Motifs In Jane Eyre

Frances Ponicki

Ap English & Lit - 5

Kreutzer

Witty Title

The “fire and ice” motifs have permeated literature for many years: from the very obvious “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost to “Inferno” by Dante Alighieri, authors have been utilizing these motifs to highlight the idea that fire accompanies positive forces and passion while ice emphasizes negative forces and that perhaps the very worst people are the ones who use their cold intelligence to commit cruel acts, such as Satan in “Inferno.” In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre the use of these motifs continues these ideas as Brontë makes use of the two motifs to emphasize the characters, places, and stages of Jane’s life which are symbolized by either fire or ice. While cruel or detached characters

are associated with ice and coldness, warm and passionate characters are compared to fire. Further, even though fire is often seen as destructive, it is used as a positive and purifying force even in its destructiveness, and is often associated with the kind of passionate love Jane seeks in her life. Brontë utilizes the idea of coldness and ice to represent the negative forces which Jane battles to achieve happiness and links fire to both Jane's passionate nature and to positive forces, ultimately implying that fiery love is key when it comes to Jane’s personal happiness.

Brontë begins the novel referencing the ice and coldness motif almost immediately to describe Jane’s time at Gateshead and to impart Jane’s feelings towards her family members. The novel opens up with young Jane reading Bewick’s History of British Birds, in which Jane takes particular notice of the “Arctic Zone,” declaring it a “death-white realm.” (8) This interpretation of the the arctic climate seems to convey Jane’s own sentiments about her current home-situation as she compares it to images in her own head, stating, “I formed an idea of my own...the words in these introductory pages...gave significance to the rock standing up alone in a sea of billow and spray; to the broken boat stranded on a desolate coast.” (8) Although the reader is barely a page into the book, impactful words such as “desolate” leave little room for doubt in the mind of the reader that the cold landscapes Jane is depicting correlate with the treatment she bears from her cousins, Eliza, John, and Georgiana. Thus, from the very beginning pages of the novel Brontë establishes the ice motif as being associated with negative forces, and foreshadows what Jane will have to battle to find happiness. Brontë takes the ice motif a step further connecting it to the uncaring and harsh Aunt Reed who is not Jane’s blood relation, citing her “eye[s] of ice” (36). The use of the ice motif in regards to Aunt Reed furthers the idea that the ice motif is used to highlight the negative forces which Jane must battle to find happiness because Aunt Reed is a clear example of an oppressive force in Jane’s life.

However, while ice is a prominent motif in the opening stages of Jane Eyre whilst Jane is in conflict with the Reeds, Brontë also introduces the fire motif during Jane's stay at Gateshead, linking it to Jane and her passionate ways. It is evident to the reader from the beginning of the novel that Jane is a spirited, intense child: from the way she strikes her cousin, John, to how she stands up to her aunt. Thus, when Brontë begins to associate Jane with the fire motif, it is clear that she is emphasizing Jane's passionate ways and foreshadowing her internal struggles. The first time the reader notes the use of the fire motif is when Bessie has just finished singing a song to an ill Jane to cheer her up, but rather than buoying Jane, the song brings Jane to tears because of its obvious parallels to her own situation. When Bessie implores Jane not to shed any tears, Jane's immediate mental reply is, "she might as well have said to the fire, 'Don't burn!'" (22). Brontë could have chosen relatively any metaphor for Jane to compare herself to, yet she specifically chose fire because of Jane's naturally fervent manner. However, Brontë does not stop here, but continues to define Jane’s character and draw parallels between Jane and fire, such as when Jane acknowledges that, "A ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring, would have been a meet emblem of my mind," (37). Further, associating Jane with fire aids Brontë in portraying the stark contrasts between Jane and her extended family. While Jane is composed of fire and passion, her extended family is cold and distant. The effect of this is to drive home the idea that because fire and ice cannot work together, neither can Jane and her foster family. Their natural tendencies are too far opposite of one another. Jane cannot live without “love or kindness” (37) and her fiery passion in the early stages of her life demonstrates her powerful need for love.

