"Can we get to theme now?" You are growing impatient as you become more fatigued.
"Hey, you were the one who asked me to tell you about these things. Don't complain now. Charlotte Bronte utilizes the properties of fire and ice to describe the characters' personalities. While the theme of personality is itself not emphasized, descriptions of personalities recur frequently."
Awesome.
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"...his presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire" (149)
"He seemed to devour me with his flaming glance: physically, I felt, at the moment, powerless as stubble exposed to the draught and glow of a furnace..." (323)
"Mr. Rochester is given the attributes of fire. Fire is intense and dangerous, but when the fire is controlled, it can be a useful element by illuminating the space around it. When Mr. Rochester is relaxed, he is cheerier "than the brightest fire". When he is not tamed, however, his disposition becomes frightening and overbearing, just like a spreading fire."
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"'...no contact strikes the fire from you that is in you'" (199)
"...forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low..." (415)
"Similar to Mr. Rochester, Jane is ascribed a fiery disposition. She is aware of her own temperament, and she constantly fights to keep her fire roaring. Nothing is able to dampen her vivaciousness. If she were to marry St. John, who is described as being icy, she would have "to keep the fire of my [her] nature continually low...". St. John's iciness would overpower her warmth."
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Speaking of fire, you notice that the fire in the room is now a crackling smolder.
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"...his reserve was again frozen over..." (402)
"How much of the fall of the avalanche is their anger?" (419)
Ice is a biting force that is typically constant. St. John Rivers, through his name, is immediately depicted as being cold. Rivers can freeze over, and tend to be in lower temperatures. His anger is described as an "avalanche", a deadly force of ice and snow, capable of destroying everything in its path.
--
Your attention is now drawn to the window, where you can see the dense snow piling up and distant tree branches are swaying. You shiver.
The woman walks into the hallway, disappearing for a few minutes. When she returns, she has a thick quilt in her arms.
She drapes it around you with the care of a mother.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Signet Classics, 2008. Print.
I like that with the differences between Rochester and St. John, that fire and ice is used to describe them. Since both are forces that do not get along well together and what not.
ReplyDelete-Kevin Smith
The ice connection to Rivers is so accurate! I shouldn't believe how he "froze" himself after Jane left him. You'd think that after he asked for marriage he would have a little more to say to her when she left. Your explanation of this theme is done really well!
ReplyDeleteLydia
**couldn't
Deleteoops.