Jane Eyre is a novel, written in the Victorian era by the author Charlotte Bronte. Bronte uses different setting in order to show what the characters are feeling. The setting is often a reflection of human emotion. The setting also foreshadows certain events that are going to occur.
A use of setting to portray a character’s emotion is essential to a novel. It gives the reader more of a feel for what is going on. An example of this is when Rochester proposes to Jane. Jane is dazzled and excited about the idea. The setting echoes her excitement. “A waft of wind came sweeping down the laurel-walk and trembled through the boughs of the chestnut…” Another instance is when Jane is walking through the Eden-like garden on “a splendid Midsummer, skies so pure, suns so radiant…”. The perfection of the day reflects Jane’s return to Thornfield where she feels acceptance, contentment, and love.
The setting can also show the gloom and despair of the character’s emotion. Jane is looking for a place to stay, is refused and made to stay outside in the weather. She weeps with anguish, feels despair, and rejection. The setting echoes her in that it is “such a wild night”. There is a driving rain and it is cold. The setting can be a reflection of just about any human emotion.
The setting plays a big part in the novel when the author uses foreshadowing. After Rochester proposes to Jane, the weather turns and the horse-chestnut tree, is split in half. “…the great horse-chestnut at the bottom of the orchard had been struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split away.”
This displays the coming of tragedy and the separation of Jane and Rochester.
Another instance is on the eve of their wedding day. The setting is a cloudy windy night with a red moon, “her disk was blood-red, and half-overcast…”
This night prefigures what’s going to happen the following day: Jane’s going to find out the truth about Rochester. Rochester’s description of how he sees Thornfield, “that house is a mere dungeon… filled with slime… cobwebs… sordid slate…
Violence in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre
Violence in Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte uses violence in several scenes throughout the novel. The violence in the novel is not fatal to anyone, it is just used to catch the readers eye. This novel consists of many emotional aspects. For example, the violence in the scene where Mr. Mason gets attacked. The attack really upsets Jane and Mr. Rochester. In the novel Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte uses several acts of violence to create suspense, mystery, and characterization.
This scene is probably the best one to create the suspense of the novel. It keeps a person interested in the book and wanting to know what happens next. There is no way of knowing why this happened, who does it, or if Mr. Mason is going to live or die. That is why Charlotte Bronte used violence to create this kind of suspense. So a person would be interested enough in the novel to keep reading. The mystery is a mystery itself, there is a secret at Thornfield and Jane can sense this. Then there is the mystery of the person who committed this act of violence. Jane suspects who it might be, but she is not for sure. To find out the mystery of the house and the person who did it a person has to solve it. Finally, there is the characterization of Bertha. From the way Rochester talks about Bertha at first she seems pretty normal, but he says how she become after they get married. She turned into someone he did not know, a crazy psychopath, mad woman. Rochester wanted to hide this from everyone even Jane, Bertha cares for no one but herself. She does not care who she hurts, she proved this when she hurt Mr.