Jane Eyre's Imagination
Author(s): Jennifer Gribble
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Dec., 1968), pp. 279-293
Published by: University of California Press
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Jane Eyre's
Imagination
JENNIFER
GRIBBLE
Then my sole reliefwas to walk along the corridorof the third
story,backwardsand forwards,safe in the silence and solitude of
the spot, and allow my mind's eye to dwell on whateverbright
visionsrosebeforeit-and certainlytheyweremanyand glowing;
to let myheartbe heaved by theexultantmovement,which,while
it swelled it in trouble,expanded it with life; and, best of all, to
open my inward ear to a tale that was never ended-a tale my
imaginationcreated and narratedcontinuously;quickened with
all of incident,life,fire,feeling,that I desiredand had not in my
actual existence(I, xii, 138).1
HIS CENTRAL PASSAGE has caught the eye of most critics of
Jane Eyre, for it focuses the novel's peculiar quality of subjective
revelation. Charlotte Bronte's firstsuccessfulnovel is all too clearly
self-projective,both in its account of the workingsof the imagination and in its concern with social demands and tensions. "I will
show you a heroine as plain and as small as myself"2 she told her
sisters,who still believed in the convention of the beautiful heroine. And Charlotte Bronte shares with her heroine the tremendous
energy of an imagination pressing at the confines of a governess's
social context and a nervouslyretiringpersonality.Her lettersrefer
again and again to the compensatory and vicarious role of "the
facultyof imagination" in her own drearylife. There is, of course,
as Suzanne Langer notes,3an intimate connection between social
tensions and imaginative activity: we are driven to the symbolizaJenniferGribble is senior lecturer in English at La Trobe University,Victoria,
Australia.
1Volume, chapter and page numbers cited thus refer to Jane Eyre, Shakespeare
Head ed. (Oxford,1931).
2Quoted by E. C. Gaskell, The Life of Charlotte Bronte (Dolphin Books, New
York), p. 259.
3 Feeling and Form (London, 1959),p. 253.
[279]
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tionand articulationofexperiencewhenwe mustunderstandit to
keep ourselvesorientedin societyand nature.Jane,like Charlotte
Bronte,is sustainedby imaginativeactivityof variouskinds; they
have a commontendencyto rendertheirexperienceby extended
images,frequentlyimagesdrawnfromthe creativeprocessitself.
The intenseand variedimaginingis at timesundisciplined,unrelatedto thenovel'sreal imaginativelogic: in this,as in otherways,
the distinctionbetween the narratorand the heroine begins to
blur.
CharlotteBronte'stendencyto an uncriticalidentification
with
her heroine,and in particularher fascinatedinterestin Jane's
imaginativepowers,suggestwhy the novel can so easily be dismissedas "subjective,"or as "romantic"in the pejorativesense.
The presenceof what look like veryconventionalromanticelements-the mad wife,theboguswedding,thevisionarydreamsand
coincidences-seems to provide furthersymptomsof such a romanticism.Phraseslike "our firstromanticnovelist,""our first
subjectivenovelist"usuallyimplyjudgmentslike KathleenTillotson's, thatJane Eyre is "a novel of the inner life,not of man in
his social relations;it maps a privateworld,"4 or of G. Armour
Craig,thatit is "thereductionof theworldto the termsof a single
vision."5 For Craig,as forthenovel'sfirstcritic,G. H. Lewes,this
centralpassageon Jane'simaginingsgivesevidencethatCharlotte
Bronteseestheimaginationas a consolingescapefromtherealities
of life.
