Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire, I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.
Chapter 27 · Jane Eyre
Context
Jane refuses Rochester's proposal to live with him in France, stating clearly that doing so would make her his mistress, not his wife, regardless of how he tries to frame it.
Analysis
Jane uses the language of logic—'that is a fact,' 'If… then,' 'to say otherwise is sophistical—is false'—to dismantle Rochester's emotional appeal with cold reasoning. The word 'sophistical' is particularly pointed: it accuses him not of lying but of using deceptive arguments that sound plausible but are morally hollow. The dash before 'is false' adds a second, blunter judgment, as if 'sophistical' were too kind. Jane is not debating; she is categorizing his argument as fundamentally dishonest, and refusing to let him obscure the legal and moral reality.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Jane's refusal is not based on emotion but on a clear-eyed recognition of social reality—she understands that without legal marriage, she would lose the respectability and independence she values more than Rochester's love.