Jane Eyre and Forgiveness

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which Jane forgives others’ wrongdoings against her. The statement that “I am passionate but not vindictive” exemplifies the nature of Jane’s forgiveness in that she is willing to defy the cruelty and injustice vitiating the human rights and ethical values, and in that she forgives the sinners without any intention of vengeance. Vladimir Jankélévitch’s concept of forgiveness along with Jacques Derrida’s paradoxical statement that forgiveness forgives only the unforgivable opens the possibility of unconditional forgiveness granted to the sinner despite the fact that the crime the sinner committed in the past must be punished in reality. Jane’s ongoing efforts to forgive Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester, and St. John Rivers corroborate her doctrine of ethics that she strongly resists injustice, but she graciously pardons them without any vindictive feelings.