Examples Of Imagery In Jane Eyre

713 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fire and heat imagery in charlotte bronte’s jane eyre

Literature has always thought of birds as animals that refused to be confined to one space due to the importance of “spreading their wings.” In Jane Eyre, Bronte uses the imagery of birds to explain Jane’s development and how she matures into an intelligent and independent woman. First, the bird imagery can been seen at Gateshead during Jane’s. Jane was reading Bewick’s History of British Birds, one of Bessie’s books, but she pays more attention to the locations within the book, are not in the best condition, but she is happy with the book on her lap, referring to how she feels being at Gateshead and her dream to one day “fly away.” This also serves as the first example of Jane feeling like a caged bird due to the way that she is treated by her aunt and cousins in Gateshead. …show more content…

She does, however, begin to feel caged later on, as she is not allowed to go anywhere when she becomes the governess. Jane could be described as a dove, which means that she enjoys being free while at the same time, experiencing a new form of captivity. Rochester seems to refer to Jane as a bird most of the time, showing how he wishes to put this “bird” in a cage so it can only belong to him. “Jane. be still; don’t struggle so, like a wild, frantic bird” (221) is an example of what Rochester said to Jane before she left that showed that even though he has Bertha, Rochester prefers to take control of Jane, caging her from the rest of the world. Jane responds to him by telling him, ““I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you.” (221) which meant that Jane refused to let Rochester decide her life because she is smart enough to know that she has her own free will and can do as she

Show More
Related

  • Pain, Misery and Dissapointment in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charlotte Bronte utilizes the character of Bertha Rochester to interrupt Jane’s potential happy ending with Mr. Edward Rochester. Bertha is announced by Mr. Briggs as a way to stop the wedding and it also shows how hopeless Jane’s situation is. “That is my wife “said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have,’” (312) and “’I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout,’” (312) are quotes that express Mr. Rochester’s reasons for trying to remarry while he already has a wife, meanwhile showing his disposition towards said wife. Had Mr. Briggs and Mr. Mason not been present for the ceremony, Jane may have lived happily in ignorance. Due to Bertha’s involvement however, Jane could never truly call herself Mr. Rochester’s wife. She says, “’Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.’” (323) This quote shows that as a result of Bertha’s exposure, Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester. The influence that Bertha’s brief debut had on Jane’s life was significant enough to hinder the growth of her relationship with Mr. Rochester.

    Read More

  • Dorianne Laux’s “Bird”

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.

    Read More

  • Bird Imagery in Jane Eyre

    2720 Words  | 6 Pages

    Bronte allows the reader to see the loneliness that Jane is experiencing at Gateshead Hall, by showing the relationship between her and birds. Dismissed from conversation with Mrs. Reed and the Reed children Jane retreats to a window seat and disappears into her own imaginative world with Thomas Bewick’s History of British Birds. She is concerned more with the illustrations than the text, she states "the letter-press I cared little for, generally speaking" (20; ch. 1). Through these illustrations, Jane is able to relate to the feeling of solitude expressed by the pictures. One drawing in particular that Jane observe...

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    realizes that they both need each other, Rochester is now physically dependent on her. But, Jane

    Read More

  • Supernatural and Natural Imagery in Jane Eyre

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    Supernatural values and natural imagery are a major theme throughout Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre. This essay will examine the representation of natural and supernatural values that play an integral role in developing the story in Jane Eyre.

    Read More

  • Thesis For Trifles By Susan Glaspell

    467 Words  | 1 Pages

    Denotatively a bird is defined as a, Any of a class (Aves) of warm-blooded vertebrates distinguished by having the body more or less completely covered with feathers and the forelimbs modified as wings, often capable of flying. The authors/Glaspell’s strategic comparison of Mrs. Wright to a bird can be interpreted connotatively that she was a free,

