I looked at the blank wall: it seemed a sky thick with ascending stars; – every one lighted me to a purpose or delight. Those who had saved my life, whom, till this hour, I had loved barrenly, I could now benefit. They were under a yoke; – I could free them: they were scattered; – I could reunite them: the independence, the affluence, which was mine, might be theirs too…Now the wealth did not weigh on me: now it was not a mere bequest of coin, – it was a legacy of life, hope, enjoyment.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 33. A big-hearted woman, Jane is extraordinarily generous and quite unique for a wealthy woman of her era. She decides to share her “ponderous gift of gold” – her inheritance – with her new-found family. Her cousins St. John, Diana, and Mary Rivers had cared for her and shown her love, saving her life. She could now help free the Rivers from their “yoke,” having herself known what it is to struggle in life. She hopes that money will make them financially independent, allowing them to live together without working.