16. Jane Eyre

"Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings..." (11).
Throughout "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, Jane is continuously drawing and painting pictures which the other characters comment on throughout the tale. Shortly after Mr. Rochester and Jane meet, Mr. Rochester requests to see Jane's artwork and goes in depth to search for its inner meaning. When Jane meets her cousins, she paints a picture of St. John's love, Miss Oliver. Paintings decorate the entire novel from beginning to end, and the quote on page 11 appears at the beginning of the book to identify the art that is going to be used throughout the rest of the novel to depict certain scenes and emotions of the characters. I do think that Charlotte Bronte used a very intense and intriguing technique by clearly making the statement at the beginning of her story about paintings, and then using them throughout her entire story. It is a repeated symbol that is most likely used so that the reader is able to understand certain situations and their meanings a little bit better. From using painted pictures as a symbol throughout "Jane Eyre," it is evident that Charlotte Bronte is trying to portray the realization that there is always a different view on looking at a situation and that just because someone paints an image from one outlook, it does not mean that it is the right one. There are a million ways to look at one situation and there is always more than one side to a situation, which is what Jane learned from her experiences. That is also what Charlotte Bronte tries to introduce to the reader as she illustrates it through paintings.

(No Outside Source.)

Photo Credit:
"Photo Submission Guidelines." wbztv38. 28 November 2009.
http://llnw.image.cbslocal.com/0/2007/10/04/original/Correct_Picture_Size.jpg

15. Jane Eyre

"'Who in the world cares for you...I care for you myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself...there I plant my foot'" (365).

Charlotte Bronte is a very strong woman who appears to believe whole-heartily in not relying on others to accomplish one's goal. She has a point in writing this within her novel, and it depicts Jane's situation perfectly. If one learns to stand on his own, respect is grown because one knows everything that was accomplished, was done by his own hand. There is a self respect which accumulates from the experience, but at the same time it leads to loneliness. Jane's character is, mentally, very stable and headstrong, but she tends to try too hard to make a name for herself. If people do not take a chance on other people, then lessons are not taught. Charlotte Bronte wrote some very important words within her quote which keep the reader thinking about their own life.

(No Outside Source.)

14. Jane Eyre

"Women are supposed...but women feel just as men feel...and embroidering bags" (130).

Charlotte Bronte writes her novel trying to emphasize the rights of women and to portray the struggles they go through. When Jane first meets Adele, she sees her as a sweet child, but also a wild one with an untamed spirit. Jane knows that she enjoys playing, just like little boys. She starts to brainstorm even further and believes that women are no different than boys, which is very true. Girls during this time period had to be elegant, know how to play the piano, and know how to sew, cook, and clean. If a woman wanted to go outside to help with the men's work, it was often frowned upon. Men were not able to go sew if they wanted to either, it was a one way street for both of them, and the paths could never intertwine. Bronte includes this into her novel to reveal the time period and to say that she has things that she wants to do in her life, that she is not able to partake in because of her sex. By adding these lines into her book it clearly identifies her strong beliefs that men and women should be treated equally because they all feel and think the same things, whether or not they admit to it.

(No outside source.)

Photo Credit:
"Mary Cassatt American Impressionist Paintings & Prints." Encore Editions. 28 November 2009.
http://www.encore-editions.com/illustratedbks/aamart3/thumbs/Mary_Cassatt_Women_Sewing_1913_1914_os_21x21.jpg

13. Jane Eyre

"In a few weeks I was promoted...I learned the first two tenses of the verb Etre...on the same day" (88).

It is interesting to find that Charlotte Bronte has Jane learn the verb "Etre," right after she has talk with Helen and starts learning new ways to cope with negativity and to rise above cruelty. Etre is french for the verb, to be. In other words Jane "learned the first two tenses of the verb to be." It may be a play on words. Bronte has Jane learn a valuable lesson, which can be summed up as, no one is in charge of how one reacts or makes ones' choices, but that person. After Jane learns this lesson, she learns how "to be."

(No outside source.)

12. Jane Eyre

"'If Saul could have had you for his David...been exorcised without the aid of the harp'"(506).

