Saturday, July 07, 2007

Jane Eyre

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I recently finished a reading of Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.

I was fascinated by this marriage proposal our heroine gets from a minister:
"God and nature intended you for a missionary's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary's wife you must -- shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you -- not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereign's service."
She's actually a sort of submissive and altruistic heroine, and she's willing to sacrifice herself in many ways, but she draws the line at such a loveless marriage.

She ends with a man who touches her with pleasure
And regards her as a treasure.

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