Sinful Love: Images of Fire In Jane Eyre

By Rasha El-Haggan, English Major at University of Maryland Baltimore County (Copyrighted 1998)

The essence of any true magnificent piece of literature is not what one can see in words. It is what one can see behind the words. It is through the symbolism and imagery found in works of literature that a reader can truly connect with the writer. Charlotte Bronte epitomizes the spirit of the "unread but understood" in her Victorian work Jane Eyre. There have been numerous essays and theories presented examining the complex symbolism and imagery used by Bronte in Jane Eyre. Much of the imagery she uses concentrates on passion, fantasy, and the supernatural. In this essay I will examine Bronte’s use of fire and heat imagery pertaining to Mr. Rochester and Jane’s love relationship.

To begin, fire imagery permeates Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre’s relationship from beginning to end. Since the passionate love that Rochester and Jane first held was sinful, it was accompanied by images of fire and burning. This can possibly be an image of hell. For example, when Rochester was trying to convince Jane to stay with him despite the fact that he was married, he described what he expected her reaction to be, "I was prepared for the hot rain of tears…but I err…your heart has been weeping blood." This image of hot rain and weeping blood lends itself to an image of punishment. Similarly, when Jane showed signs of fatigue, he carried her in his arms up to her room, holding her tightly. As a result of his "sinful" touching, Jane’s senses were dulled, "all was cloudy to my glazed sight." Yet when he placed her in front of the fireplace to warm up, she felt revived, "I felt the reviving warmth of a fire" Here the fire cleansed Jane of her stupor. It awoke her conscience to what Rochester was doing, "I remembered caresses were now forbidden. I turned my face away" In return for her dismissal of his kiss, Rochester reacted in a way similar to hell-like imagery. When Jane informed Mr. Rochester that she must leave him for the sake of both their souls, his reaction was almost devil like, "his voice and hand quivered: his large nostrils dilated; his eyes blazed." These images of dilating nostrils and blazing eyes are typical of a devil like figure. Rochester, the devil, attempts to convince Jane, the weak human, of going against God and sinning their soul to hell.

To further convince Jane of staying with him, Rochester tells her than he’ll put Adele in a boarding school and get rid of Thornfield. He calls Thornfield "this accursed place--This tent of Achan." In Joshua vii Achan "took of the accursed thing", i.e., he took spoils of war from the conquered city of Jericho, and concealed them in his tent. He and his family were ritually stoned to death at the Lord’s command as a result. Rochester’s situation parallels that of Achan. He, like Achan, wants to claim what is not his. He wants to lay hold on something that he has no right too—essentially Jane Eyre. Also, it is interesting that he refers to Thornfield as an "accursed place." This symbolizes a foreshadowing of the destruction of Thornfield later on in the novel.

Despite all this, Jane, as all humans, falls weak to matters of the heart. Fortunately, whenever her resolve quivers, Bronte uses imagery of cleansing fire to strengthened her. For example, when Jane was leaving for bed after Rochester tried to convince her to stay with him the night of their supposed wedding, she felt bad for her harsh words so she returned to kiss him upon the cheeks. Her resolve weakened a bit and she "smoothed his hair with [her] hand." Bronte knowing what such feelings can lead to, reminds Jane of her duties and strengthens her. Jane notices Rochester’s face changing, "Up the blood rushed to his face, forth flashed the fire from his eyes…" The fire shown in his eyes strengthened her resolve yet again and she "evaded the embrace, and at once quitted the room."

At times even Jane asks for strength through fire. For instance, before Jane discovered the fire that Bertha set in Rochester’s room, she was in her own bed tossing and turning, "Though I had now extinguished my candle and was laid down in bed, I could not sleep." Here the fire from the candle represents Jane’s strength. She thought she wouldn’t need it since she was going to sleep. However upon hearing a "vague murmur, peculiar and lugubrious," she wished her strength back, "I wished I had kept my candle burning." The image of the candle again repeats itself later on in the scene when Jane gets up to investigate the matter of the "vague murmur." Upon opening her bedroom door, she finds a candle on the floor, "there was a candle burning just outside…I was surprised at this circumstance." Here again her strength returns to her. She finds the energy and the courage to investigate the peculiar sounds and smells.

Further in the scene, Bronte removes Jane’s strength yet a second time. After she successfully rescued Rochester, he told her he’d have to go and investigate the 3^rd floor where Grace Poole was, "I shall take the candle. Remain where you are till I return; be as still as a mouse." As a consequence, Jane again feels lonely and fearful, "He went: I watched the light withdraw…the last ray vanished. I was left in total darkness…I grew weary: it was cold…" One can see through Bronte’s use of particular words like "vanished," "darkness," and "weary" that Jane felt her strength seep from her as the candle was taken away.

Rochester’s bedroom fire is also of significance within Jane and Rochester’s sinful love. It serves as both a warning and a cleansing. Although we, as readers, and Jane, as a character, do not yet know that Rochester is married, the omniscient Bronte does. Serving as a god like figure, Bronte warns Rochester against his hidden and subconscious thoughts through the burning of his room, something which is personal to everyone. In fact, the fire itself took on the shape of hell. Jane described it as "tongues of flame darted round the bed: the curtains were on fire. In the midst of the blaze and vapour, Mr. Rochester lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep." The picture one imagines is of a circle of flame engulfing the "dead" Rochester, enclosing upon him rapidly. Of course, as we later know, Rochester ignores this evident sign. After he thanks Jane for saving his life, she notes a "strange energy in his voice, strange fire in his look." Still holding her hand, he finally relaxes his fingers, lets her go, leaving not only Jane but the reader thinking that perhaps he has fallen in love with her and will continue to pursue her. Ironically, we already know that his decision leads both of them to further doom.

The bedroom fire also serves as cleansing. According to Christian beliefs, sinners are thrown in hell because their souls need physical cleansing. Although Bronte is known to be critical of religion, she still strongly adheres to Victorian morality. She felt the need, or even the obligation, to purify Rochester of his transgression. Thus after Jane rescued him from death, feeling quite shaky, the first thing he did was to go to the third floor to check up on Bertha. By cleansing him, the fire brought Rochester back to reality and his attention back on Bertha where it should have been from the start.

Finally, the image of fire signifies Jane and Rochester’s rebirth. In the fire that destroyed Thornfield, Rochester regained his status as a "good" person. As described by the innkeeper where Jane stayed, Rochester had a "courage and a will of his own" as a child. He regained that courage and sense of duty when he rescued Bertha, "It was all his own courage, and a body may say, his kindness, in a way" that caused his calamity. He, therefore, proved his worthiness to Jane by attempting to save Bertha. I think Bronte chose to tell the story of Thornfield’s fire through the innkeeper instead of letting us experience it through Jane’s eyes to lessen the fire imagery. Since this signifies the rebirth of both Jane and Rochester, fire imagery would not be suitable. It is the lack of fire imagery that is symbolic. For both Jane and Rochester have achieved "salvation" through morality. Even the inn keeper thought that Rochester was well punished for his sins, "it was a just judgment on him for keeping his first marriage secret, and wanting to take another wife while he had one living." Thus, Jane and Rochester reunited and each proved to be reborn, Jane after undergoing her own final period of personal and spiritual growth, and Rochester after facing his vices and rescinding his sinful nature.

In conclusion, the concept of fire used by Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre cleanses, foreshadows, strengthens, and reawakens both Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Bronte tempered the passionate nature of her novel by continuously revealing that heated sinful emotions only lead to ruin. Both Jane and Rochester were subjected to emotional and spiritual purgatory for their immorality. They were allowed solace only after achieving spiritual rebirth.

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