Charlotte Bronte uses weather in ‘Jane Eyre’ to symbolise future events and allow the reader to gain in depth understanding of Jane’s thoughts and feelings. The connotations towards changes in weather are repeatedly used throughout the novel to convey Jane’s emotions and future life events. Pathetic fallacy and personification is first used at the beginning of the novel to portray Jane’s feelings as a young child, ‘cold winter had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating’ (3) Aunt Reed’s harsh behaviour towards Jane has not yet been narrated by Bronte however the use of pathetic fallacy suggests that Jane is not happy. The use of personification ‘brought’ suggests that more troubles for Jane are to arrive. ‘Jane Eyre’ is …show more content…
written in 1847 at a time where ‘a woman's place was in the home, as domesticity and motherhood were considered by society at large to be a sufficient emotional fulfilment for females (1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml the reader is aware that Jane is likely to be suppressed by the expectations for women, as she is in the Reed household by the expectations for young girls. Once the reader begins to understand that the weather holds an important role in showing how Jane feels and what she is about to face, Bronte begins to use pathetic fallacy in a deeper tone where numerous interpretations can be made by the reader. When Jane leaves for Lowood it is suggested that she will not be comfortable in her new surroundings ‘raw and chill was the winter morning: my teeth chattered.’(33) The cold temperature is used to predict that Jane will struggle to be happy at the school. Weather is a key factor in foreshadowing Jane’s relationship with Rochester, immediately after Rochester proposes Jane ‘the weather changes.’ (225) Rochester then states that he could have ‘sat with thee till morning, Jane’ (225) Bronte uses this to show that the weather prevents Rochester from expressing his love outdoors. The use of rain symbolises the problems that will come between the couple and limit the freedom of their love. This event portrays to the reader that the rain and stormy weather symbolises Bertha, the reason behind Rochester being deterred from marring Jane. This is also shown by ‘the great horse-chestnut…struck by lightning…half of it split away.’ (226) The interpretation of rain is strengthened by Bronte’s warning of the upcoming turbulence between the couple, suggesting to the reader that the couple may split due to Bertha, similarly to the tree splitting due to the storm. Positive connotations are used by Bronte when Jane leaves Thornfield and separates from Rochester, ‘lovely summer morning’ (282) this suggests to the reader that Jane has made the correct choice by leaving.
‘I looked neither to rising sun, nor smiling sky, nor wakening nature’ (283) The use of a triplet shows that Jane does not see her choice as right as she is stuck thinking about ‘what she left’.(283) Bronte contradicts how Jane feels and what the weather suggests to the reader of her future; ‘it is a summer evening’ (283) suggests that she will be happy however her current feelings are ‘absolutely destitute’ (284) this shows that Jane feels that her happiness has been left behind and she is unaware of what her future holds. Therefore the warm weather has little impact on her thoughts and …show more content…
feelings. When Jane is reunited with Rochester the evening holds ‘characteristics of a sad sky, cold gale, and continued small penetrating rain’ (381) the description of the weather and personification of the sky suggests that Bronte is foreshadowing another event that will separate the couple, however instead the sky golds elements of mystery, the rain holds less power over the couple; it has weakened and this time the couple are once again together and happy. Emily Bronte uses weather in ‘Wuthering Heights’ to symbolise how the characters are weakened by uncontrollable forces, similar to how the weather impacts Rochester and Jane’s relationship it is a metaphor for emotion and foreshadows dramatic changes.
Emily Bronte uses intense storms to symbolise the lack of control of characters. ‘Bleak hilltop the earth was very hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb’ (5) Mr Lockwood assumes that he will be able to travel in the storm; he is stopped as the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights are aware that forces such as storms are difficult to
resist. Change is signalled by the use of wind, at the time of Mr Earnshaw’s death ‘a high wind blustered around the house, and roared in the chimney: it sounded wild and stormy, yet it was not cold’ (30) the family is together and safe in the house, the use of onomatopoeia to describe the strength of the wind as it makes it way down the chimney suggests that the family is going to soon be facing a change; loss of a member. Just as the wind is uncontrollable so is Mr Earnshaw’s death. ‘It was a very dark evening for summer’ (60) Emily Bronte foreshadows another unexpected event; Heathcliff leaving. As Heathcliff overhears Catherine’s conversation and leaves the weather immediately changes ‘the clouds appeared inclined to thunder’ (60) Nelly assumes that the ‘approaching rain’ will be likely to being Heathcliff back. Bronte’s use of ‘inclined’ suggests that Heathcliff leaving the household is not only predictable but guaranteed. Similar to ‘Jane Eyre’ the causes of the weather on nature portray a major disaster, ‘split a tree off at the corner’ (61) the tree symbolises Heathcliff, the lightning and the wind symbolises his strong feelings. Just as the tree has been damaged by lighting, Heathcliff’s feelings have damaged him, foreshadowing that Heathcliff will not be the same again. Snow, the coldest outcome of winter weather is used to represent the death of Catherine. From the reader’s understanding Bronte uses harsh weather changes to signal a change in the following events. Catherine’s death is followed by the weather change instead. ‘One could hardly imagine that there had been six weeks of summer’ (123) Catherine’s death is expected considering her poor health, this abrupt change in weather is not. Bronte suggests that nature is mourning Catherine’s death as ‘primroses and crocuses were hidden under wintry drifts’ (123) this contrast of summer and winter and the use of personification is used by Bronte to create an element of mystery regarding what the future generation of the children will hold.
