Fire and Ice in the Characters of Jane Eyre
Two of the main characters in Jane Eyre have a sense of fire and ice in their
personalities, which is displayed through their emotions and their actions. Although, Edward
Rochester seems cold and icy in the beginning of the book, his true trait of fire is reveled
throughout the book as we get to know him better. St. John Rivers, who isn't introduced
until the late chapters of the book, plays a important role of contrasting Rochester by way of
ice.
In the first chapters where Rochester was introduced, he seemed cold and icy both
in his personality and his appearance. The first time Jane meets Rochester, she notices his
coldness; "his full nostrils, denoting. I thought, choler; his grim mouth, chin, and jaw - yes, all
three were very grim and no mistake." (77) As we learn more about Rochester and see
him and his actions around Jane we come to find out that he has the warmness of fire within
himself. After Rochester proposes to Jane he is constantly around her, kissing and holding
her. On the night the terrible storm blew into town and past Thornfield hall, Rochester went
to Jane's room, more than once, to check on her well being. Rochester wanted Jane to
know how much he loved her, by buying her beautiful dresses and jewelry. He wanted to
spend every waking moment of the day pampering and loving Jane, and he did.
Rochester talked of all the places they would trav...
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...e personality.
Even though the personalities of Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers are
opposites, they each have something that makes them similar in a way. Throughout Jane
Eyre, we have seen these two characters change from showing one of their traits to
showing a completely different trait. Rochester acted cold and icy when he was first
introduced into the novel, and then his true personality of fire and warmness came out when
he met Jane. St. John acted warm, when he took Jane into his home, but as we got to
know him better we realized that his true trait is coldness. Thus in the novel, Jane Eyre,
Edward Rochester represents fire, and St. John Rivers represents ice.
In conclusion, the concept of fire used by Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre cleanses, foreshadows, strengthens, and reawakens both Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Bronte tempered the passionate nature of her novel by continuously revealing that heated sinful emotions only lead to ruin. Both Jane and Rochester were subjected to emotional and spiritual purgatory for their immorality. They were allowed solace only after achieving spiritual rebirth.
...ment and realization that he has lost Jane to another man in the following dialogue between them, “’I know where your heart turns, and to what it clings. The interest you cherish is lawless and unconsecrated. Long since you ought to have crushed it: now you should blush to allude to it. You think of Mr. Rochester?’ It was true. I confessed it by silence. ‘Are you going t seek Mr. Rochester?’ ‘I must find out what is become of him.’ ‘It remains for me, then,’ he said, ‘to remember you in my prayers; and to entreat God for you, in all earnestness, that you may not indeed become a castaway. I had thought I recognized in you one of the chose. But God sees not as man sees: His will be done.’” (Bronte 436) Though Jane Eyre’s stay at Moor House and Morton were crucial for her recovery to stability of her life, she yearned to be at Thornfield and wedded to Mr. Rochester.
continue to fluctuate as she matures. Jane Eyre begins her life in the wrong place at the wrong
By comparing St. John to a statue, the reader is forced to see St. John as someone who is cold and rigid. Jane sets up the perception that St.John is disconnected from human feelings. Jane also presents a biased view of men when she first meets Rochester, who later becomes her husband. Furthermore, Jane’s first impressions of Rochester are also negative. Upon first being introduced to Rochester, after he asked to see her, Jane comments, “But it appeared he was not in the mood to notice us, for he never lifted his head as we approached. . .
The book has many features which are found in Gothic novels such as romance. Romance plays a very important role as Mr. Rochester and Jane are both uncertain if their powerful love is being returned. Another common feature of the Gothic novel is lovers being parted; in the story of Jane Eyre Jane and Rochester are parted when Rochester leaves to visit Blanche Ingram and also when Jane goes to see her dying Aunt Reed. There is also tension between the true love and society. Mrs. Fairfax appears to disapprove of Jane's and Rochester's marriage because of their difference in social class.
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.
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.
"Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting." --Jane Eyre (9)
Fire is the process in which materials ignite and combine with oxygen to give off heat, light, and flames. Likewise, water is composed of H20 molecules and acts as a counter to fire by possessing the ability to extinguish it. However, in literary terms, fire is mostly related to passion while water usually represents reason and calmness. Both elements are considered unique because of the ability to destroy and give life. Water can be directly related to life since it is an essential element for survival and makes up most of a human’s body. Similarly, fire is energy and provides warmth and comfort. In her novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte constantly uses fire and water imagery throughout the novel to describe people and settings. Images of water and ice are constantly seen during her stay at Lowood and Marsh End. Also, fire destroys Thornfield and provides warmth for Jane during the winter days at Gateshead. Throughout the novel, Jane is constantly traveling back and forth between fire and ice. By experiencing different societies, she tries to find the perfect balance betwe...
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. .
In conclusion, Jane Eyre’s painstaking journey to find a sense of acceptance, affection, and family was finally completed, attaining the things she yearned. She eventually discovered everything she was searching for through Mr. Rochester, forgetting her agonizing past and looking to what was ahead. As Jane looked for many different alternatives to make her feel as if she was complete, she found that Mr. Rochester was the only one who could make her feel
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses various characters to represent aspects of reason and passion, thereby establishing a tension between the two. In fact, it could be argued that these various characters are really aspects of her central character, Jane. From this it could be argued that the tension between these two aspects really takes place only within her mind. Bronte is able to enact this tension through her characters and thus show dramatically the journey of a woman striving for balance within her character. As a prerequisite for marriage, Jane uses this determination in her relationships with Mr. Rochester and St. John.
One of these, St John Rivers finds Jane a job teaching at a charity school. He then surprises her by telling her that her uncle has died and she is rich and he is also her cousin, knowing this she shares the inheritance equally with him and two other cousins. St John wants to travel as a missionary and he wants Jane to go with him as his wife, Jane wants to go but not as his wife because she doesn't love him, she nearly gives in but then hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her. She hurries back to Thornfield but it has been burnt down by
One of the most interesting aspects of the story of Jane Eyre is Charlotte Bronte's ability to use metaphors in order to convey Jane's feelings towards the world around her, and her feelings for it. The most frequently appearing example of this is the image of ice. This image frequently appears in Jane's thoughts and is further able to convey her feelings towards people and situations to the reader. The references to ice are often the means by which Bronte is able to fully convey to the reader the inner workings of Jane's mind. The idea of ice and coldness is usually used to represent the forces that Jane must fight in order to achieve happiness and are often found in close relationship to Jane's emotional state of loneliness and despair.
The realistic novel places greater emphasis on its characters, rather than its plot, and explores the relationships between these characters. The selected passage shows both the servant-master aspect of Jane and Mr. Rochester’s relationship, as well as its romantic nature. At the beginning of the selected passage, Jane affectionately describes Mr. Rochester as a “kind master,” which is indicative that even after his proposal, she is unable to separate herself from her position as a servant. This is further emphasized when Jane states that “he would send for [her] in the morning,” whic...