Works Cited

"Juggernaut." Dictionary.com. 2008. 30 Nov. 2008 . http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/juggernaut

Knight, Kevin. "Antipodes." New Advent. 2008. 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01581a.htm

"Latin and Greek Phrases." 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.sacklunch.net/Latin/R/resurgam.html

Leadbetter, Ron. "Apollo." Encyclopedia Mythica. 31 Jan. 2004. 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apollo.html

Levi, Gerson B., Kaufmann Kohler, and George A. Barton. "Ahasuerus." Jewish Encyclopedia.com. 2002. 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=967&letter=A

"A True Church." Leviathan Is A Dragon. 24 Feb. 2008. 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.atruechurch.info/leviathan.html

"Vulcan - God of Smithing." 30 Nov. 2008 . http://www.crystalinks.com/vulcanrome.html

St. John

"St. John is unmarried: he never will marry now...he anticipated his sure reward, his incorruptible crown...No fear of death will darken St. John's last hour: his mind will be unclouded; his heart will be undaunted; his hope will be sure; his faith steadfast. His own words are a pledge of this...'Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!'" (Bronte 455-456).

St. John the Apostle was the son of Zebedee and St. James The Great's brother. He came to be called the "beloved disciple" since he was the only one of the twelve disciples that did not desert Jesus on the cross. This is a very appropriate namesake for St. John Rivers, who, as is seen in this passage, the closing one of the novel, stayed steadily with religion, choosing it over love and all other worldly pleasures. He devoted himself entirely to God and even, in his dying hour, wishes to be nearer to it.

I could not see God.

"My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for his creature of whom I had made an idol." (Bronte 276).

Here the theme of "love vs. religion" is brought up again. Since Jane now has love, she no longer needs religion; one takes the place of the other and completes it. The characters in this book seem to either have one or the other, but not both. At the end of the book, Jane and Mr. Rochester have love, but not necessarily love for God or religion, and St. John Rivers has only love for God and religion, and not for anything earthly.

Hitherto I have recorded...

“Hitherto I have recorded in detail the events of my insignificant existence: to the first ten years of my life, I have given almost as many chapters. But this is not to be a regular autobiography: I am only bound to invoke memory where I know her responses will possess some degree of interest; therefore I now pass a space of eight years almost in silence: a few lines only are necessary to keep up the links of connection.” (Bronte 85)

This is another odd interjection by the narrator, Jane Eyre, of the story. She reminds us here again that the novel is simply a narration of a story that evidently is meant to be believable, because Bronte is trying hard to make this novel seem like it is just a young girl telling the actual story of her life. It is not an embellished tale, not a fable really, just a story.

Ahasuerus.

"Now, king Ahasuerus! What do I want with half your estate? Do you think I am a Jew-usurer, seeking good investment in land? I would much rather have all your confidence." (Bronte 263).

King Ahasuerus was a Persian king described in the Bible who owned a massive amount of land; twenty-seven provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. He was defensive about his land and tried to protect it, as Mr. Rochester seems to be doing when he suggests that perhaps Jane wants half of his estate. Here, the term "jew-usurer" is also used, which is another allusion to Christianity being the superior religion. "Jew-usurer" is a derogatory term suggesting that Jews were greedy and tried to take others money, as Mr. Rochester is jokingly accusing Jane of doing.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=967&letter=A

Job's Leviathan

“ ‘I wish to be a better man than I have been; than I am---as Job’s leviathan broke the spear, the dart and the habergeon, hindrances which others count as iron and brass, I will esteem but straw and rotten wood.’” (Bronte 146)

The leviathan is a giant sea monster described in the Book of Job in the Old Testament. It was massive and strong. Mr. Rochester is here saying that after the ordeal with his French mistress, Celine Varens, he wished to be more hardened, and stronger, like the leviathan described by Job.

http://www.atruechurch.info/leviathan.html (kind of a crazy website)

Resurgam.

“Her grave is in Brocklebridge churchyard: for fiteen years after her death it was only covered by a grassy mound; but now a grey marble tablet marks the spot, inscribed with her name, and the word ‘Resurgam.’” (Bronte 85)

Helens Burns died with faith in God and heaven. This passage is another example of Charlotte Bronte's love for religion; the girl who died wishing for God to come has a word on her tombstone that means "I shall rise again." Since she believed in heaven, she will go there and live for eternity.

http://www.sacklunch.net/Latin/R/resurgam.html

Brahma and Juggernaut.

"This girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut--this girl is--a liar!" (Bronte 69).

Juggernaut and Brahma are both from the Hindu religion; Brahma is their god of creation (to be more precise, one of the three gods of creation, the others being Shiva and Vishnu). Juggernaut, from the Hindi word "Jagannath" or Sanskrit "Jagannatha," is the "lord of the world." Mr. Brocklehurst is here calling Hindis "heathens," thereby labeling his own religion, Christianity, superior and supreme. He also says here that to have any kind of religion, even if it is "heathen," is better than to be a liar, as he says Jane is.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/juggernaut

The Plain Truth

"(oh, romantic reader, forgive me for telling the plain truth!)" (Bronte 113).

