“Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss Eyre; remorse is the poison of life.”
- Source
- Jane Eyre
- Date
- 1847
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Fictional character · Edward Rochester
What does this quote mean?
Rochester describes remorse as corrosive because wrongdoing can continue to poison later life; the scene immediately turns to the harder question of whether repentance or actual reformation can change what follows.
Where does it come from?
Jane Eyre, Project Gutenberg #1260. Rochester says this to Jane while recounting his own decline. Jane replies that repentance is said to cure remorse; Rochester answers that reformation may be its cure. This is fictional character dialogue, not Charlotte Brontë’s direct psychological advice.
Who voices the line?
Fictional character · Edward Rochester. Rochester says this to Jane while describing his past degeneration. Jane immediately answers that repentance is said to be the cure, and Rochester turns the discussion toward reformation.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.