    Read More

  • Bertha Mason in Charlotte Bronte´s Jane Eyre

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bertha and Mr. Rochester were set up and pressured into marrying each other. Mr. Rochester claims that isolating Bertha in a secret room is a justifiable act because of her mental instability. However, The Bertha that the reader gets to see exhibits an accumulated maniacal rage as a result of her imprisonment. Jane describes her as a savage woman. The very sight of her when she attacked her brother or when she ripped the wedding veil traumatized Jane. However, Bertha impacted more than her safety. When Bertha is revealed to be Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane finds out that despite the love she and Mr. Rochester have for each other; Jane can be nothing more than a mistress because it is illegal to divorce an insane women who is not in control of her actions.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre an Analysis of Nature

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    Another recurrent image is Brontë's treatment of Birds. We first witness Jane's fascination when she reads Bewick's History of British Birds as a child. She reads of "death-white realms" and "'the solitary rocks and promontories'" of seafowl. We quickly see how Jane identifies with the bird. For her it is a form of escape, the idea of flying above the toils of every day life. Several times the narrator talks of feeding birds crumbs. Perhaps Brontë is telling us that this idea of escape is no more than a fantasy-one cannot escape when one must return for basic sustenance.

    Read More

  • Restraint: Bird Imagery In Jane Eyre And Sula

    2555 Words  | 6 Pages

    Birds are truly amazing creatures and all of their characteristics allow them to be used as symbols to express a variety of things. They can be used as symbols of love, of peace, of life, of death, of people, of freedom and restraint. “Jane Eyre” and “Sula” are two examples of how one symbol can have multiple uses. In both books, birds were used to develop the identities of the characters, to foreshadow different events in the stories and help develop the plots and settings of the stories. I believe both Charlotte Bronte and Toni Morrison made great literary choices by choosing to use birds as symbols in their stories. Both stories are beautifully written with their metaphors of birds. I think that it is great that one symbol can be used to express two opposing views – one of freedom and one of restraint

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Themes of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Pathos In Jane Eyre

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    People today do not know what orphans went through in 19th century England and the sadness and pain they had to endure. Pathos was felt quite a lot by the orphans of that time. The overall theme of pathos in the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, is first expressed by the experiences of the orphans at Lowood. The narrative strategy of retrospective, depicts Jane's time at Lowood and the pathos expressed there. Pathos is expressed at Lowood for many reasons such as the shortage of food, the poor clothing and sleeping arrangements, the poor treatment of the orphans, and the breakout of typhus.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Independence In Jane Eyre

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    This brought into question Jane’s grand need for independence. Jane’s equality in a relationship is derived from her desire for independence. Jane reveals her need for independence in her relationship with Mr. Rochester when she told him she would always call him master but she would not be inferior to him. Haiyan Gao asserts in her article “Reflection On feminism in Jane Eyre,” “Jane loves Rochester with all her heart and Rochester’s status and wealth make him so high above for Jane to approach, yet she never feels herself inferior to Rochester though she is a humble family teacher.” It is also notable that Jane does not pursue a relationship with Mr. Rochester with the intention of gaining money.

    Read More

  • Jane as an Unconventional Female Character in Jane Eyre

    3066 Words  | 7 Pages

    How does Bront portray Jane as an unconventional female character in the novel Jane Eyre? Jane Eyre was published in 1847, during the reign of Queen Victoria. The novel was written by Charlotte Bront, but published under the pseudonym Currer Bell. Pseudonyms were used frequently by women at this point in time, as they were believed to be inferior to men. The The work of female authors was not as well respected as those of male writers.

    Read More

  • Nature Imagery and Themes in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another recurrent image is Brontë's treatment of Birds.  We first witness Jane's fascination when she reads Bewick's History of British Birds as a child.  She reads of "death-white realms" and "'the solitary rocks and promontories'" of sea-fowl.  We quickly see how Jane identifies with the bird.  For her it is a form of escape, the idea of flying above the toils of every day life.  Several times the narrator talks of feeding birds crumbs.  Perhaps Brontë is telling us that this idea of escape is no more than a fantasy -- one cannot escape when one must return for basic sustenance.  The link between Jane and birds is strengthened by the way Brontë adumbrates poor nutrition at Lowood through a bird who is described as "a little hungry robin."

    Read More

More about Examples Of Imagery In Jane Eyre

Open Document