The beginning of the novel starts out with a picture of a peaceful home that is very similar to the Moor House Jane lives in while visiting her cousins. It even states in line 2 that Bronte feels like the place is familiar. There is “marshland stretched for miles” ( ln 1) outside the home like the land of England in Jane Eyre. This common setting is also connecting how much Charlotte Bronte is like her character Jane. Dunn describes Bronte as “passionate [and] assertive” (ln 12) which is much like Jane Eyre’s character. Bronte is also said to not “come back to complain or haunt” (ln 20), and she lives in a “mod...
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.
“Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Bronte, is a story of an orphaned girl who was forced to live at Gateshead Hall with her Aunt Reed. Throughout her early appalling childhood, Mrs. Reed accused Jane of being deceitful. "I am not deceitful; If I were I would say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you (30)." The author, Charlotte Bronte, used this barbarous quote to reveal to the reader that, Jane Eyre, denies she was deceitful. Deceitful is the major theme of, “ Jane Eyre,” which results in loneliness and wretchedness to the people being lied to but also to the people persisting the untruths.
In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, good weather is Bronte’s tool to foreshadow positive events or moods and poor weather is her tool for setting the tone for negative events or moods. This technique is exercised throughout the entire novel, alerting the readers of the upcoming atmosphere.
Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.
Fire and Ice are the central motifs in Jane Eyre, which Bronte introduces to us to for the first time in this passage. Bronte expresses fire as an emblem of Jane's passion which is "alive, glancing, (and) devouring". Ice stiffens and restricts those it affects and throughout the novel is used in an effort to control this fire, and in this extract symbolises Mrs. Reed as she responds to Jane with coldness in an effort to control her. The result of these two opposites is an explosion of feelings, passion and power which allows the reader to see deeper into the character of Jane Eyre.
Immediately from the start Bronte’s character Jane is different. She is an orphan, mis-treated and despised by her family. She has no clear social position, is described as “less than a servant” and treated like one. A protagonist who one would assume had no characteristics worth aspiring too. Jane is displayed perfectly in her hiding behind the curtain. She is placed by a window, which beyond is icy and cold, contrasting immensely from the inside of the fire and warmth. A clear statement of the icy coldness of the family she has been put to live with, and her fiery and passionate nature which we discover th...
In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, it was love, and not age or education, that led Jane to mature and grow as a person. With the help of Helen Burns and Miss. Temple, Jane Eyre learned what it meant to love someone. Both these people influenced Jane to mature into a young lady by showing Jane their love and affection. When Jane left Lowood to become a governess, she met the love of her life, Mr. Rochester. With his love, Jane Eyre eventually matured fully and grew into a self-sufficient woman and left the hatred and anger behind.
In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her.
Jane Eyre is a novel, written in the Victorian era by the author Charlotte Bronte. Bronte uses different setting in order to show what the characters are feeling. The setting is often a reflection of human emotion. The setting also foreshadows certain events that are going to occur.
Many people believe that eating disorders are a product of the twentieth century, brought on by teenage girls aspiring to be supermodels like Cindy Crawford. Although such pressures are precipitating factors to many eating disorders, doctors diagnosed patients with anorexia as early as 1689 (Spignesi 7). One early example of anorexia is present in the novel Jane Eyre. Written in the mid-nineteenth century by Charlotte Brontë, this book describes a young girl whose personality bears striking similarities with that of a diagnosed anorexic. The life of the main character, Jane, has also been shown to share innumerable similarities with Brontë's own life. Biographical information from researchers and autobiographical information from Jane Eyre (whether intentional or not) verify that Brontë had an eating disorder.
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the eventual goal of Jane Eyre’s journeys and struggles as a character is for Jane to be strong enough within herself to stand on her own. It is not until she finds this internal strength that she can live as a content individual and weather the distracting demands put on her by the external forces that surround her. Throughout most of the novel, Jane makes the mistake of looking for this internal peace through external forces like Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester and St. John. To convey this tendency, Charlotte Brontë constructs her narrative so that, rather than looking within herself to find internal solace, Jane turns away from cold, alien internal imagery, and looks instead to fickle external imagery that is at times a friend, and at times a foe. The internal imagery is reflective of Jane’s own internal state, and the external imagery is reflective of the state of the external forces that surround her; until Jane realizes that she cannot find solace in the ever-changing external forces around her, and must instead look inside herself for this solace, the internal imagery must remain cold and alien, and the external imagery must remain unpredictable in its ability to comfort.
In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Jane struggles against Bessie, the nurse at Gateshead Hall, and says, I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…"(Chapter 2). This sentence foreshadows what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness. Jane is here resisting her unfair punishment, but throughout the novel she expresses her opinions on the state of women. Tied to this theme is another of class and the resistance of the terms of one's class. Spiritual and supernatural themes can also be traced throughout the novel.
Jane Erye Jane Eyre - Analysis of Nature Charlotte Bronte triumphs in many arenas with her masterpiece "Jane Eyre". She develops a beautiful setting and endearing characters, that sometimes overshadows some of the more subtle aspects of her novel. One very important element that is sometimes overlooked is the use of nature imagery and comments on the human relationship with the outdoors and human nature. The Oxford Reference Dictionary defines "nature" as "1. the phenomena of the physical world as a whole. .