterness and inflexibility perhaps only represent a wrathful God rather than a loving and forgiving one.
It is interesting that most readers of Jane Eyre will recall the ending of the novel as being the marriage of Jane and Rochester. However, the novel in fact ends with a line from St John who is dying in India, having achieved his ambition. This overtly religious sentiment may ultimately reflect the deep reverence that Bronte and her contemporaries held missionaries in: 'Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus!'
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