Symbolism in Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a book full of symbolism--big, small, important and even some less important symbols collide in this text, painting pictures of things like faeries dancing under a full moon, fires blazing in frozen wastelands, and explosive passions trapped behind bars.

One of the foremost symbols in Jane Eyre is that of Entrapment and Enclosure, especially of passion, powerful people, and ideas. For example, the first time we see Jane, "[f]olds of scarlet drapery shut in the view to the right hand," (10) and she has purposefully shut herself away from her cousins, intending to read quietly so as not to have to put up with her bully, John Reed. Shortly thereafter, she is locked in a bright red room as punishment for "[striking] a young gentleman, [her] young master," (15). Again, once in the Red Room, Jane awakens from a dead faint to see the shadow of bars over a fire. And these three examples are but a few from the very first chapters of the book--the theme of being shut away recurs nearly constantly throughout the novel.

Another theme that pops up in nearly every chapter is that of Fire vs. Ice. I've given one example already, just above--Fire is often used as a representative of passion, something of which Jane is full, and in the very beginning of the book, we see a fire being held back by bars. However, Jane is represented by not only fires, but also by ice--most characters we meet are shown with one or the other. From this very observation, we can note that, although full of passion, Jane is restrained in some aspects. Rochester, on the other hand, has hardly any rein. He is represented not only by fire itself, but by light and heat and everything associated with the fire. He is loud and crude, and he often treats and speaks to his staff as though they were merely tenets in his house, and not people who should be working for him. The interplay betwixt the two elements is fascinating; for example, in their first meeting, Jane is sitting upon a stile, literally on top of a fence. She has wrapped her garments around her and is taking a minute's respite in the chilly winter air. There is ice coating the ground. She soon hears the thundering of a horse's hooves, and thinks of a member of the Fae that "hunted solitary ways, and sometimes came upon belated travellers." (132) However, out of the dark comes none other than Rochester, and they have no sooner seen one another than Rochester's horse slips on an unfortunate piece of ice and throws its rider from its back--and immediately, the ice has triumphed over the fire, and Rochester has been unhorsed and thereby unmanned.

These are but two of the most important and frequent symbols in Jane Eyre, and there are many, many more. However, keeping these (Entrapment and Enclosure, Fire vs. Ice) in mind whilst reading will certainly reveal more about the story, narration, and plot than one would think.