The next example that the reader can find regarding ice being used to portray negative forces in Jane's life is during her stay at the desolate and cold boarding school, Lowood. During this stage of Jane’s life, Brontë employs the ice motif to emphasize a tone of lingering unhappiness within Jane’s life, because she is justifiably still unhappy with her current situation. Primarily, Brontë utilizes the ice motif to highlight the miserable conditions of Jane’s new home, writing, “The water in the pitchers was frozen...I felt ready to perish with cold” (52). Jane has been moved from one unpleasant home situation to another; this time, however, the situation is both metaphorically and physically cold, thereby deepening Jane’s sense of unhappiness. At Lowood the situation is so bleak that Brontë depicts the majority of the imagery at the school by employing the ice motif. During her stay at Lowood, Brocklehurst, the uncharitable manager of the school, does his best to worsen Jane’s situation by publicly humiliating her, stating that, “"[Jane] is a little castaway: not a member of the true flock, but evidently an interloper and an alien. You must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example" (66). Brocklehurst uses powerful words with negative connotations, such as “alien,” and “shun,” to purposefully separate Jane from her classmates, ensuring that Jane’s stay at Lowood is friendless and cold. This purposeful isolation of Jane from her peers, combined with the frozen elements at Lowood, reinforces the idea that Brontë purposefully included the ice motif to draw attention to the negative forces within Jane’s life, specifically here the malignant conditions at Lowood.

Yet, while ice is an eminent motif, especially during Jane’s stay at Lowood, Brontë still takes time to include the fire motif to highlight Jane’s fiery nature, the positive forces in her life, and ultimately how important true, fiery love is to Jane.

The best example of this is how Helen Burns is a foil to Jane. Unlike Jane, Helen is detached from most earthly desires, constantly reminding Jane to endure, that God and her future in heaven are more important than revenge (55). While Jane is filled with blazing passion, Helen is peacefully submissive. When Helen is punished or unjustly mistreated, Jane would find “the fury of which [Helen] was incapable had been burning in [Jane’s] soul all day” (74). Helen’s cool nature directly foils Jane’s fiery one, making the use of the fire and ice motifs in regard to Jane very emphatic. Jane, unlike Helen, is not willing to turn the other cheek. Rather, Jane craves to be loved and dramatically claims she would willingly submit to harm to gain love (69), a desperate, passionate idea to say the least. Further, the fire motif is also used to emphasize the positive forces in Jane’s life, specifically Miss Temple, the beautiful and kind superintendent at Lowood, whose apartment contained a “brilliant fire” and who was capable of rekindling the “radiance” in the pale and sick Helen (73). Miss Temple, with her overwhelmingly kind nature, is evidently a positive force in young Jane’s

life.

However, while the fire motif certainly plays a significant role throughout Jane’s time at Gateshead and Lowood, it becomes truly important during her stay at Thornfield, specifically in regards to Rochester, because it proves that fiery love is key to her happiness. Contrarily to her previous places of residence Jane constantly refers to Thornfield using the fire motif, especially when it comes to Mr. Rochester. As Jane becomes cognizant of her feelings toward Rochester, the fire motif is used more and more, to the point where it is clear to the reader that her happiness, love for Mr. Rochester, and fire are all strongly connected. One example of this can be seen simply in the way Jane describes Mr. Rochester: “his eyes sparkled” (130) as he relaxed by the “red and clear” fire much improved from the “frigid and rigid temper” he was in that morning (130). This preliminary perception of a light that she discerns develops with their love to the point where she depicts his eyes as “flaming and flashing” (287) on the day they are to be wed. These references to fire and light, effectively portray the intensity of Rochester’s feelings, from when his interest was first kindled to when his passion for Jane consumed him. Brontë does not solely employ the fire motif to describe the physical features of Rochester when it comes to Jane’s love for him, but includes two physical raging fires at Thornfield as well to ultimately reflect this all-consuming, passionate need for love. The first of these fires was soon after they met, when Jane is awakened by a demonic laugh and finds the hallway filled with smoke (148). Although the fire is potentially deadly, the incident ultimately brings Mr. Rochester and Jane closer together, as the goodness he initially saw in her eyes is realized as she “snatched him from a horrible and excruciating death” (150). This fire has put Mr. Rochester and Jane on more intimate, if not equal, terms, and their relationship has deepened. When she returns to her room, Jane is too “feverish” (151) to sleep. Her passion has been awakened by “the strange fire” in Mr. Rochester’s grateful look, but a sense of impossibility counters her joy. The second fire, again set by his maniacal wife, occurs after Jane has left Mr. Rochester, and this time his wife perishes in the fire. While this fire destroys both Mr. Rochester’s estate and eyesight, it is a purifying force even in its destruction. With his wife’s death, Mr. Rochester is finally a free man, able to honorably marry and live with Jane. This fire also equalizes the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester: Jane has recently gained her own fortune, and now he has lost the majority of his. Mr. Rochester is now in a new position of vulnerability: without his fortune, eyesight, or hand, male domination in the marriage, something Jane feared earlier in the novel, will no longer be her concern. Jane is finally able to realize the fiery love of her heart’s desire. Thus, it is evident to the reader that not only is fire associated with the positive forces within Jane’s life, but the motif ultimately implies that fiery love is necessary for her happiness; she needs the kind of passion that is inside of her to be matched by those who love her.

