At this point of the novel Jane’s morale is so weak, that even the youngest member of the family has the power to leave her “…broken boat, stranded…” Brontë foreshadows many things that happen later in Jane’s life and in the novel, including Jane’s passionate love affair with Mr Rochester, “…its two trees, its low horizion girdled by a broken wall…” the broken wall hints at the relationship being unstable. The author also foreshadows Bertha, Rochester’s crazy wife, who is locked away from society at Thornfield, “…black, horned thing…” Brontë uses this phrase to emphasise how easily Rochester has turned Bertha into a monster.
In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, the reader experiences a typical punishment, received by Jane quite regularly for ‘bad’ behaviour, “…they went out, shutting the door, and locking it behind them…” Jane is imprisoned like a slave, kept under lock and key in the coldest, darkest, dankest room possible, farthest away from the things Jane craves most: family, warmth and love.
Even as a very small child, Jane was always a good judge of character: she felt more able to trust the servants than any member of the Reed family. Jane would also use this ‘sixth sense’ to pick up feelings about rooms in the house, “…Mr Reed had been dead nine years: it was in this chamber he breathed his last; here he lay in state…”. Since the room had been used solely, to Jane’s knowledge, when Mr Reed was ill, and he never left the room alive again, Jane rightly feels that the Red Room has the power to kill people, and is bewitched, “…lies the secret of the red-room – the spell…”
The servants, as instructed, have left Jane riveted to her place, “… a low ottoman near the marble chimney-piece…” this low seat with the great poster bed rising before it into the distance, makes Jane’s low status within the house and family clear to the reader. Jane feels intimidated by this room, the tiny seat emphasises her tiny frame and how huge the room and furniture is in comparison to her. The setting of the remote, cold and extremely dark room, emphasises to the reader just quite how coldly the whole family treats Jane.
In this extract of the novel, there is little dialogue; Brontë has concentrated on the setting and how it affects the reader’s emotions and increases the reader’s empathy for Jane. Brontë uses the senses to create a setting that any reader can relate to; “…all looked colder and darker…”
Throughout the novel, there is a distinct pattern of a fireplace, candle or fire, near or connected to one of Jane’s loved ones, or Jane herself. When Jane is sent away to school, the fire warms and connects the girls “…warmed numbed fingers…” the fire also symbolises Jane being thawed out after life with the Reeds. “…there was no candle…” again Brontë foreshadows Jane;s uncertain future, within the school and also in later life. Whilst at Lowood, Jane has many encounters with Mr Brocklehurst, “…standing on the hearth with his hands behind his back, surveyed the whole school…” a cold man, who not only turns away from the fire but also denies the girls the warmth, and therefore love of a family. As Jane moves away from teaching at Lowood, after being educated there as well, she meets Mrs Fairfax at Thornfield, “…the double illumination of the fire and candle…” Brontë links the fire to the love, friendship and warmth of Mrs Fairfax. To a reader, the flame of the candle is the clear foreshadowing of the flicker of love and friendship between Jane and Mr Rochester. Later in the novel it comes to be clear that Rochester will simply not be satisfied with the friendship of Jane, “… the fire and the chandelier are not sufficient…” Rochester wants Jane’s warmth, friendship and unstinting love. Brontë uses the fire as a symbol of hope and love between Jane and her loved ones, and sometimes the fire and flames are linked to the dwindling hope of a happy ending. An example is when Thornfield burns down, there is a chance of Jane losing Mr Rochester for ever. Mainly, Brontë uses the candle as a symbol of hope of family, one of the things Jane craves the most, “…the candle, who’s rays had been my beacon…” When Jane finds Marshend and her long-lost cousins it was the light of a candle which led her to that house alone.
Throughout Brontë’s novel, the reader can pick up hints of something being hidden from Jane, but never can the reader tell what that something is, until the moment comes for Jane and Rochester to marry. The wedding is stopped at the very last moment, by a man by the name of Mason, “…are you aware, this gentleman’s wife is still living?…she is now at Thornfield, I saw her last April, I am her brother…” This news breaks Jane’s heart especially when Rochester admits to it. He takes Jane, Mason and his solicitor back to Thornfield Hall, where he takes them all to a tapestried room at the top of the house. Both Jane and Mason have been here before; “…you know this place, Mason…she bit and stabbed you here…” Brontë gives her readers a sneak preview of what hides behind the next door.
“…in a room without a window…” Bertha is kept like an animal, kept in a cave with no natural light and no air. This windowless room makes the unwelcome visitors feel even more unwelcome, trapped and uncomfortable. “…there burnt a fire, guarded by a high and strong fender…” This is practically placed to stop Bertha being able to get to the fire, but symbolically, the reader can see the fire as Jane and Rochester’s love, taunting Bertha. “…it grovelled, seemingly, on all fours… the clothed hyena rose up, and stood tall on its hind-feet…” This description of Bertha shows just what Rochester had turned her into; a partially civilised monster.”…the lunatic sprang…at last…he bound her to her chair…” If anyone of Brontë’s readers had felt sympathy for Bertha, they soon lost all sympathy when reading this. Brontë portrays Rochester’s wife as a vicious character with no self control, who is taunted by the hatred her husband evidently feels for her. As Mr Rochester begins to accept the fact that he will never be able to marry Jane while Bertha is still alive, he becomes more and more angry, and as Jane informs him that she is leaving Thornfield, he is so wrapped up in his own misery that he doesn’t realise what he is losing, until it has gone.
Throughout the novel, Jane recieves several proposals of marriage, including one from Mr Rochester and one from St John. As is totally clear to the reader, Jane is really and truly in love with Mr Rochester; he seems better than anyone she has ever met; “… I had made no noise: he had not eyes behind – could his shadow feel?…” Rochester is also in love with Jane, so much so that he does not even need to hear or see her, he can sense when she is around him. Whereas St John proposes marriage to Jane almost as if he thinks she will never manage to find any other man who would marry her. He first suggests that she visit India with him, as a fellow missionary, then thinking of the scandal that this would cause, suggests a marriage. “…what does your heart say?…my heart is mute – my heart is mute…” Jane says this as an attempt to let St John down gently. She will never marry him as she knows she does not love him as much as she could ever love Mr Rochester.
Mr Rochester is evidently comfortable with Jane; he feels able to tease her, and she reacts to his teasing, “…my bride is here, because my equal is with my likeness…” Jane and Mr Rochester feel equal, even though Jane is a lowly governess and Mr Rochester is the master of Thornfield Hall. St John on the other hand, feels that Jane has lower intellect than himself, so he feels compelled to teach her many different things to prepare for their life together in India, which Jane knows will never happen. Brontë makes theses proposals as different as is physically possible to emphasise the difference in how Jane feels towards both these men.
Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, has become a timeless classic. Due to its extremely descriptive writing and its easy to relate to situations, any reader from any country in any period of time can understand the whole story and enjoy reading it.
