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Examples Of Maturity In Jane Eyre

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Examples Of Maturity In Jane Eyre
Physical maturity happens gradually over time, but mental maturity can happen with a life changing event. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a bildungsroman where the reader follows Jane though her life as she matures. Jane Eyre falls in love with Mr. Rochester of Thornfield Hall, yet leaves him as she feels her love is not returned by Mr. Rochester. Brontë emphasizes that the balance of passion and reason contributes to a person’s maturity through Jane’s struggle with her emotions before she leaves Mr. Rochester and her maturity after she leaves.

Before leaving Thornfield, Jane has a lack of emotional stability, fluctuating between passionate and reserved. For instance, after Mr. Rochester thanks Jane for saving him from the fire in his bedroom, Jane begins to have feelings for him: “Till
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Rochester at Thornfield, Jane maintains a balance in her passion and reason to find happiness. For example, when she arrives at her cottage at St. John’s girl’s school, she considers, “Whether is it better, I ask, to be slave in a fool’s paradise at Marseilles...or to be a village school mistress, free and honest” (389). As a result of choosing to live without Mr. Rochester, Jane feels that she has made the right choice of being somewhere that would not cause her the constant pain of seeing someone she still loves. Her rationale takes over in this situation, warning herself that she would be foolish if she stays with Mr. Rochester. Furthermore, when Jane reunites with Rochester, she describes her true love for him: “It brought to life and light my whole nature: in his presence I thoroughly lived; and he lived in mine” (475). Jane discovers that their love does not require her to give up her passion and reason. Now that Jane has come to terms with herself, she allows herself to love Mr. Rochester once more. Towards the end of the novel, Jane realizes that the equilibrium between her emotions and her rationale leads her to having harmony in her

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