Mr. Rochester explains to Jane her effects on him. He is completely engrossed in Jane and praises her up till she can no longer handle anymore. By Mr. Rochester saying that she could have calmed Saul without a harp is confessing the strong hold Jane has on him and his admiration for her. It is said that music calms the beast within, and that is what David did with his harp whenever Saul was taken over by an evil spirit. Charlotte includes this comparison to create another image of Jane. She appears to have a light surrounding her in the eyes of Mr. Rochester and it guides him through his life in ways she is unable to even imagine. Charlotte appears to carry a large faith, or at least hold a lot of knowledge about biblical times and the beliefs Christians preserve. As she writes her novel she appears to be informing the reader about God and her opinions of the wrong and right things to do in life. She is trying to draw a bigger picture about her perception as she writes her story. From what she has written of, it could be that Bronte believes in level-headed thinking and committing actions with a clear mind. She speaks of calming Mr. Rochester through Jane's being. She could also be claiming that one person is able to help another person out just from being who they are.

"David and Saul." Internet Bible Church. 27 November 2009. September 1996.
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/davidjon.htm

Photo Credit:
"Pulpit." LibArt.com. 28 November 2o09.
http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/19372-pulpit-giovanni-pisano.html

11. Jane Eyre

"The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter...but still a truthful interpreter--in the eye" (365).


All through "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, eyes are mentioned and each time they portray the inner thoughts and desires of the characters. Mr. Rochester continuously reads Jane's eyes like a book and everything he says is exactly what she is thinking and feeling. It has been said that "the eye is the window to the soul" and through this book it can be inferred that Bronte strongly believes this to be a true fact (The Doorway to Symbolism). Mr. Rochester is able to see right into Jane's soul and knows it like the back of his hand. Bronte may wish she had the chance to behold such a relationship with her master. However, he was married and to have that sort of relationship would have been wrong and would have hurt a lot of people. Bronte most likely included the passage about the eye being the interpreter of the soul to explain that words are not always needed because a look of the eye can sometimes say more than words ever could.

"Symbolic Meaning of Eyes." The Doorway to Symbolism. 28 November 2009. 2009.
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-meaning-of-eyes.html

Photo Credit:

"What do you think the eyes tell you when u look into them? lol?." Soda Head. 28 November 2009. 28 August 2009.

http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/what-do-you-think-the-eyes-tell-you-when-u-look-into-them-lol/question-592111/

10. Jane Eyre

"'Sir,' I answered, a wanderer's repose or a sinner's reformation should never depend on a fellow creature...let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend and solace to heal'" (252).

Charlotte Bronte speaks throughout her entire novel of God and working to become sinless. This quote emphasizes her message even more by telling the reader that one should not look to other people for guidance, but to their maker for the answers on how to mend their ways. Jane has learned all of these lessons from her experiences. From another angle, Bronte may be including embedding this theme in her book to tell the reader that humans cannot be trusted, and to rely on one is a great mistake. The only one Bronte can fully trust is her Creator. He has not put her down or hurt her in any way. St. John later tries to make Jane his wife in this book, and following along this same theme, he was let down by humans. Instead, he turned to his creator. He learned, or started to understand, that one cannot fully rely on fellow mankind after he was turned down by Jane.

(No outside source.)

9. Jane Eyre

"'It does good to no woman to be flattered...must lead, ignis-fatuus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication'" (186-187).

Jane is giving herself a pep talk, well, actually she is scolding herself for falling for someone who she believes she could never be with. The word "ignis-fatuus" is found in a poem called " To a Youthful Friend" by Lord Byron. Jane is not confident enough to start thinking that Mr. Rochester may like her, so she tells herself to move on and not dwindle on little cases of infatuation. Jane's character seems to fit Bronte's personality in the sense that Bronte also went through many changes such as being shipped off to a school, being a governess, and falling in love with a married man. These thoughts are most likely based on the thoughts Bronte has had in her past. By including this perception it allows the reader to understand where Bronte is coming from and where Jane may be headed within the novel.



