Symbols in Jane Eyre The Chestnut Tree Site

Symbols in Jane Eyre

The Chestnut Tree • Site of Jane and Rochester’s declaration of love • Storm strikes • Tree splits

• "I am no better than the old lightning-struck -tree in Thornfield orchard… And would that ruin have to bid a woodbine cover its decay with chestnut what right budding freshness? "

Bluebeard • A character from a fairy-tale • Parallels between Jane Eyre and Bluebeard • Becomes a symbol of Mr Rochester’s secrecy

• “like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle!” • “but believe me, you cannot be too careful Try to keep Mr. Rochester at a distance: distrust yourself as well as him”

The red-room • Site of Uncle Reed’s death • Jane put there as punishment • Place of terror • Symbol of Jane’s oppression socially

• “My heart beat thick, my head grew hot” • “I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world” • “The carpet was red”, “Great pillars of mahogany”

Bertha Mason • Locked away in the attic of Thornfield Hall • Mr Rochester’s secret wife • Becomes a symbol of Mr Rochester’s hidden, regretful past

• “It was a curious laugh- distinct, formal, mirthless” • “I never saw a face like it! It was a discoloured face—it was a savage face”

Symbols in Jane Eyre