Jane Eyre's Survival

Throughout Jane Eyre's life she has been in constant pain and suffering. The only breaks to Jane's misfortunes is when for a short time she is friends with Helen Burns and when she is about to marry Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester demands that Jane "make [him] happiness , [he] will make [hers] ," (pg. 21). Jane is seduced by the idea of happiness that she never had and ignores the "pang," in her side. Jane does not marry Mr. Rochester because he betrays her at the alter and Helen Burns dies leaving Jane with no sense of what real happiness is. Because Jane goes through so much turmoil and because Jane has an abusive upbringing her standards of happiness are much lower than the others in the book. So in the end when Jane is taking care of her 50 year old blind, crippled and hideous husband she still finds happiness .