This interjection from the narrator, Jane, suggests something very important about the story of Jane Eyre; that it is just that, a story, plain and simple. Although it is fiction, Jane Eyre is portrayed as a story of a young girl's life, told by that girl herself. Being just a story, it does not have as many embellishments (such as themes, metaphors, interesting narrative structures, etc.) as a modern novel with themes and a message.

What had befallen the night?

"But what had befallen the night? The moon was not yet set, and we were all in shadow: I could scarcely see my master's face, near as I was. And what ailed the chestnut tree? it writhed and groaned; while wind roared in the laurel walk, and came sweeping over us." (Bronte 258).

Here, Jane and Mr. Rochester are sitting outside, near the chestnut tree; Mr. Rochester has just proposed to Jane, and they are now engaged. This passage is metaphorical foreshadowing. In saying that Jane could not see her master's face for shadows, "near as [she] was," she is suggesting that, although she is now nearly a legal entity with her lover, there remains things unseen and hidden about him; mysteries unsolved. The chestnut tree creaks and moans in the wind, and is soon to be wrenched about by lightning, as is told on the next page of the novel, as Jane and Mr. Rochester are soon to be broken apart.

Half of it split away.

"Before I left my bed in the morning, little Adele came running in to tell me that the great horse-chestnut at the bottom of the orchard had been struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split away." (Bronte 259).

This passage serves as foreshadowing. At this point in the novel, Jane and Mr. Rochester have just been engaged to be married, and are just awaiting their wedding. The tree under which the two had been sitting when they had arranged the marriage had suddenly been hit by lightning, and its two parts, signifying Jane and Mr. Rochester, had been wrenched apart, as the lovers were about to be by a catastrophe as great as a bolt of lightning.

Religion called.

"I stood motionless under my hierophant's touch. My refusals were forgotten--my fears overcome--my wrestlings paralysed. The Impossible--i.e. my marraige with St. John--was fast becoming the Possible. All was changing utterly, with a sudden sweep. Religion called--Angels beckoned--God comanded--life rolled together like a scroll--death's gates opening, showed eternity beyond: it seemed, that for saftey and bliss there, all here might be sacrificed in a second. The dim room was full of vision." (Bronte 421).

Here is another example of the theme of religion vs. love. Jane was unwilling to marry St. John Rivers because they did not love each other and she was still in love with Mr. Rochester. Here, however, she is having a change of heart--she sees that to follow and marry St. John would be to follow God, and, although she would be sacrificing love, she would be gaining the love of God and religion. This is another place where she must make a choice; religion or love.

A lover finds...

"A lover finds his mistress asleep on a mossy bank...He thought his love slept sweetly but he finds she is stone dead." (Bronte 427).

Bronte uses this image and anecdote as foreshadowing in this passage. She is comparing a man who thinks he has found his lover sleeping but then finds her to be dead to Jane discovering the burnt and destroyed Thornfield Hall. Jane is just as distraught at this discovery as the lover would be to find his lady dead.

My Master

"'My Master,' he says, 'has forewarned me. Daily he announces more distinctly,--'Surely I come quickly!' and hourly I more eagerly respond,--'Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!'" (Bronte 456).

Being the very last passage of the entire novel, this portrays a very important and frequently shown theme in the novel Jane Eyre. This is a letter from St. John Rivers, who wanted only to follow God and forsake love it. This he did, and in doing so, gave himself entirely to God. Here he is dying alone, with only God and the thought of heaven to stay with him, while Jane has her husband and has love. It is a choice, Charlotte Bronte seems to be saying; God or human love, but not both.

Antipodes

"Since he was not in the grave, I could bear, I thought, to learn that he was at the Antipodes." (Bronte 428).

"Antipode" refers to an area far remote--the opposite side of the earth from one's location. At this point in the novel, Jane has just learned from a man at the inn that Mr. Rochester is not dead--but as to his current location she is unsure. Here she is saying that since she knows now that he is not dead, she could stand to hear that he was "at the Antipodes"--that is, the farthest place from here, as long as he was alive.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01581a.htm

Vulcan

"'Your words have delineated very prettily a graceful Apollo: he is present to your imagination,--tall, fair, blue-eyed, and with a Grecian profile. Your eyes dwell on a Vulcan,--a real blacksmith, brown, broad-shouldered; and blind and lame into the bargain.'" (Bronte 445).

Charlotte Bronte here uses references to two Roman mythological characters to contrast not only the physical appearances of St. John Rivers and Edward Rochester, but also their characteristic personalities. Apollo, in Greek and Roman mythology, was a beautiful, perfectly formed "man," and was worshiped as the god of many things, including light--making him radiant and good. He was also the god of religious healing; St. John Rivers was a missionary, like Apollo, and also was a beautiful man, like him. On the other hand, Vulcan was the god of smithing, or metalworking--he was a blacksmith. Although he was married to Venus, the beautiful goddess of love (perhaps suggesting that Jane is a goddess, or a perfect lover?), he was not attractive in the traditional standards--he was broad-shouldered and dark, just like Rochester. He was the god of fire; this connects to Rochester's fiery personality and temper.

http://www.crystalinks.com/vulcanrome.html
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apollo.html