Compare the two men in Jane Eyre's life: St. John Rivers and Rochester. What is their appeal to Jane and her reaction to them?It is a comparitive...

To answer this question you need to be aware of what these
two characters symbolically represent in the novel as a whole, and how they reflect a
conflict that is played out within Jane herself. One of the key points of dialectical
tension in the novel is the struggle or conflict between passion and sense, between
emotions and duty. Various characters reflect either one of these extremes to varying
extents. Thus, for example, Helen Burns is an extreme of sense and duty, a model of
restrained emotion, whereas Mrs. Rochester (the first) is an example of passion run
amok.

By this way of looking at the novel we can see that
Rochester can represent passion and some of its excesses, whilst St. John represents
sense and duty. For example, Rochester as a Byronic hero is a character who has quite a
colourful past - he has had a string of mistresses and is obviously sexually
experienced. Thus when Bertha Mason burns his bed it is symbolic of passionate excess on
his part.

On the contrary, St. John Rivers is excessively
fixated on duty. So much so that he forsakes the woman he loves to pursue his dream of
going to India and working there as a missionary. It is interesting to focus on how St.
John is described. The word "marble" is used frequently, as are other descriptions
focussing on cold imagery:

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...the cloak that covered his tall figure all
white as a glacier.

Such
descriptions reinforce the coldness of his personality - he is duty taken to excess,
just as Rochester is passion personified.

Of course, what
you will want to think about in your essay is how these two opposing forces play out and
demonstrate the conflict that goes on within Jane herself as she wavers between these
two emotions. She recognises the danger in both, which is why she rejects becoming
Rochester's mistress and rejects marrying St. John for duty alone. It is highly telling
that she only married Rochester once he has gone through a purgatorial experience and
has been maimed. Thornfield could be said to be a symbol of Rochester himself, so with
its destruction we see a much more tamed Rochester at the end of the novel (he is
compared to a caged eagle with its wings clipped), and thus is ready to marry Jane, who
in so doing manages to finally reconcile the fight between passion and duty in
herself.

Hope this helps - a few ideas for you to chew
over!