Jane as having burning passion. St John’s courtship of her is representative of this. Jane fears that if she were to marry St John, he would ‘scrupulously observe () all forms of love’ (Brontë, 397-398). He would offer sex without love and romance. Again she fears this would make her ‘burn inwardly and never utter a cry’ (Brontë, 400), which is a strong image of desire for a lowly Victorian governess. The image of ‘burning’ can signify the destruction desire and repression causes in the novel. The burning of Thornfield by Bertha Mason catalysis this representation, she has been forced to repress true sexuality leading to the destruction of Mr. Rochester in every way. On the other hand, desire does not lead Jane on the path of destruction. She may not have succumbed to all of her desires such as staying with Mr. Rochester. But Jane follows her desire which leads back to him; she thrives on being liberated. The double-standard here is that she can only follow her desire once she is wealthy, revealing a distorted class system.
There is a strong representation of male desire through Mr. Rochester own debauchery. He’s the epitome of the Byronic hero who is driven by his sense of passion rather than rational thought. Throughout the novel he brutishly peruses Jane, repeatedly accosting her with romantic confessions. Rochester let himself be governed by his grand passion for Céline Varens, despite its immorality, he disregarded social conventions. His excessively wild desire essentially leads to his downfall, his passion imploding leaving him blind and crippled. Brontë uses the desire to uncover the truths of gender in a society with a separate sphere ideology. Her characterization of the untameable Bertha Mason is not only a repressed part of Jane but part of Brontë and any and every woman. Through the characterization of the different classes of females; she embellishes the idea that women no matter what backgro...