Jane Eyre XXXV -- chapter 34: KISS ME NOW, MISSIONARY'S WIFE

From Jane Eyre:


"She pushed me toward him. I thought Diana very provoking, and felt uncomfortably confused; and while I was thus thinking and feeling, St. John bent his head; his Greek face was brought to a level with mine, his eyes questioned my eyes piercingly—he kissed me. There are no such things as marble kisses, or ice kisses, or I should say my ecclesiastical cousin's salute belonged to one of these classes; but there may be experiment kisses, and his was an experiment kiss. When given, he viewed me to learn the result; it was not striking: I am sure I did not blush; perhaps I might have turned a little pale, for I felt as if this kiss were a seal affixed to my fetters. He never omitted the ceremony afterward, and the gravity and quiescence with which I underwent it seemed to invest it for him with a certain charm."

From The Princess Bride:

"There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C., when Saul and Delilah Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western Civilization. (Before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although everyone agrees with the formula of affection times purity times intensity times duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that everyone agrees deserve full marks. Well, this one left them all behind."

1.     I've wondered about St. John's name.  It makes sense, in a trivial kind of way, that this obstinate and ambitious missionary be sainted by his author, but there's another potential connection.  He and Jane are indeed very similar persons, perhaps because of blood, and certainly by Bronte's design.  Take the long a of Saint and consonants of John and, well, you've got Jane.  Are these two meant to be one, one completing the other not just in body and spirit but in very name?

2.     Is St. John's desire for Jane to wed him strictly practical?  Similarly, is there any practicality that would prevent Jane from marrying him?

3.     "I will throw all on the altar—heart, vitals, the entire victim."  I am interested by the use of the word "victim" here: "late 15c., 'living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power,' from L. victima 'person or animal killed as a sacrifice.' Perhaps distantly connected to O.E. wig 'idol,' Goth. weihs 'holy,' Ger. weihen 'consecrate' (cf. Weihnachten "Christmas") on notion of 'a consecrated animal.' Sense of 'person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another' is first recorded 1650s; meaning 'person oppressed by some power or situation' is from 1718. Weaker sense of 'person taken advantage of' is recorded from 1781" (thanks www.etymonline.com).  In Bronte's context, it is more than just this, however, augmented as it is by the subsequent quotation: "I am ready to go to India, if I may go free."

4.     While the similarities are limited, there is a taste here of W. Somerset Maugham's The Painted Veil in this chapter.

5.     "...do not forget that if you reject it, it is not me you deny, but God."

6.     "Looked to river, looked to hill": clearly, Bronte was a big Scott fan.  HERE

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