St John Rivers wants Jane Eyre to go to India as a missionary’s wife.
St John is a deeply religious clergyman who plans to leave England for missionary work in India. He sees Jane as disciplined, practical, and capable of enduring hardship, so he asks her to marry him and accompany him on the journey.
Jane is willing to consider going to India as a fellow worker, but she rejects marriage because St John does not love her romantically and she does not love him. His proposal is based on duty and usefulness rather than affection. He also suppresses his feelings for Rosamond Oliver, believing she would not suit missionary life.
Jane’s refusal preserves one of the novel’s central themes: her insistence that marriage must involve genuine emotional equality. St John ultimately travels to India alone. His missionary ambition contrasts with Jane’s decision to return to Rochester, whose relationship with her is based on mutual love.