Birds In Jane Eyre Essay

In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Brontë’s choice to associate Jane Eyre or Edward
Rochester with birds represents their dependency on one another. In the beginning of their relationship, Jane is dependent on Rochester for financial and social reasons. As their relationship develops, she becomes more dependent on his love than his money. In both of these cases, Rochester describes Jane as a bird. But when Jane asserts her independence, she realizes she cannot identify as a bird anymore because she has free will. Ultimately, Jane does return to Rochester. Their marriage is often seen as a sacrifice of Jane’s independence. However, she only returns to Rochester after she has learned independence, as she is now equal to him, shown because they …show more content…
However, there is another interesting motif related to birds. From the beginning of the book, Jane has always wanted to find a home where she feels a sense of belonging. This is an instinct also found in nature, as migratory birds always return to their summer homes to build a nest. There are many examples of Jane trying to find herself a home; she draws nests both at Lowood and at the Reed house, as if trying to picture herself at home in those environments. But by the end of the book, she describes herself as a skylark “flying home” (487). She finally finds the home she is looking for in Mr. Rochester and feels as if she belongs. Like a bird, Jane has returned to her nest to start a family. Another connection to the nest theme is Jane’s last name. A French homophone, “aire,” translates to “eyrie,” which is an eagle’s nest. Because she describes Rochester as an eagle in the last part of the book, this implies that the nest that she had been searching for was with Rochester. The nest imagery shows that only after Jane had gained independence and formed an identity separate from Rochester could she return home and settle down with him. This shows that although Jane values love, she puts her quest for independence above