e, and Brontd juxtaposes the two in order to make this comparison explicit. The St. John Rivers section seems to some readers to be a digression, one that could be removed without harming the flow of the main story, but in truth the section is necessary to make the comparison with Rochester and to present alternatives for Jane. Brontd presents Jane with a choice between two kinds of temptation, the one the temptation of romantic passion and emotional excess and the other of an overpowering Christianity and spiritual denial.
The first portion of the story develops the character of Jane and shows how that character has been formed in an atmosphere heavy with a sense of evil and a hope for love. Jane is first seen when she is 10 years old and is living at Gateshead House with Mrs. Reed, her uncle's widow, and the three Reed children -Eliza, Georgiana, and John. John is a bully much indulged by his mother.
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