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Color Red In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

Decent Essays

Many authors use symbols, characters or objects in their stories to help prove their point further. Charlotte Bronte did this in her book Jane Eyre. One of the ways Charlotte Bronte did this was by using the color red numerous times throughout her book. But what does this color represent? Red appears when Jane is trapped in the red room, and she wraps herself in the curtains, in the decorations chosen to decorate her houses, and to depict Bertha Mason’s sister. She is almost always surrounded with red in Jane Eyre, weather it is fiery red passion, or red furniture. In the beginning of the book, Jane wraps herself in curtains. “I mounted into the window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk; and, having drawn the red Moreen …show more content…

As her childhood years are nearing the end, Jane Eyre was hired to become the tutor of Thornfield. She became the school teacher of the little girl named Adele. Thornfield was a place of passion. Her passion begins to emerge, and once it starts to leak out, there is no turning back. One of the ways we can see that Thornfield is a place of passion is through the color red, and it’s usage is decorations. When Jane arrives to Thornfield, the maid Mrs. Fairfax, takes Jane on a tour of the house. Jane sees red used in the decorations and furniture in Thornfield. “Yet it was nearly a very pretty drawing-room, and within it a boudoir, both spread with white carpets, on which seemed laid brilliant garlands of flowers; both veiled with snowy moldings of white grapes and vine-leaves, beneath which glowed in rich contrast crimson couches and ottomans; while the ornaments on the pale Parian mantelpiece were sparkling Bohemian glass, ruby red; and between the windows large mirrors repeated the general blending of snow and fire.” Since red is a symbol of passion, Charlotte Bronte is trying to show how Thornfield is filled with passion by using red even in the decorations. While staying at Thornfield, Jane experiences a fire that begins to consume Mr. Rochesters room. Jane is awakened in the middle of the night and smells smoke. She goes into Mr. Rochester’s room to find the bed engulfed in flames. She is able to use the water basin and put the fire out saving Mr. Rochester. Jane thinks Grace Poole a servant who is mentally unstable set the bed on fire, but the reader later finds out it was a woman by the name of Bertha. “I was within the chamber. Tongues of flame darted round the bed: the curtains were on fire. In the midst of blaze and vapor, Mr. Rochester lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep.” This is Jane’s first instance with passion in

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