Another Gothic device used by Brontë is the supernatural. Jane is locked in the red room in Mrs. Reeds house, a room where she knows Mr. Reed “breathed his last.” She recalls hearing of “dead men troubled in their graves by the violation of their last wishes, revisiting the earth to punish the perjured and avenge the oppressed”,
and her vivid imagination causes her to believe that the room is haunted to such a degree that she is finally overcome with terror. The very colour of the room also links strongly to the Gothic genre. Red is a colour associated with passion, anger, and danger, all very Gothic concepts. Jane describes the bed cover and curtains as, “deep red” and the tables as covered with a “crimson cloth”, even the carpet was “red.” These descriptions bring to the readers mind an image of a room where all the furnishings remind one of blood, which is associated with the Gothic notion of horror. The idea of red as an expression of anger links to Jane’s anger at her situation and the limitations placed on her because she is poor and thus rendered powerless in the Reed’s household and dependent on their charity:
“ Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned?”
Brontë uses these sentiments as they reflect her own frustration at the constraints of a patriarchal society.
Brontë includes the Gothic device of the supernatural to show Jane’s vulnerability through her imagination. This is Jane’s main weakness and throughout the novel she torments herself with the supernatural. This is again shown on her first meeting with Mr. Rochester. Jane is very isolated from both Thornfield and any other populated area at this point, and on hearing the hooves of Mr. Rochester’s horse, she immediately conjures the idea of a “North-of-England spirit, called a ‘Gytrash’; which, in the form of horse, mule, or dog, haunted solitary ways and sometimes came upon belated travellers.” The notion of spirits and the supernatural is a profoundly Gothic idea, and is used by Brontë to convey to the reader Jane’s vast imagination and link her more closely with the idea of a Gothic heroine.
The main characters in ‘Jane Eyre’ contain some of the characteristics that are typical to the Gothic genre, but most have aspects to their personalities that make them very untypical. Jane is no exception. Gothic novels called for the heroine to be pretty, meek and trusting whereas Jane is none of these things. She is outgoing, not afraid to fight for what she thinks is right, and she is not conventionally pretty. She feels herself “humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed.” Jane typically stands up for herself, thus going against the Gothic stereotype of the meek heroine, and speaks her mind:
“I should, if I had deliberated, have replied with something conventionally vague and polite but the answer slipped from my tongue.”
For Brontë to make her main character fall in love with a man that was not conventionally attractive and was flawed in many ways meant that she took the character of Jane to another level, where, unlike the superficial characters of other romantic novels, Jane could be taken more seriously as a woman with strong view and opinions. This is reinforced by Jane’s own unattractiveness and her obvious intellect, and meant that Brontë could use Jane to express her own opinions on controversial subjects such as the roles of men and women.
Jane constantly challenges the social status quo by believing herself to be worth more than her allotted status. She relates her feelings to all women, not just those of her own class:
“ …women just feel as men feel: they need exercise for their faculties…..they suffer from too rigid a restraint … precisely as men would suffer.”
Jane’s thoughts and sentiments reflect Brontë’s belief in the equality of men and women and the fact that Jane is educated, an unusual occurrence at that time, also mirrors Brontë’s own educated status. Jane’s character, just like Brontë herself, rejects the ideal Victorian woman deep inside but struggles to conform to it for appearances sake. However, in order to make Jane a popular character Brontë makes an effort to ensure elements of her character and situation fit the Gothic stereotype, such as Jane’s orphan status. This links to the Gothic idea of ‘romantic isolation’ not only in settings, but in the situations of characters. Jane is separated from her family as she is an orphan; and separated from the Reed’s by their detestation of her. She is also isolated by force on occasion as when she is locked in the red room and by the remoteness of Thornfield.
One of the ideas typical of the Gothic heroine is essential to the plot of ‘Jane Eyre’. This is that the heroine redeems a ‘noble savage’ with her love, and loves him powerfully and faithfully. There is a direct link between this idea and the manner of Jane and Rochester’s relationship throughout the novel.
Mr. Rochester is much more of a typical Gothic character than Jane although Brontë avoids some of the Gothic cliché’s by not making him conventionally handsome; “a dark face with stern features and a heavy brow.” This allows Jane to feel confident in front of him and not so acutely conscious of her own shortcomings:
“Had he been a handsome heroic-looking young gentleman, I should not have dared to stand thus questioning him against his will.”
Mr. Rochester is also portrayed as the antithesis of the protective Gothic hero as he falls off his horse and has to rely on Jane’s aid, which undermines his masculinity: “you may help me yourself, if you would be so kind.” This is also shown at the end of the novel, when Jane goes to Rochester after gaining a sum of five thousand pounds, to find that he is a blind cripple:
“you are rich Jane, and must have friends who will look after you, and not suffer you to devote yourself to a blind lameter such as myself.”
Brontë includes this to show that women can be in positions of equality and power and be the protector of a man rather than always the other way around.
Rochester does however fit into the category of the Gothic ‘hero’, which is stereotypically paraphrased into ‘a noble man in despair, who seems a savage, but is ultimately redeemed by love’. We discover that his father and brother concealed the fact that Bertha Mason’s mother was in an insane asylum and thought only of her money and forced him into his marriage with her. This leaves him with a dreadful secret, and makes him the “unforgiving, unsettled and abrupt” character that we see throughout the novel. It is this stern and cold nature that we see transformed by Jane’s feelings towards him and he begins to become more affectionate, calling her his “little Janet”.
