"Very well; I hope you feel the content you express: at any rate, your good sense will tell you that it is too soon yet to yield to the vacillating fears of Lot's wife. What you had left before I saw you, of course I do not know; but I counsel you to resist, firmly, every temptation which would incline you to look back." p.367
Jane is speaking to St. John who she meets after running away from Rochester when she find out about his hidden wife Bertha. He uses the expression "Lot's wife" which refers to the biblical story of Sodom and Gomarrah being destroyed. Lot and his family were told to flee the city without looking back. Lot's wife looked back while fleeing and consequently was turned into a pillar of salt. Here St. John is warning Jane to leave Mr. Rochester and focus on her future and to not look back on past experiences. If she looks back she will have to face the consequences like Lot's wife did while fleeing. Matilda get into a similar situation when she escapes her horrible past. Mrs. Honey her teacher, adopts her and creates a home life for Matilda that she has never had before. Matilda now with her ideal family life will never think twice about going back.
The allusion to Lot's wife is a very good allusion that I did not even pick up as I read the story. I think it very fitting that St. John uses this reference being that he was a strong christian man who was also a missionary.
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