St John Rivers
Jane’s cousin, along with his sisters Mary and Diana, who takes Jane in when she flees from Thornfield after the discovery of Bertha. He is caring but cold and can often come off as entirely detached from those around him because of his religion and his mission. He wishes to marry Jane but she denies him and he acts as one of the final tests for Jane to prove her steadfastness to her own beliefs.
Quotes
‘Quiescent as he now sat, there was something about his nostril, his mouth, his brow, which, to my perceptions, indicated elements within either restless, or hard, or eager’
‘But besides his frequent absences, there was another barrier to friendship with him; he seemed of a reserved, an abstracted, and even a brooding nature. Zealous in his ministerial labors, blameless in his life and habits, he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity’
‘St. John was a good man; but I began to feel he had spoken truth of himself when he said he was hard and cold. The humanities and amenities of life had no attraction for him’