Charlotte Brontë used this Gothic framework to create Rochester’s personality and situation, which in turn creates an essential part of the plot and the portrayal of Jane. It allows us, the reader, to feel sympathy for Rochester and his terrible dilemma and to excuse him his feelings towards Jane whilst he is still, technically, a married man. . The idea of Jane falling in love with a man who is already married also reflects Brontë’s own life. Brontë fell in love with a high status married man who broke her heart, although she gives Jane a happy ending, unlike her own, “Reader, I married him.”
Brontë uses a typically Gothic element when describing Mr. Rochester’s wife, Bertha, in that she portrays her as a ‘monster’. On seeing Bertha for the first time, Jane likens her to ‘the foul German spectre – the vampire’. This is a monster that is common in Gothic novels. Brontë uses such a Gothic description to induce readers to see Bertha as less than human, and to therefore sympathise more with Mr. Rochester’s situation. Brontë reinforces this animalistic portrayal of Bertha when Jane hears what is described as “a canine noise, a snarling, snatching sound, like a dog quarrelling” emitted from Bertha’s room as she attacks and bites Mr. Mason. Jane also describes Bertha as a “clothed hyena, stood tall on its hind feet”.
In addition, Brontë makes an almost direct reference to the idea of the moon having an affect on people’s moods. For example, Brontë describes the moon as being “full and white. It was beautiful, but too solemn”, and then follows it with an outburst from Bertha. This gives the reader the idea that Bertha is a ‘lunatic’, that she is provoked into rage when the moon is out and full. The reader’s impression of Bertha is made all the more monstrous by the fact that the creature most closely linked with the changes of the moon is a werewolf, which is a creature of terror and a very Gothic character. This very Gothic portrayal of Bertha also makes her much more shocking and terrifying as a monster because she is so far removed from reserved and civilised society.
Another of the characters in the ‘Jane Eyre’ that correspond to the different roles within a typical Gothic novel is Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed could be placed in the category of the Gothic ‘villain’ because she has many of the characteristics generally attributed although she does not physically embody this ideal. For example, she is a related to Jane through marriage, and she, as well as her son, John Reed, show “miserable cruelty” towards Jane. Mrs. Reed also contrives to prevent Jane from being adopted by her uncle and left an inheritance by him because she “detested Jane too fixedly to ever lend a hand to raise her to prosperity.” Brontë includes this in the novel because it gives Jane a desire to be independent, and also helps to accentuate the ‘mistreated orphan’ ideal of the Gothic heroine within Jane.
Brontë makes much use of a Gothic device known as pathetic fallacy where the mood of a character or event is reflected in their surroundings, most often the weather. For example, before Jane’s first meeting with Mr. Rochester the scene is calm and tranquil, with Jane remarking that she “walked slowly to enjoy and analyse the species of pleasure brooding for me”. Brontë then goes on to describe a very pleasant scene, which shows the reader that Jane is calm and contented, and hinting that something good is about to happen. Jane also tells us that she “did not feel the cold, although it froze keenly”. Brontë adds this as a prelude to the nature of Jane and Rochester’s relationship later on in the novel, because it reflects the fact that Jane is not offended or disheartened by the cold and aloof manner that Mr. Rochester adopts towards her. It is Jane’s resilience to Rochester’s cold-heartedness that eventually brings about a change in him, and he becomes warm and affectionate.
Pathetic fallacy is also used negatively in ‘Jane Eyre’. An example of this is the night that Rochester declares his love for Jane and proposes to her. Prior to the incident, “a splendid Midsummer shone over England: skies so pure, suns so radiant as seldom favour our wave-girt land.” However, as soon as Jane accepts Rochester’s proposal the weather changes, “though the moon had not set, all was in shadow” and then a “livid, vivid spark leapt out of a cloud, there was a crack, a crash and a close rattling peal, the rain rushed down.” Brontë includes this change in weather to convey an ominous feeling about the impending union to the reader, and helps to prepare us for a disaster ahead. Brontë hints even more closely at this by including at the end of the chapter, “the great horse-chestnut tree had been struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split away.” Jane and Rochester had been sitting under this tree when they had agreed to marry, and thus the chestnut tree is used by Brontë to represent the impending rupture and decay of their relationship after this point.
Through the use of many typically Gothic devices, such as ‘romantic isolation’ and pathetic fallacy and also her observation of the different roles that occur in Gothic novels, such as a heroine, hero, monster and villain; Charlotte Brontë has managed to successfully write a novel that on first impressions may appear to be entirely of the Gothic genre, but on closer inspection contains many irregularities and deviances from this ideal. Her two main and most prominent characters, the hero and heroine, are the best examples of this, as both are flawed, which is uncharacteristic of both the Gothic and Romantic genres with which ‘Jane Eyre’ is associated. Mr. Rochester is flawed in his unattractiveness, surly manner and undesirable marital situation; and Jane is also flawed in her physical undesirability; and by her outspoken and frank nature; which was not regarded as a good quality for a woman to have. However, with the inclusion of many Gothic themes that become an essential part of the plot, for example Thornfield’s loneliness and the idea of Bertha being portrayed as a ‘monster’, Brontë managed to persuade readers that ‘Jane Eyre’ was in fact of the Gothic genre. In doing so she thus secured as wide an audience as possible to whom she could convey her controversial ideas and wishes through the character of Jane, who only finds peace within her life when she meets a man that sees her as an equal, and, by the end of the novel, even depends on her.
