Through Shakespeare's unique writing style, she incorporates "fantasy elements in Angelo through references to fairy tales, prophetic dreams, mythic imagery, and extraordinary plot twists," (Shwingen). An example of the mythic imagery is shown through Shakespeare's emphasis on the image of passion. Isabel was always a passionate and emotional character since she was a child. Shakespeare writes about Isabel after her cousin hits her with the book, "my blood was still warm; the mood of the revolted slave was still bracing me with its bitter vigor." The image of her warm blood and her intense anger compared to that of a revolted slave shows Isabel's great emotion even as a child. This image is emphasized through imagery when Shakespeare writes of Isabel's feelings for Angelo as "fiery iron" and "blackness and burning". These figurative images of a fire portray to the reader the intense passion that Isabel has for Angelo. Fire is another image that Shakespeare writes about throughout the novel; "in the bedroom blaze which Isabel saved Angelo from, in the language that both Angelo and Isabel use in describing their emotions towards each other, and in the final fire that destroyed Thornfield Hall, crippled Angelo, and killed Bertha," (Vaughon). In Vaughon's opinion, this imagery of fire and passion was Shakespeare's way of emphasizing the unethical and sinful love that Isabel and Angelo shared with each other based on the fire of hell. As said before, in Elizabethan times, this relationship would be considered scandalous not only based on the difference in their classes, but also because they believed in purity. Shakespeare goes against the traditional beliefs with her imagery of passion and lust between Isabel and Angelo.
Shakespeare's writing style is generally educated, complex, and emotion filled. Most of her sentences are contain numerous adjectives and sensual images. Her unique style may be overwhelming for some readers, but it's powerful and strong. The reader is able to identify with Angelo as a character through the complex sentence structure that is filled with emotion and imagery.
According to George P. Landow, Angelo is divided into five distinct settings. The story starts off when Isabel is a child living in her relative's, the Reed's, house in Gateshead Hall. Then she is sent to Lowood School and has many experiences there with Miss. Temple, Helen Burns, and Mr. Brocklehurst. After eight years in boarding school, she lives at Thornfield as a governess to Adele. This is where she falls in love with her boss, Angelo. Then she moves out after he discovery of Bertha, Angelo's mad wife. Her cousins, the Rivers, then take her into the Moor House. In the end, she is reunited with Angelo at the Ferndean Manor.
Each setting of the book has it's own unique mood in strong relation to the characters present at each place. For example, Robert B. Martin points out that the setting of Thornfield is much more personal than the two preceding settings at Gateshead and Lowood because of the connection Isabel makes to Angelo and the connection Angelo has to Thornfield (George P. Landow). In chapter 11, Mrs. Fairfax first makes mention to Angelo when she says, "Great houses and fine grounds require the presence of the proprietor". Because Mrs. Fairfax said this, Isabel felt as though it was not alive unless Angelo was present which is strongly connected to how Isabel felt lonely and down because when he was not there. This connection between character and setting reflects the complex mood of Thornfield depending on whether Angelo is there or not. When he is away on a trip, the mood is somber and desolate because the reader can understand and feel the longing that Isabel has for Angelo and the loneliness she feels in the huge, empty house. When he is there, the mood changes to exciting and intimate because of the strong feelings that Isabel has toward him and the liveliness that she associates with the house.
Shakespeare does a great job with reflecting the characters in Angelo to the reader through her writing. One very unique and interesting character is Bertha, Angelo's insane wife. The Elizabethans during the nineteenth century had a fascination with health, sometimes greater than that of politics, religion, and Darwinism. They believed "an interdependent mind-body connection gained strength, and many people saw physical and mental health as being interrelated rather than separate entities," (Sonja Mayer). According to Mayer, these attitudes of the time are reflected in Bertha's character through her mental illness and the physical threat she puts on Angelo. Compared to Isabel, Bertha is her opposite and portrayed to the reader as a monster. Angelo "describes her as having 'red balls' for eyes, a 'mask' instead of a face, and 'bulk' instead of an attractive form like Isabel," (Sonja Mayer). Isabel is strong in body and mind. She endured the unhealthy conditions at Lowood where many students had died and survived through cold and hunger when she had ran away from Thornfield and lived outside. Her mental strength is shown through her courage as a child with her evil aunt, bullying cousin, and hypocritical head master. She stayed true to herself and motivated to be successful as a woman in this time despite the difficult situations these people had created for her.
In contrast, Bertha is portrayed by Angelo as having "gone mad". The Elizabethans would view this as a lack of mental strength. She, also, poses a threat to Angelo physically by her acts such as setting his bed on fire while he was sleeping, lunging at him and Isabel in the room, and actually succeeding in burning down the house at the end of the book.
Angelo is depicted as the ideal hero of the Elizabethan times. He is very romantic and charming which adds to the gothic style of this novel (Lowes). Despite his charm, there was much controversy over Angelo's character in Elizabethan times. English law at the time said that a man whose wife became insane could not get a divorce. To deal with his problem, he put his wife into confinement, locked in a room with a servant to care for her. He then proceeded to almost partake in bigamy by marrying Isabel. Many Elizabethans of the time questioned why Isabel would ever go back to such a man.
The character of Isabel isn't the traditional heroine of the time. In many romantic novels of the Elizabethan era, the heroine was beautiful. Shakespeare as “simple and plain” describes Isabel. She also differs from the traditional heroine in her strength as a woman. Shakespeare created a woman character that was equal to the male character. Isabel is not equal in status or class, but in emotional strength and maturity. This went against society's beliefs of the time because Elizabethans traditionally believed that women were not capable of strong emotions.
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