Wild, calm, fierce, gentle, damaging, nurturing – nature, such an unpredictable force, can be paralleled with Charlotte Bront’s novel Jane Eyre. Many of Jane Eyre’s characters resemble nature, and many of the novel’s events are supported or foreshadowed by occurrences in nature.Jane Eyre’s main character, Jane, is shown maturing from child to adult. Jane’s metamorphosis throws her from the fairytale escape she has created, into real life that she must adapt to in order to survive. There are subtle changes in Jane’s character that hint of maturity. In the novel’s first paragraphs Jane states: “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day . . . I was glad of it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes . . .” (1; Ch.1). Further into the novel, nature being the medium of change, Jane adopts a new perspective: “It was a fine, calm day, though very cold; I was tired of sitting still in the library through a whole long morning . . . the distance, two miles, would be a pleasant winter afternoon walk” (102; Ch.12). The juxtaposition of Jane’s varying opinions show the growth of Jane’s character. This growth could be a result of Jane’s change of environment. Jane’s initial dislike of long, chilly walks is perhaps due to her Edwards 2unpleasant surroundings at Gateshead. Jane’s contempt for the walks and the outdoors vanishes during her time in the more hospitable environment of Thornsfield. Though Jane matures through the novel, from the beginning she is unabashadedly honest and harsh, much like nature. Jane, as does nature, reveals only naked and blatant honesty. When Rochester asks Jane if she thinks that he is handsome she, with no initial equivocation, answers, “No, Sir” (122; Ch.13). Jane, a type of nature,...
