Gradations of Glory

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world:  but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain, – the impalpable principle of light and thought, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature:  whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man – perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph!  Surely it will never, on the contrary, be suffered to degenerate from man to fiend?  No, I cannot believe that:   I hold another creed:  which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention; but in which I delight, and to which I cling:  for it extends hope to all:  it makes Eternity a rest – a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss.  Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last:  with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low:  I live in calm, looking to the end. (p. 49)

Why does the author place this passage here so early in the story and so early in Jane’s life? And why does she use the voice of such a young child to explain these profound thoughts?  Why again, as in Oliver Twist’s Dick, do we have a child so focused on his final home when he should have the whole of life before him?

In Religious Belief in Jane Eyre, Mary Schwingen writes “Brontë also undermines Helen’s absolute and self-abnegating religious beliefs. Jane’s questions may not plant any seeds of doubt within Helen, but the reader would be hard-pressed to miss her point. Helen and, later, St. John Rivers seek happiness in Heaven; Jane is determined to find hers here on Earth.”

I partially agree with the author’s statement, but I think Brontë is saying more and “happiness” is too shallow a word to describe what awaits us in the “mighty home”. Helen is sharing her view that life is too short to harbor feelings of resentment, that we should leave redemption to the Creator.  Yes, the final resting place will be Heaven, but she is trying to teach Jane how to live her life to the fullest here on earth.  She is giving guidance on how to separate the crime from the criminal, how to manage injustice which will always be present on earth.  She is providing guidance to Jane, how to put in perspective, wrongs which she will surely encounter.

As a result, Jane is strengthened. She challenges Helen but Helen’s being so grounded in her faith provides assurance to Jane for the future.  Jane continues to be focused on justice, but her view does change, and she is subsequently able to forgive both Mrs. Reed and Mr. Rochester.

The passage, then, foreshadows the wrongs that will be committed by many throughout the novel with the author’s continuous assertion that redemption will be predominant. The language used is also a precursor to what will evolve later in the novel: Helen speaks of “degeneration” from “man to fiend”.  “Degeneration” is the process that Mr. Rochester uses to describe his wife turning into a monster.  But it also describes his slow moral decline and as such his need for Jane to bring about his redemption.

Man and sin are undivided but seen through the Creator’s eyes, there is nothing that is not redeemable and we are given this view, this lens, early on in the novel to set a framework for how Jane may then interpret justice and sin. Looking toward a better place, a home, eternal rest where untouchable principles of thought and light and purity reside, there is no need to hold on to resentment or injustice in this world.