Moral Conduct and Self-Esteem

"I realized from the start that Pedro and I could never marry unless Marina died, something neither of us wanted, and so I had torn that hope from my heart and instead rejoiced in the love and complicity we shared, never thinking about the future, or gossip or shame or sin" (Isabel Allende, Inés of my Soul, 102).

Inés and Pedro each traveled from Spain to the Americas in the 16th century. In this novel, some of their moral conduct seemed to change upon coming to the New World. What allowed them to be together without feeling any shame regarding Pedro’s wife, Marina, back in Spain?

This passage reminded me of the situation of Jane Eyre in the novel by Charlotte Brontë. Jane is a governess at Thornfield Hall, and she unexpectedly falls in love with the master, Mr. Rochester. On the day of their wedding, she discovers he has a wife, Bertha, who has gone insane. They could not marry unless Bertha was to die. Unlike Inés, Jane made the difficult decision to leave Rochester:

“Feeling… clamoured wildly. ”Oh, comply!" …soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for YOU? or who will be injured by what you do? Still indomitable was the reply--"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.” (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Ch. 27)

Recent film edition of Jane Eyre

Jane’s support of the laws was based on maintaining her own self-esteem. Because of her deep conviction that God had laid down the law, she could not accept herself if she chose to stay with Rochester and be his mistress. She also needed to establish her independence and to break the bonds of reliance that she had always lived under.

Inés, however, could be Pedro’s mistress and still accept herself. I believe this was for two reasons: First, living in the New World, she had come to believe that God was more lenient there. Being surrounded by immorality and atrocity made her actions seem more acceptable. Second, she had already established her independence- financially through using her skills to provide for herself, and physically through leaving her homeland to find freedom. In this unfamiliar territory, she allowed her deep need for human connection to supersede. But her decision, like Jane's, was based on her own self-acceptance, not that of others. While Jane and Inés made opposite decisions, they both were strong-willed women who followed their personal beliefs first.