"Charlotte Bronte." The Literature Network. 27 November 2009. 2009.
http://www.online-literature.com/brontec/

"To a Youthful Friend." Read Book Online. 27 November 2009. 2009.
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/3414/

Photo Credit:
"Counselor's Corner." Pioneer Online. 28 November 2009. 13 July 2009.
http://www.occc.edu/Pioneer/Archives/July_13_2009/images/lord-byron.jpg

8. Jane Eyre

"Sense would resist delirium: judgment would warn passion" (177).

Charlotte Bronte writes this as one sentence within her novel. It feels like she felt the need to express this thought which had occurred to her, but at the same time the reader also gets the vibe that Bronte has experienced the piece of advice she is giving. Her built in defense system is telling her to do one thing, while her heart is pulling her strings in another direction. From that statement it is quite apparent that Jane feels something but is reluctant to follow what she so strongly desires to have, which would be Mr. Rochester, and someone to actually love her. Bronte includes this line to reveal Jane's thoughts and it creates Jane into a more believable character, since most people can relate to being indecisive on what they should do. During the time period of publication of this novel, religion and trying to be free were frowned upon. Charlotte Bronte had to make a lot of decisions in determining her final decision on publishing her work. In doing so, it exposed herself to criticism from the public. Bronte shows her strong will to do what she believes in and to not falter from what she feels is the right thing to do.

(No Outside Source.)

7. Jane Eyre

"'To speak truth, sir, I don't understand you at all...to which you might revert with pleasure'" (161).

Charlotte Bronte is speaking through Jane trying to emphasize the point to the reader that only you can become the person you are proud to be. No one else in this world has the power to make you some one you are content with being. The theme of being happy in your own skin and realizing what you are and are not able to do is reoccurring with every turn of the page. Helen knows that her teachers get frustrated with her, but she is aware that getting frustrated right back at them gets neither of them anywhere, so she stands there and understands that she is not perfect. Helen is comfortable as she is and enjoys being herself. She is unchanging throughout the story. Bronte's main message in this book, and from this quote is that one must want to change in order for it to happen and if you want to be someone you are proud of being, then do things you are proud to be part of.

(No Outside Source)

6. Jane Eyre

"'Not quite: you have secured the shadow of your thought...Where did you see Latmos? For that is Latmos. There--put the drawings away!'" (148).

Charlotte Bronte introduced Latmos into her novel to depict the strong feelings Jane already had for Mr. Rochester. It is a subtle way of saying how dedicated Jane is to him. In another light, the notes section within "Jane Eyre" claims that Mt. Latmos is "where the moon-goddess Selene seduced Endymion in his sleep" (The Victorian Web). Jane does not seduce Mr. Rochester, but his present wife attempts to ruin him because he no longer loves her. Mr. Rochester may have wanted to get rid of the image from his eyes when he realized that it not only connects him to Jane, but also to the past of his wife whom he keeps locked away. Bronte may have included Mt. Latmos to do some more foreshadowing and to make the reader wonder why he all of sudden turned the pictures away.


"Jane Eyre's Three Paintings." The Victorian Web. 27 November 2009. 19 January 1999.
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/bolt7.html

Photo Credit:
"Endymion on Mount Latmos." World Gallery. 28 November 2009. http://www.worldgallery.co.uk/art-print/Endymion-on-Mount-Latmos-102149.html

5. Jane Eyre

"'Like heath that, in the wilderness, The wild wind whirls away'" (136).

These lines are from a poem called "Fallen is Thy Throne," which was written by Sir Thomas Moore. The poem speaks of how something brilliant was once there, but time changes things and that brilliance is now gone. It is the reality of how something so good goes away in a blink of an eye. This feeling is apparent when Jane and Mr. Rochester first meet on the road and Jane helps him get back on his feet. Charlotte Bronte could be expressing the start of something new. The quote fits the moment in which Bronte places Jane. One moment Mr. Rochester was there in front of Jane, which mystified her, and the next he was on his way and she believed he was gone forever. Little did she know he lived under the same roof that she did at the moment. Bronte could have been trying to express the message that even if something seems to have disappeared from ones life forever, not to worry. Life is an uncertain element and it never ceases amazing people; unexplainable events occur so one should enjoy them.

"Fallen is Thy Throne.." The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore. 26 November 2009.
http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Complete-Poems-of-Sir-Thomas-Moore11.html

4. Jane Eyre

"Her grave is in Brocklebridge Churchyard...with her name, and the word 'Resurgam'" (98).

