*submitted 11:40 p.m.
There is a recurring element of fairy tales in the novel that were introduced to Jane by Bessie at the very beginning. These tales embedded an idea of demonic creatures like the ‘gytrash’ in Jane's subconscious, manifesting through her fears of being beaten up or humiliated by her cousins and they continue to dwell within her as we see through the course of the novel. Jane has no real private sphere in the novel as, the household, which was meant to be the private sphere for women never held a place for Jane as she moved from Gateshead to Lowood to Thornfield unable to call any place her true home. Hence, the emotions and fears that are meant to be experienced in a private sphere are experienced by Jane when she is by herself. The red room and then the walk that she takes during her stay at Thornfield where she first encounters Mr. Rochester are two incidents during which we can see how Bessie's tales are played out, mingled with Jane's fears in the real world. The red room is symbolic for Jane's fears as a child; her experience of being locked up there projected her feelings of being oppressed and isolated through her imagination of ghosts and fictional demons that belong in Bessie’s tales. Both these elements became combined for her as later in the novel when she feels out of place or is struggling with her personal identity the real and the fictional demons manifest as one of the same.
There is a recurring element of fairy tales in the novel that were introduced to Jane by Bessie at the very beginning. These tales embedded an idea of demonic creatures like the ‘gytrash’ in Jane's subconscious, manifesting through her fears of being beaten up or humiliated by her cousins and they continue to dwell within her as we see through the course of the novel. Jane has no real private sphere in the novel as, the household, which was meant to be the private sphere for women never held a place for Jane as she moved from Gateshead to Lowood to Thornfield unable to call any place her true home. Hence, the emotions and fears that are meant to be experienced in a private sphere are experienced by Jane when she is by herself. The red room and then the walk that she takes during her stay at Thornfield where she first encounters Mr. Rochester are two incidents during which we can see how Bessie's tales are played out, mingled with Jane's fears in the real world. The red room is symbolic for Jane's fears as a child; her experience of being locked up there projected her feelings of being oppressed and isolated through her imagination of ghosts and fictional demons that belong in Bessie’s tales. Both these elements became combined for her as later in the novel when she feels out of place or is struggling with her personal identity the real and the fictional demons manifest as one of the same.
The imagery described of both the red room and her first
encounter of Mr. Rochester, reflect these repressed fears that occupy Jane’s
mind. The description of the room and the description of the night she meets Mr.
Rochester are full of words such as “shrouded”, “deep red”, “crimson cloth”,
“dark rookery”. Both places evoke
feelings of gloom but there is also an over powering significance of the colors
red and crimson. One could attach the presence of these colors in similar
isolated environments to Jane’s experiences of being oppressed leading to her
acting out with rage and “passion” as Miss Abbott and Bessie saw it. The novel
uses imagery in such a way that it depicts more about Jane’s character that can
be expressed through dialogue.
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