St. John Rivers is cold, hard-hearted, and repressed Jane’s benefactor after she runs away from Thornfield, giving her food and shelter. He’s a serious fellow, and has ambitions to be a missionary in India. He wants from Jane is a helpmeet for his missionary endeavours, and practicality and purity say that Jane must come as his wife, not simply as his assistant. He tries to persuade, no rather, command her.  St. John relinquishes worldly happiness for a commitment to his religious principles. His stern religious faith makes him self-denying and cold. Jane rebuffs his offer plainly, suggesting instead that she could travel as a fellow-worker but not a wife.