Contrastingly, the ice motif has its most significant role during Jane’s time at Moor House, finally closing the argument that the ice motif is associated with negative forces, and ironically proving that fiery love is key for Jane’s happiness.

As opposed to the fiery feelings that Jane experiences for Mr. Rochester, St. John, the evangelist who takes Jane into Moor House, is associated with very different feelings. Jane never portrays him as a person of warmth; rather, apart from the intensity both he and Mr. Rochester contain, St. John’s personality is in complete contrast to Mr. Rochester. Previously the ice motif was associated with the negative forces which Jane must overcome to find happiness, and this idea pertains to her experiences with St. John. Jane writes that with St. John, “I fell under a freezing spell. When he said “go” I went. “come” I came, “do this,” I did it” (398). This notion that he placed her under a “freezing spell” illustrates the idea that St. John keeps her from her heart’s desires. Further, this concept is demonstrated once more when St. John asks Jane to marry him. Jane depicts the proposal itself as cold, stating, “Reader, do you know, as I do, what terror those cold people can put into the ice of their questions?” (412). She rejects him knowing that a union with a cold man such as St. John will only make her unhappy, saying, “"...as his wife-at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked-forced to keep the fire of my

nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital-this would be unendurable" (408). Jane is comparing her own spirit to a fire. When St. John forces her to contemplate marrying her, she realizes that this action would force her to basically extinguish her inner flame, something that would ultimately only bring her unhappiness. Yet, Jane almost falters and accepts St. John once he persuasively uses a warmer, gentler tone and touch, wondering if marriage and working at St. John’s side is indeed God’s will and the best use of her life. As she struggles and calls on God, she notes “the one candle was dying out” when, in striking response to her prayer, her heart experiences almost an electric shock that brings it out of its “torpor” (419). She somehow hears Rochester call her, and she responds immediately and fervently. It is at this point in the novel that Jane truly realizes that the fiery love she has for Rochester is her path to happiness. Thus, it becomes obvious that Jane can never marry St. John because ultimately it would be joining her fiery nature to his icy nature resulting in unhappiness: impossible. What is truly essential to Jane’s happiness is the kind of fire and passion she found at Thornfield, “where she had felt what it was to be loved” (419). Mr. Rochester is the one character in this novel who not only matched, but strengthened the fire inside Jane.
In conclusion, all of these examples demonstrate how Jane’s feelings are matched by the coldness or warmth she perceives, and thus by the ice and fire motifs. What is interesting is that in the majority of the circumstances where the reader is aware of Jane’s feelings it is through these motifs, based on if her feelings are associated with warmth or coldness. This demonstrates to the reader that Jane experiences and views her feelings vividly. Jane’s capacity to do this is significant because it deepens the novel, allowing the reader deeper insight into her character, and aiding the reader in experiencing these events in the same manner which Jane did. Jane’s constant references, and thus Brontë’s clever inclusion, of the fire and ice motifs ultimately allow the reader to understand both the positive and negative forces in Jane’s life based on what motif they are associated with, and eventually clue the reader into the fact that fiery love is key to Jane’s happiness.