"Yes," I said; "but I could not go on for ever so: I want to enjoy my own faculties as well as to cultivate those of other people. I must enjoy them now; don't recall either my mind or body to the school; I am out of it and disposed for full holiday."
Chapter 34 · Jane Eyre
Context
Jane responds to St. John's question about whether teaching has been its own reward. She insists she cannot devote herself permanently to educating others and wants time to herself now.
Analysis
Jane's repetition of 'I want' and 'I must' asserts her own desires as legitimate needs, not selfish whims. The phrase 'enjoy my own faculties' claims intellectual and emotional experience as a right—she refuses the logic that her mind exists only to serve others. Her blunt command ('don't recall either my mind or body to the school') treats St. John's expectations as an intrusion she has the authority to refuse.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Jane's feminism lies not in rejecting duty but in insisting her inner life has equal claim to her time—this quote shows her defending pleasure and rest as necessary, not indulgent.