Jane Eyre is a timeless novel about an orphaned girl trying to move up in a male run, wealth based society. Women are severely oppressed in this society, and their identities are torn apart and remolded by men to their standards. Charlotte Bronte uses patterns of imagery and symbolism to express the emotions and hardships of women during this time. Two symbols commonly repeated in the novel are fire and ice, both as different as they are alike, extreme elements expressing the extreme emotions and suppression of females. Fire represents extreme passion and sexuality, two things women were taught not to show, especially not sexuality. Ice is a symbol of how women made themselves so that they would be accepted in society. Bronte uses these visuals
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Jane herself wants to be like water and ice, because her flaming passions are mainly frowned upon in the society she lives in. Water describes the serene aspects of Jane, her ability to remain level headed in most situations, while ice represents the wall like facade she has created in order to give no one the satisfaction of her emotion. The biggest use of ice imagery is used when she is around St. John. Although he is friendly and warm when she first arrives, he turns cold and icy in an instant. Jane starts to become aware of St. John's coldness when she felt as if she had "fell under a freezing spell" (pg. 270) cast by St. John. She could no longer talk, laugh, or be happy when he was around her. A kiss is supposed to be a warm and lovely action, but Jane described St. John's kisses as "marble kisses, or ice kisses" (pg. 270). St. John's ice like attitude and cold actions make Jane want to stay in England, instead of traveling with him to India. Although Jane becomes surrounded by ice, her personality still clings to a water like flow. Rochester says Jane "refreshes" him and it awakens him to better love because his feelings for her are like "while the sun drinks the dew"(pg. 448); but the water she represents is seldom serene. "Buoyant but unquiet sea"(pg. 313), she uses this comparison to describe her emotional state after she has saved Rochester from the first fire, is perhaps the best description for the water she represents; moreover, and is evident from her relationship with Rochester, a good deal of potential for
Jane herself wants to be like water and ice, because her flaming passions are mainly frowned upon in the society she lives in. Water describes the serene aspects of Jane, her ability to remain level headed in most situations, while ice represents the wall like facade she has created in order to give no one the satisfaction of her emotion. The biggest use of ice imagery is used when she is around St. John. Although he is friendly and warm when she first arrives, he turns cold and icy in an instant. Jane starts to become aware of St. John's coldness when she felt as if she had "fell under a freezing spell" (pg. 270) cast by St. John. She could no longer talk, laugh, or be happy when he was around her. A kiss is supposed to be a warm and lovely action, but Jane described St. John's kisses as "marble kisses, or ice kisses" (pg. 270). St. John's ice like attitude and cold actions make Jane want to stay in England, instead of traveling with him to India. Although Jane becomes surrounded by ice, her personality still clings to a water like flow. Rochester says Jane "refreshes" him and it awakens him to better love because his feelings for her are like "while the sun drinks the dew"(pg. 448); but the water she represents is seldom serene. "Buoyant but unquiet sea"(pg. 313), she uses this comparison to describe her emotional state after she has saved Rochester from the first fire, is perhaps the best description for the water she represents; moreover, and is evident from her relationship with Rochester, a good deal of potential for