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
Is that the paintings are theme? Would it be more accurate to say they are a symbol? What do they symbolize if so? How might you say Bronte is using them?
ReplyDeleteLook at those last sentences -- how can you get more specific in there?