1. St. John refers to Jane as “unfeminine.” On what grounds does he make this statement? How fair is his comment?

St. John is angry at Jane because she refuses to marry him and accompany him to India. She is willing to accompany him to India, but she does not want to marry him because she believes he does not love her. She accuses him of actually hating her and says "You are killing me." At this comment, he grows even angrier and tells her that her words are "violent, unfeminine and untrue." He states that if the Bible didn't command that he is to forgive 70 times 7, he would find these words even unforgivable. In Victorian society, it would be considered unfeminine for a woman to speak to anyone in such a way, let alone a man that has recently proposed. These are the grounds on which he makes the statement. How fair is his comment? It depends on your viewpoint. If you were a Victorian male, you would probably say that his comment is valid. Perhaps most Victorian females would agree that Jane is acting "unfeminine and violent" as well. For example, not too many of Jane Austen's characters would have replied in this way. Charlotte Bronte was herself an unmarried woman who had to write under a pen name. Some contemporary critics considered the novel itself "unfeminine". From our modern perspective, however, we would consider Jane assertive. Charlotte Bronte revealed much of herself in Jane's character - an assertive woman at heart forced to live in a repressive society that found women who defended themselves to be "unfeminine."