Fire in Jane Eyre
By: Nick T, Ahabb, Hunter G
- The color red is often associated with danger and anger
- For Jane this represents unhappiness and bad events that have yet to happen
- Fire represents passion & emotion
- Jane's time at Gateshead is very hard for her and this is shown with her emotions
- "I knew quite well that I was in my own bed, and the red glare was the nursery fire." - pg 25 (Ch 3)
The Red-Room
- This room belonged to Jane's uncle before he died
- While locked in this room by Aunt Reed, Jane believes the ghost of her uncle was in the room with her
- "The red-room was a spare chamber, very seldom slept in....." - pg 20 (Ch 2)
- "Hung with curtains of deep red damask.." - pg 20 (Ch 2)
- "This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire.." - pg 21 (Ch 2)
- The red-room also seems to represent Hell
- After spending the night in the room or, "Hell" she seems a lot more worried about sin and seems to think the people who commit these should have to pay for what they have done
- "If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should-so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do so again." - pg 61 (Ch 6)
Rochester's Room
- Jane is laying awake in bed one night and hears a shuffling and thinks that it could be Rochester's dog, Pilot
- She then hears a demoniac laugh and goes out into the hall to see who it was
- She then notices that smoke was coming out of Rochester's room
- "Tongues of flame darted round the bed; the curtains were on fire. In the midst of blaze and vapor, Mr. Rochester lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep." - pg. 152 (Ch 15)
- This fire comes shortly after Rochester tells Jane of his relationship with Celine Varens who cheated on Rochester while they were dating
- This fire seems to represent the passion that Rochester had for Celine that was then extinguished after she cheated
Jane's Dream
- The night before their wedding, Jane tells Rochester of her recent dream
- Thornfield Hall lay in ruins from a fire
- This dream seems to foreshadow the end of story when Thornfield Hall actually burns down
Jane's Dream
Thornfield Fire
Thornfield Fire
- Jane returns to Thornfield Hall to find it in ruin
- She discovers that it was burned down by Rochester's wife, Bertha
- She set Jane's old bed on fire
- As the house burns down, Bertha gets on to the roof and then jumps off
- "However, on this night, she set fire first to the hangings of the room next to her own..." - pg 407 (Ch 36)
Cont.
- "We saw him approach her; and then, ma'am, she yelled and gave a spring, and the next minute she lay smashed on the pavement." - pg 407 (Ch 36)
- This fire and the death of Bertha could represent Bertha finally taking control and getting rid of the emotional relationship she once had with Rochester