Jane Eyre: Symbols and Style (chapters 11- 19)

CHAPTER 16 SYMBOLISM

• The comparison of Beauty and class: Jane makes of herself believe that she is less than Blanche because Jane is plain and of lower class
• After she made the portraits of herself and Blanche she realized that she had no chance to win Rochester
• Jane describes herself as a "indignant and insignificant plebian" (pg 137)
• This symbolizes that Jane has bought into the class system that she had grown up with

CHAPTER 16 STYLE

• Bronte continues to use very descriptive words, words like confabulation which means to hold a discussion
• Bronte is trying to show that Jane is an educated person and a thoughtful person
• Jane continually struggles with the conflict of class. she believes that Blanche Ingram is much better than her because she is of higher class
• Mrs. Fairfax describes Miss Ingram as "certainly like a queen" (pg 135)
• Jane Eyre is littered with the struggle between classes

CHAPTER 15 SYMBOLISM

Chapter 19 Symbolism and Style

• The eerie laughter and visit to the third floor by Rochester after the fire symbolizes that something is aloof at Thornfeild
• Secretiveness: Being a big symbol especially in the life of Rochester as he hides the truth from his servants
• "say nothing about it" (pg 128)
• It is very odd that he would hide an attempt on his life

Chapter 18 Symbolism and Style

• Supernatural/ the Gypsy: seems to be able to have mystical powers
• Eyes again: Jane looks at the gypsy and sees that the gypsy is in fact Mr. Rochester
• Disguise: Rochester's love for Jane and his hidden identity as the Gypsy woman

• Gender Roles: Rochester forces Jane to attend the parties and treats her almost as a slave or puppet
• None of the guests like or support Jane
• the Gypsy: emphasizes Bronte's interest in the supernatural
• Especially between the minds of people

Chapter 17 Symbols and

Style

• Eyes are a big symbol: Jane tends to watch everyone and form opinions on their looks and attitude
• "I looked, and had an acute pleasure in looking — a precious yet poignant pleasure" (Bronte)
• Adele was starry eyed from watching all of Rochester's guests
• At the end of the chapter Rochester almost tells Jane his true feelings for her
• "Good-night, my—" (Bronte)
• Jane's tone changes to a more masculine one, as males are the ones who observed more

Jane Eyre: Symbols and Style (chapters 11- 19)

Chapter 13 ~ Symbolism Continued

• Portrait two
• Imagery: Woman's shape in the twilight sky above a hill
• Theme: Supernatural
• Symbolism: Woman as the evening star
• Motif: Nature, Jane works to define her human nature

Chapter 11 ~ Symbolism

CHAPTER 14 SYBOLISM

Chapter 12 ~ Style

• Relics
• "a shrine of memory" (Brontë 110)
• Jane's warm welcome from Mrs. Fairfax
• They are of the same social class and now she is happy that there is someone of the same class that she can now converse with

• Gothic imagery
• Helps set the tone of the setting as being a eerie "Dark rookery" night at Thornfield (Brontë 117)
• Pathetic Fallacy
• "The ground was hard, air was still, and the road lonely" (Brontë 116)
• Homophone
• Eyre is a homophone with "air" which is an element of nature
• this implies that even her name is in tune with nature
• Repetitive use of colons and semi - colons
• implies that Jane does not want to leave the man who was injured so Brontë prolongs the meeting to be longer than it has to be

Chapter 13 ~ Symbolism

CHAPTER 15 STYLE

Jane's portfolio symbolizes her view on life.

• Portrait one
• Imagery: Gold Bracelet and dead body
• Gothic theme: Death
• Shows that Jane finds beauty in destruction
• "One gleam of light lifted into relief a half - submerged mast..." (Brontë 132)

Chapter 11 ~ Style

• Again Bronte adds the french language into the character of Rochester
• Rochester is described as "taille d'athlete" (pg 120)
• The use of words describing the laughter is bone chilling
• "Demonic...low...suppressed" (126)
• "gurgled and moaned" (pg 126)
• Her style in this instance is similar to that of a horror movie, she builds suspense with her words

• Gothic Imagery
• describes the decorations of Thornfield as dark, old, and labored with the secrets and memories of the past
• References Bluebeard's Castle (Brontë 112)
• allusion to French fairy tale where a Duke murders all of his wives, locking their dead bodies in different closets while forbidding each new wife not to look in the closets or else she would suffer the same fate

Chapter 12 Symbols Continued

• Both Sun and Moon are "pale"
• suggests their likeness towards each other
• Jane "turned eastward" (Brontë 117)
• the sun rises in the east symbolizing a new start for Jane
• such as meeting Mr. Rochester
• Parallel of striking of the clock in Cinderella
• "My eye,...,caught a light kindling in a window: it reminded me I was late, and I hurried on." (Brontë 122)
• Jane returns back to reality as the series of events that just happened are abnormal for her and her time period

• Adele and Rochester speak French to eachother quite often
• "Que c'est beau" (pg 110)
• the conversations in french between the two symbolizes that Rochester cares deeply for Adele and he makes an effort to connect with her
• Desire for equality: Jane has always wanted to feel equal and Rochester attempts to give her equality
• Rochester's desire to connect with Jane is unsual and it comes as somehting new to jane
• "I dont wish to treat you as an inferior" (pg113)

Chapter 12 ~ Symbols

• Weather
• Cold winter symbolizes her emotional feelings of loneliness and sadness
• Reference to "Gytrash" (Brontë 118)
• Spirit was thought to warn people before an incident occurred
• forshadows the future of Jane and Rochester
• Moon
• always present at key moments in her life
• metaphorically represents Jane
• "Pale yet as a cloud, but brightening momentarily" (Brontë 117)
• Sun
• metaphorically represents Rochester
• Pale - beaming sun" (Brontë 116)

CHAPTER 14 STYLE

Chapter 13 ~ Symbolism Continued

By Juliana Conrad

Adrian Turrisi

Maddie Roewer

• Bronte's style ivovles the use of many complicated and relatively unused words in common vernacular
• Bronte uses words like candour (pg 115) and sententious (pg 118)
• Candour: to be frank, honesty
• Sententious: to be moral, selfrighteous
• Bronte could easily use simpler words to make her point but she chooses to be very descriptive
• She uses this language to show that she is an educated person and to describe the hidden intelligence of Jane

• Portrait three
• Imagery: Pinnacle of an iceberg, northern lights, a giant head looking towards the iceberg and resting on it
• "a brow quite bloodless, white as bone, and an eye hallow and fixed, blank of meaning, but for the glassiness of despair, alone were visible." (Brontë 133)
• Symbolism: Authority Jane encounters
• Motif: Fire - white flame in the portrait