This document provides a summary and analysis of key elements in Charlotte Bronte's novel "Jane Eyre". It discusses the plot, themes of love and marriage, education, and social class. It also analyzes common motifs and symbols in the story, including fire, ice, the red room, portraits, and the character of Bertha Mason. The summary concludes that the novel explores the struggles of life and empowerment of women through Jane Eyre's experiences overcoming hardship and asserting her independence and integrity.

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“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
Introduction
In the story “Jane Eyre,” Charlotte portrays a turmoil life of an orphan girl in the home of
her aunt Reed who lives in Gateshead. The story shows how the innocent girl goes through
hardship in her a new family at a charity school of Lowood where she falls a subject to the cruel
rule. Jane Eyre shows great determination in life when portrays in herself a picture of a woman
with full of spirit and believe in integrity. While at Thornfield, she luckily secures a post of
governess and as a human, she happens to fall in love with Rochester. They propose, but things
turn otherwise on their wedding day. Jane comprehends that as a woman, she is entitled to a
better-off and wider life than what the society believes. Charlotte`s creative and thrilling novel
“Jane Eyre” provokes and engages the readers through the heroic life of Jane Eyre, the dangerous
secrets she encounters and the decisions she finally makes at the end.
Plot Analysis
Themes
Love and Marriage
“Jane the Eyre” reveals that love and marriage as two different things in life, which Jane
encounters in her love triangle. Jane feels that marrying Rochester while still in the relationship
with Bertha with because of the emotional gratification would undermine her integrity and
subject her heart to entire pain. She chooses to pursue other constructive activities that earn her

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economic independence and free her from emotional agony. Jane gives up on love that she even
develops a negative attitude towards St. John`s companion consideration, she felt that their
relationship will be loveless.
Education
Charlotte depicts education as the only opportunity for someone of low status can rise
and become a prominent person in life. It is through education that Jane Eyre manages to isolate
herself from the pangs of poverty in her aunt’s house to her own home at Moor house without
depending on someone for a living. She desperately grabs the offer of education at Lowood
Charity School and perseveres all the brutal treatment. Charlotte presents Education as a major
source of socialism. While in school, Jane learns foreign languages, different artistic skills and
music performances hence familiarizing herself with the culture.
Social Class
The story Jane Eyre portrays Jane as a person of social hierarchy; she accepts her status
of being poor but rely on her spirit to propel her life to the second level of moral nature,
Charlotte reveals the existence of Victorian class hierarchy. Those that have the anxiety to
acquire much wealth and status for selfish motives according to Charlotte are moral, hypocritical
erroneous, and that poverty can gain regards as long as those in it strive to better their lives and
able to rely on themselves.
Motifs and Symbols
Fire
Fire as used in “Jane Eyre,” depicts different revelation of emotions and reactions on situations
across the story. In the first outlook, fire reveals the inner craving of Jane to turn around her life
from poverty to another social class. The unbroken spirit and sense of integrity that compels her

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to higher levels relate to the burning fire in her heart enabling her to go through all the pains and
disappoints of life without giving up. Chapter 4 unveils the relations of fire in her, “a ridge of
lighted heath, alive glancing and devouring.” Fire discloses itself in her affection to Rochester
where she sees his eyes as “flaming and flashing.
On another angle, the act of arson by Bertha brings another revelation of fire in the story.
Chapter 15 exposes Bertha setting fire to bedclothes of Rochester showing the anger in her.
Therefore, Charlotte uses fire as the symbol of relief or seeking avenge; Bertha feels cheated in
her marriage her husband. Although Rochester blames Bertha to have caused all the misery in
their marriage, he argues that even though she is beautiful and attractive she was loose and used
to sleep around with other men, “in the style of Blanche Ingram.
Ice
Charlotte uses ice in the story to bring to light the emotional desolation and isolated
aspects in the characters. Ice serves as a discouragement or stumbling block to Jane`s success,
the freezing water temperatures every morning, showing the brutal treatment at Lowood that
tormented, given that she admired and had a passion in education. Jane refers Bertha as ice
during her wedding in chapter 26, “A Christmas frost had come at mid-summer, ice grasped the
ripe apple and corn-field lay a frozen shroud.” Bertha had come to take away her peace and her
overwhelming heart that was flourishing in love.
Charlotte uses ice to describe the relationship between Jane and St. in chapter 34, Jane
describes her feelings toward St. John, “By degrees, he acquired certain influence over me...I fell
under a freezing spell.” John`s proposal to Jane symbolizes the end of her freedom. The spirit to
yearn more in life and subjections to his power as her husband, she terms marriage as an

