Beauty in Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is an inspiring novel to us. Its beauty not only lays on its language, but also exists in the characteristic of Jane.
Firstly, I’m going to talk about the masterly language in the text. The text, told in the form of dialogue, included a lot of metaphor and contrast.
In the text, Mr. Rochester described himself as Vulcan ( blacksmith), the god of fire with an ugly look and disabled condition, while he described his rival in love—St. John as a graceful Apollo, who is pretty, intelligent and gentle. He thought Jane as sky-lark who could bring sunshine and pleasure to him. Regarding himself as an old lightning-struck chestnut-tree, he saw Jane as a budding woodbine, which was fresh, fragrant and energetic. Through Mr. Rochester’s self-description and narrative, we can conclude that he lost confidence in himself because of his poor condition and he thought he cannot match with excellent Jane. He was self-abased in front of the fine St. John and he did not want to force Jane to make sacrifice to stay with him. He regarded their love as unequal.
On contrast, what did Jane think about Mr. Rochester? Jane regarded Mr. Rochester “a royal eagle, chained to a perch, should be forced to entreat a sparrow to become its purveyor.” She did hold sympathy to Mr. Rochester, but her adoration was more than that because she thought that royal eagle, although getting injured, still remained its charm and temperament. In the latter part of the text, Jane comforted Mr. Rochester that he was a green, vigorous tree and she described herself as plant that have to lean on the tree to grow. Jane said she was a sparrow and a plant, while Mr. Rochester was an eagle and a tree, which reflected that Mr. Rochester was outstanding and excellent in her eyes. We can also conclude that in Jane’s deep mind, she also thought Mr. Rochester was better than her, and maybe she could not match with him.
The metaphor and contrast used in the text gives us a clear view of the mental activity taken place in two people’s hearts and they make the context more vivid and interesting, attracting potential readers. So the beauty of language is enlightening to us in our writing skills that sometimes we can use metaphor and contrast to extend our thesis.
Secondly, what worth our attention was Jane’s intelligence. Through the conversation taken place in the text, Jane gave us a deep impression about her intelligence and her outstanding EQ. First, Jane told Rochester about her experiences and mentioned St. John, a person that would be “immediately taken up” when she finished. So she furthered her description about St. John to let “jealousy got hold of him(Rochester)”, though she was in a kind will that to move Rochester’s attention from his disabled body. Then she stated the fact that she and St. John was not true love in order to calm down Rochester. Furthermore, she used a metaphor to comfort Rochester that he was a green and vigorous tree to express his importance to her, that she cannot live without him. In the final part, Jane expressed her mind that she did not really care about the poor condition of Rochester, what she love was his soul, rather than his wealth or appearance. She suggested that their love was equal and they could match with each other. Through such processes, the sad Rochester cheered up and was inspired.
The art of Jane’s speaking was both considerate and predominant, which reflected her clear mind, strong determination, and admiring courage. She tested how much Rochester loves her and at the same time she showed her determination and loyalty to him. She governed this relationship. And we can also learn that the love she pursued was based on mutual understanding and admiration, and physical factor cannot destroy it. Her persistent characteristic encourages her to follow her heart and insist on her principle.
Jane’s beauty is her persistent, her simplicity, her intelligence and her consideration. And the story told us that beauty was a virtue, a kind of excellence. It is not only significant in the old times, but also enlightening in nowadays. I think the differences between us and Jane is that she can keep herself clam toward wealth, while we will be affected by it; she can stand out to pursue what she want, while we prefer to stand back in a safe place; she will insist her choice ignoring gossip, while we will be afraid and be defeated by it.