Written on Helen's grave laid the word "Resurgam," which translated means "I shall rise again." Rising again could either reveal Helen's strong faith, which Charlotte Bronte could wish she had, or actually does possess. Rising again could mean to be with God, or to mean that she believes in reincarnation. Those are both possible answers, but having someone rise again definitely portrays a strong belief in some higher power. Bronte appears to be speaking of religion and God a lot through her novel. She could be revealing her personal strong beliefs through the character, Jane Eyre.

(No Outside Source.)

3. Jane Eyre

"This afternoon, instead of dreaming of Deepden...what a pity it was that, with his integrity and conscientiousness, he could see no further than the prerogatives of the Crown" (68).

Charlotte Bronte expresses her thoughts and opinions through Helen as well as Jane. Helen is very in tune with herself and has a very strong faith. She can hold herself up high even if she is continuously being shot down. If Jane is portraying Charlotte's lifestyle and thoughts, I believe that Helen is the character Charlotte wishes she could have been. Helen is comfortable in her skin and knows reality. She lives in the present and Jane looks up to her because of her belief system; it is as if there is nothing that can penetrate it. By Charlotte including the quote of a former king abusing power, it enables the reader to grasp the understanding of how power can change people. When one does not have so much material items it allows him to see the truth in most situations, while those who do carry a lot of possessions with them, it blocks their view so they are not fully aware of their actions. Charlotte passes her thoughts on power through Helen, which in turn lets Helen's character become more open to what is really occurring in the world, which creates a strong minded woman.

(No Outside Sources besides the book, Jane Eyre.)

Photo Credit:
"The Synagogue of Satan." The French Connection. 28 November 2009.
http://www.iamthewitness.com/books/img/King.Charles.I.1628.AD.jpg

2. Jane Eyre

"Poverty looks grim to grown people...poverty for me was synonymous with degradation" (29-30).

Charlotte Bronte most likely included this line within her novel to get a large message across. The fact that one is poor does not really mean anything to anyone until someone points it out. The concept of being poor is misinterpreted in Charlotte's eyes. She sees poor people as those who have lost their self respect from being humiliated numerous times. Material items are not the only elements in considering if someone is poor or not. To Charlotte it is also a emotional and mental state of being. Charlotte Bronte was also an orphan, like her character Jane Eyre. She was put into the mental state of feeling like she was less than nothing, which is how Charlotte portrayed her character, Jane, as being. Charlotte shares her life experiences through Jane.

Book: "Jane Eyre." Charlotte Bronte. 26 November 2009. 2006.

1. Jane Eyre

"Bessie asked if I would leave a book...'Gulliver's Travels,' from the library" (25).



"Gulliver's Travels" is a book written by Jonathan Swift, and it is about a character named Lemuel Gulliver who decides to travel the world. He comes to all of these foreign lands where he is not treated well. However, the more places he visits, the nicer the people become. As he arrives at the end of the story he has somewhat found a decent place to live. This story is a lot like Jane Eyre in the sense that she too was not treated well among her travels. She started with her aunt, and was not treated well at all. The school was slightly better and her life kept improving with each step she took. Her last two stops were the best parts of her life where she found that someone did indeed love her and then she discovered that she did have an actual family. By including "Gulliver's Travels" in this book, I think that Charlotte Bronte is trying to foreshadow Jane's lifestyle. She is letting the readers know that Jane is not going to be living in one place,
but she has learned and grown from all of her experiences as she moves from place to place. It also gives readers the message that even if something does not seem to be working out, if one just gives it time and hopes for the best, they may be surprised what their future can hold. "Gulliver's Travels", also being criticized for its content, portrays Bronte's realization that her work can be equally compared. For the time periods that both of these works were published, it put a target on the authors. In Bronte's eyes, "Gulliver's Travels" can be seen as an equal.

"Gulliver's Travels." Sparknotes. 26 November 2009. 2009.
http://www.sparknotes. com/lit/gulliver/summary.html

Photo Credit:
"Gulliver's Travels." Children's Books Online. 28 November 2009. 2004.
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/Gullivers_Travels/pages/001_gullivers_travels.htm