Quotation from: Jane Eyre

Written by: Charlotte Bronte


"Consent, then, to his demand is possible: but for one item --
one dreadful item. It is -- that he asks me to be his wife, and
has no more of a husband's heart for me than that frowning giant
of a rock, down which the stream is foaming in yonder gorge. He
prizes me as a soldier would a good weapon; and that is all.
Unmarried to him, this would never grieve me; but can I let him
complete his calculations -- coolly put into practice his plans --
go through the wedding ceremony? Can I receive from him the bridal
ring, endure all the forms of love (which I doubt not he would
scrupulously observe) and know that the spirit was quite absent?
Can I bear the consciousness that every endearment he bestows
is a sacrifice made on principle? No: such a martyrdom would
be monstrous. I will never undergo it. As his sister, I might
accompany him -- not as his wife: I will tell him so."

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