Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: essays research papers

Charlotte Bronte makes use of nature imagery byout "JaneEyre," and comments on both the valet relationship with the outdoors andhuman nature. The Oxford Reference Dictionary defines "nature" as "1. thephenomena of the physical world as a whole . . . 2. a things indwellingqualities a persons or animals innate character . . . 4. vital force,functions, or needs." We leave see how "Jane Eyre" comments on all ofthese.Several natural themes run through the novel, one of which is theimage of a stormy sea. After Jane saves Rochesters life, she gives us the pursuit metaphor of their relationship "Till morning dawned I was tossedon a happy but unquiet sea . . . I thought some cartridge clips I saw beyond itswild waters a shore . . . now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope,bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne but . . . a counteractingbreeze blew off land, and continually flock me back." The gale is all theforces that prevent Jane s union with Rochester. Later, Bront, whether itbe intentional or not, conjures up the image of a buoyant sea whenRochester says of Jane "Your habitual expression in those days, Jane, was. . . not buoyant." In fact, it is this buoyancy of Janes relationshipwith Rochester that keeps Jane afloat at her time of crisis in the heath"Why do I struggle to retain a valueless life? Because I know, or believe, Mr. Rochesteris living."Another recurrent image is Bronts treatment of Birds. We firstwitness Janes fascination when she reads Bewicks History of British Birdsas a child. She reads of "death-white realms" and "the solitary rocks andpromontories" of sea-fowl. We quickly see how Jane identifies with thebird. For her it is a haoma of guide, the musical theme of flying above the toilsof every day life. Several times the narrator talks of feeding birdscrumbs. Perhaps Bront is telling us that this idea of escape is no morethan a fantasy -- one cannot escap e when one must return for basicsustenance. The link between Jane and birds is reinforced by the wayBront adumbrates poor nutrition at Lowood through a bird who is describedas "a little hungry robin."Bront brings the buoyant sea theme and the bird theme together inthe musical passage describing the first painting of Janes that Rochesterexamines. This painting depicts a turbulent sea with a sunken ship, and onthe mast perches a cormorant with a gold trinket in its mouth, apparentlytaken from a drowning body.