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imprisonment. Ice and cold depict how stiff and rigid St, John’s heart is, and which scares Jane
the most.
Red Room
The red room symbolizes the hardship that sharpens Jane into the person she is in the
society, enduring the pains prepares her to strive for social class, independence, and happiness in
her life. She reveals her boldness even on the situation outside; she focuses on how to stand on
her own other than finding a companion. The red room infected fear in her that she does not want
to subject herself to any rule, she believes marriage will take her back to the imprisoned life she
had while in the room. The memories of the red scope affect her mental and intellectual
behavior; she reveals it the moment Rochester proposes to her to be a mistress. Jane rejects the
proposal, finds her way out of the captivity of love, and attains her economic freedom,
happiness, house and spiritual family. To Jane, the red room symbolizes hell, a place far away
from liberty, pleasure and purposeful life.
Portraits and Paints
The drawing images symbolize the view and steps one has gone through in life, Janes
reflects her life through drawings and dreams that captures her deep emotions. In the story, Jane
draws four portraits that droves her mind crazy, she tries to unveil and presents what is in her
mind inform of pictures representing different characters of people. Therefore, the story uses
portraits and painting to symbolize people`s behaviors in life. In the four drawings in Jane
portfolio, each has a diverse view and meaning that Jane values most in hear. According to the
author, portraits gives an overview of one`s dreams and dictate what someone would want to
happen in their future. The first picture among the four, Janes shows her current life, the second
one reflects how she wants her future life to be in the Blanche Ingram. She draws them at the

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same time compares the two and feels that she still needs to work on her pathetic lifetime. The
third one contains the image of Rochester, which she draws it unconsciously. Rochester`s
portrait reminds her how she admitted her love for him. The fourth and the last one in the story,
Jane draws the sketch of Rosamond Oliver. Charlotte shows Jane`s passionate feeling to capture
the resemblance of herself, the people she knows and the way she values her progress in life
through painting The paintings and portraits.
Bertha Mason
Bertha symbolizes trouble, hatred and immorality in the Jane Eyre. She also signifies
terror and tension towards the people around her. The author uses her character to indicate
danger and chaos in the society. Her appearance marks the interior agony to Jane whose
overwhelming marriage dreams turn to internal grieve. Jane exposes her emotion in chapter 4
when she pronounces her inner spirit as fiery, “ridge of lighted heath.” Bertha reveals her anger
and hatred by burning Rochester`s bedding and causing havoc when Thornfield offers a state of
bondage and submission for Jane. Although her presence brought sense to Jane of establishing
herself and live, a free life that when she could have surrendered herself to Rochester, she
hampers with the little she secured after her doomed lifespan in the red room. Therefore, Bertha
is the outward image of jane`s interior vigor.
Conclusion
In summary, Chocolate touches on different aspects of life and through the life of Jane
Eyre, expounds the reader`s mind of endurance on struggles of life upon which their success lies.
The story, Jane Eyre empowers and acknowledges the role of a woman in the society. Charlotte`s
creativity in the art of writing provokes and engages the readers through the heroic life of Jane
Eyre, the dangerous secrets she encounters and the decisions she finally makes at the end. The

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choice and presentation of characters correspond to the flow of the story hence conveying the
author`s message.

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Work Cited
Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre. Reprint Ed. London: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.