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Symbol and imagery in the jane eyre by charlotte bronte
Jane Eyre character analysis
The significance of Jane Eyre
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Imagery in Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte wrote the novel Jane Eyre in the mid-eighteen hundreds. In her novel she expresses her views on many important factors present during this time including social problems such as race, class, gender, and the role of religion. Each of these factors affects the way that the protagonist, Jane Eyre, grows as a person. Throughout the novel Charlotte Bronte uses images and symbols that either influence or represent Jane's growth. Bronte uses a common imagery throughout the novel reflecting images of "fire and ice." She also uses symbols in Jane's life such as the red-room, from her childhood, and the character Bertha Mason Rochester, during her time at Thornfield. Other characters who influence Jane as a person are Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers. Each of these images, symbols, and characters influences Jane a great deal and leads her down the path to true belonging and happiness.
The main image that Charlotte Bronte uses is the relationship between "fire and ice." This is also in accordance with images of "red and white," and "hot and cold." Jane, herself, relates to "fire," representing her passion, anger, and spirit. This metaphor of Jane associates her with fire, brightness, and warmth. In chapter four she describes her mind as "a ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring" (Sparknotes). Jane also explains Edward Rochester as "fire." He is described as having "flaming and flashing" eyes (Sparknotes). Rochester, like Jane, is also consumed by his passions and anger. Although both Jane and Rochester are described as "fire," their relationship is described as "ice,"
After Jane and Rochester's marriage was stopped, Jane descr...
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... these things are reached while being true to oneself, they can increase the feeling of self worth and cause better appreciation of human values.
Works Cited
* Gilbert, Sandra M. and Guber, Susan. The Woman Writer and the fifteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press,____.
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* Sparknotes . "Jane Eyre Imagery." February 16, 2002. http://sparknotes.com
Writers Reflection:
I choose to include this piece of writing because one of my favorite things to write about is imagery. This novel, Jane Eyre, had alot of really good imagery and so I felt that my analysis of it should most definately be included. Besides that fact I really enjoyed the book.
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.
Analyse the methods Charlotte Brontë uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre in the opening chapters. Reflect on how the novel portrays Victorian ideology and relate your analysis to the novel’s literary content.
There are many instances in Jane Eyre where Charlotte Bronte uses or alludes to other literary works. One work in particular, Samuel Johnson’s fable, Rasselas, has important implications for the novel. Rasselas is the book Helen Burns is reading when Jane first encounters her at Lowood. Bronte did not choose this work at random. She was familiar with Johnson’s works, and she relied on the contemporary Victorian reader’s knowledge of it, as she clearly states the title rather than just alluding to it. A knowledge of Johnson’s famous work is especially important in understanding the relationship between Helen and Jane. Many aspects from Rasselas come out through Helen in the novel. Themes in Rasselas are evident throughout Bronte’s novel, and understanding these similarities gives insight into aspects of the novel, especially in regards to such things as Jane’s quest for permanent happiness.
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is an early 19th-century English literature; a literary work that is evocative and riveting. It depicts acts of betrayal between family members, loved ones and self-inflicted betrayal. The acts of betrayals are done by Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre herself.
represent freedom, for which Jane longs and finally finds by the end of the novel. Fire is another symbol used by Brontë: When
In Jane Eyre, the use of water and fire imagery is very much related to the character and/or mood of the protagonists (i.e. Jane and Rochester, and to a certain extent St. John Rivers) -- and it also serves to show Jane in a sort of intermediate position between the two men. However, it should also be noted that the characteristics attributed to fire and water have alternately positive and negative implications -- to cite an example among many, near the beginning of the novel, reference is made to the devastating effects of water ("ceaseless rain sweeping away wildly", "death-white realm" [i.e. of snow]), and fire is represented by a "terrible red glare"; later, fire is represented as being comforting in Miss Temple's room, and it is water that saves Rochester from the first fire. These literal associations with fire and water become increasingly symbolic, however, as the novel progresses, where the fire / water / (ice) imagery becomes a representation of the emotional and moral dialectic of the characters, and it also becomes increasingly evident that the positive and negative potentialities of fire and water also show the positive and negative potentialities of the characters whom they represent.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
Charlotte Bronte makes use of nature imagery throughout Jane Eyre, and comments on both 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 . . . 2. a thing's essential qualities; a person's or animal's innate character . . . 4. vital force, functions, or needs." We will see how "Jane Eyre" comments on all of these.
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.
Jane included. He needs to be in control of every aspect of his life, and he
Romantic, supernatural, and gothic novel, Jane Eyre, depicts an intriguing story of a girl who faces many trials due to her social position. Reading Jane Eyre compares to staring at a piece of artwork, if you do not take time to think about the purpose, it is meaningless. Author, Charlotte Bronte, does an incredible job in the writing of the novel. Charlotte Bronte incorporates an adequate amount of symbols and other rhetorical devices in the novel. Jane Eyre includes many types of issues, one being class issues.
Charlotte Brontë was one of three English sisters who had books published in the mid-1800s. Her father was an Anglican minister and she attended a religious school as a child. Her most successful work, Jane Eyre, tells the story of an orphan girl with no independence who falls in love but has to face her morals when she finds out she is about to marry a man who is previously wed. Jane ends up coming full circle and gaining her independence from a wealthy inheritance and meets some interesting people along the way. Throughout Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, some of the characters Jane meets are Helen Burns, St. John and Mr. Brocklehurst whom all portray the hypocrisy, obedience, and obsession views of religion.
The novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Brontë, follows the emotions and experiences of its Jane Eyre, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester. In its internalisation of the action the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity. Throughout the novel characters are portrayed in many different ways one of them being their genders and what roles they carry.
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.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.