Jane Eyre
St. John Rivers
The missionary cousin
A cold and devoted clergyman who takes Jane in, and later asks her to marry him and go to India.
St. John Rivers is a young clergyman who lives at Moor House with his sisters Diana and Mary. He is serious, handsome and driven by duty. When Jane arrives starving in the rain, he is the one who insists she not be turned away, saying that whoever the wanderer is, she shall not perish at their gate.
He is a good man, but a hard one. He treats feeling as a distraction and holds himself to a strict standard. He hides his love for the heiress Rosamond Oliver and turns away from her, ruling his heart for the sake of his calling. He values Jane for her diligence and sees her as a useful partner in the mission field.
“Jane, come with me to India. God and nature intended you for a missionary's wife.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
St. John gives Jane a post as schoolmistress at Morton. He discovers her real name and the fact that she is his cousin and an heiress. She shares her money with him and his sisters. He then urges her to learn Hindustani and asks her to marry him and go to India as a missionary's wife, because duty requires it, not love.
Jane offers to go as his sister and fellow worker but refuses to marry. He prays over her with great force and nearly wins, until she hears a voice calling her name. She returns to find Rochester. St. John stays unmarried and goes to India, where he works fearlessly for his Master.
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