Motifs

Question 1

Fire and ice

Answer 1

The former represents Jane’s passions, anger, and spirit, while the latter symbolizes the oppressive forces trying to extinguish Jane’s vitality.
Images of ice and cold, often appearing in association with barren landscapes or seascapes, symbolize emotional desolation, loneliness, or even death.

Question 2

Mother figures

Answer 2

• Poet and critic Adrienne Rich has noted that Jane encounters a series of nurturing and strong women on whom she can model herself, or to whom she can look for comfort and guidance: these women serve as mother-figures to the orphaned Jane.

Question 3

Eyes

Answer 3

After Mr. Rochester loses his eyesight in the fire, Jane becomes his eyes: metaphorically, Jane now holds the position of mastery.
The novel also emphasizes the mind’s eye—an active imagination

Question 4

Food

Answer 4

food symbolizes generosity, nourishment, and bounty, and hunger symbolizes cruelty and a lack of nourishment.
Food has religious significance in the novel as well—physical hunger represents a deeper spiritual craving.

Question 5

Red Room

Answer 5

The red-room’s importance as a symbol continues throughout the novel. It reappears as a memory whenever Jane makes a connection between her current situation and that first feeling of being ridiculed.

Question 6

Portraits and pictures

Answer 6

Through dreams and drawings, Jane visualizes her deepest feelings. Jane’s portfolio contains pictures that symbolize her life