Jane Eyre s Cold And Fiery Motif Essay - 1160 Words

Jane Eyre’s frigid and fiery motif The definition for a motif is essentially an important idea or subject that is repeated throughout a book (Merriam-Webster). A motif of fire and ice was present in this novel through a binary of love and hate. In Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, binaries were created using different elements within the novel, symbolism, imagery, etc. While profoundly reading Jane Eyre, I tracked the image/motif of fire and ice. The fire and ice are used throughout the story to thoroughly develop a binary between love and hate. Fire was seen as warm, passionate and loving while ice seemed to be sharp, destructive, and bitter. Each element is associated with specific characters to show this contrast. For example, obviously Jane is represented with fire and Mrs. Reed is associated with ice. Even though fire is more destructive then ice, it serves a positive role in the book. Opposite to fire, ice serves a negative role in the novel. Fire is a symbol of emotion in the novel and is involved in deep moments of love and hate. There were various examples of ‘fire’ that develop love and hate in the story. The two most important ‘fires’ in the novel are literal and both committed by Bertha Mason. The first act of arson occurs in Volume 1, Chapter 15 when Bertha sets Rochester’s clothes on fire. â€Å"Something creaked: it was a door ajar, and that door was Mr. Rochester’s, and the smoke rushed in a cloud from thence† (148). Out of love, Jane doused her crush in