Jane Eyre Volume 3, Chapter 9 Summary

  • St. John stays at Moor House for another week. Jane feels tortured by his constant pressure, but the pressure just convinces her even more what a mistake it would be for her to actually marry him.
  • The night before he leaves, Jane tries to get reconciled with him, but it just turns into the same argument: she refuses to marry him and tells him that his weird behavior is killing her. He is incredibly angry.
  • Jane offers again to go with St. John as his assistant, but not his wife. He insists that’s absolutely impossible, but says that he’ll arrange for her to go as the companion of some other missionary’s wife. That way, he says, she won’t be breaking her promise.
  • Jane is outraged at the suggestion that she’s made any formal agreement to go to India, especially with random strangers. She says that she won’t leave England unless it’s more useful for her to leave than stay.
  • St. John asks if Jane is going to see Rochester, and she admits it. They part.
  • Jane goes back inside and sees Diana. Diana admits that she’s been watching them from the window and asks what’s been going on.
  • Jane explains the situation to Diana: St. John doesn’t love her, but has asked her to marry him and go with him to India. Diana is convinced that going to India would kill Jane because the climate is so harsh.
  • Jane and Diana discuss St. John’s offer of marriage. Diana agrees with Jane that she could never marry a man who just thought of her as "a useful tool," although she also defends her brother.
  • Jane has to see St. John at dinner, and he behaves pretty normally. After dinner, during the family Bible reading, St. John chooses a freaky passage from the book of Revelations, and Jane realizes that he thinks she’s damned.
  • As St. John says good night to Jane, he tries again to convince her that marrying him and doing missionary work is God’s will. Jane is awed by his manner and starts to relent—in fact, she’s almost ready to agree to marry him!
  • Suddenly, out of thin air, Jane hears Rochester’s voice calling her name. She responds, but can’t figure out where the voice is. Still, she breaks away from St. John and goes to her room to pray in her own way, eager to do something about what she’s heard in the morning.