It seemsto me thatCharlotteBronte'sromanticismis of a more
and interesting
exploratory
kind thanhas generallybeen acknowledged: thatin Jane Eyre she is attempting,
if not alwaysconsistentlyand successfully,
to examine the workingsof the creative
imagination.JaneEyre is a portraitof the artistin a less explicit
way,perhaps,than most other novels of the kind, though it is
clearlya nearportraitofCharlotteBronteas a youngwoman.Jane
is an artistin the formalsenseonlyby virtueof her skill in drawing. But in concentrating
attentionon the significanceof Jane's
active and sensitiveimaginationand its relationshipwith, and
responsesto, whatit encounters,the novel inevitablyunfoldsthe
processesby which art is made. In Jane, to use Coleridge'svery
4 Novels of the Eighteen-Forties(Oxford, 1956), p. 257.
"The Unpoetic Compromise," English Institute Essays, 1955 (New York, 1956),
p. 40.
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281
relevantterms,we see thefunctioning
of theprimaryimagination,
or basicactsofperceptioninvolvedin themostnormalcontactsof
the mind with "nature." But further,the novel presentsand
emphasizesthe contrastbeweenthe moresophisticatedorganizing
activities-the fancy,by which Jane ties the elements of her
and the secondary
experienceinto uneasyand arbitrarysynthesis,
imagination,which,like poetry,fusesthe disparatesof experience
intoprofoundand meaningfulorder.In Jane'sresponsesto events,
in herdrawingsand herdreams,we see a mindactivelycreatingits
experience.CharlotteBronte'sinterestin the imagination,"that
strongrestlessfacultythatclaims to be heard and exercised,"6 iS
less coherentthan Coleridge's (whose poetryshe certainlyabsorbed-there is no evidence of her reading his prose), but her
novelsshowan increasinginsightintoitsvagariesand powers.
Far fromenvisagingtheimaginationas an escapefromtherealities of life,CharlotteBrontemustsurelyhave agreedwith G. H.
Lewes7thatit is only throughthe imaginationthat "reality"can
fullybe exploredand understood.In fact,thesourceof thedebates
betweenReason and Fancythatrecurin her lettersand novelsis
a purposefuleffortto explore the relationshipbetween "inner"
and "outer"worlds.The impulsebehind herfirstnovel, The Professor,had been a determinedadherenceto "thereal,"a repressing
of the fantasticromancesof Angria,the dream kingdomshe had
sharedin childhoodwith her brother."Nature and Truth," the
two greatneoclassicaldeities,were to be her guides.8But the insistentclaims of her own inspiration,her own invention,proved
too strongto be repressed.Increasinglyshe strives,like Wordsworthand Coleridge'sLyricalBallads, to reconcile"the powerof
excitingthe sympathy
of thereaderbya faithfuladherenceto the
truthof nature,and the powerof givingthe interestof noveltyby
the modifyingcolours of the imagination."9 As M. H. Abrams
shows,the whole tendencyof Coleridge'sthinking,especiallythe
distinctionbetweenfancyand imagination,is to relatethe "mechanistic""fixitiesand definites"involvedin thetheoryof thepassive,
6 The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondences (Oxford, 1932),
p. 153.
7"Recent Novels: French and English," Fraser's Magazine, XXXVI (Dec., 1847),
687.
8 See her exchange with Lewes afterhis review of Jane Eyre, in Correspondences,
Vol. II, 152.
9Biographia Literaria, ed. J.Shawcross(Oxford, 1907),Chap. xiv.
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reflectingmind to his centralconcernwith the active,creating
mind.10Less consciously,CharlotteBronte is attempting,from
Jane Eyre onwards,to balance the claims of an objective,shared
worldof phenomenaof whichshe mustgive faithfulaccount,and
a belief in the transforming,
organic power of the imagination.
the
kind
JaneEyre questions
of dichotomybetweeninnerexperience and outer world thatshe (and also G. H. Lewes) had once
believed necessary.The novel attemptswhat Coleridge describes
of geniusin the finearts" "to make the external
as "the mystery
internal,to make nature thoughtand thoughtnature."11In no
abstracttheoreticway,but in the verytermsof the imaginative
activityitself,it revealshow shiftingis the sense of "reality,"or
thatwhichthemind playsupon, how uncannyis the powerof the
the stuffof experience,
imaginationto anticipateand transform
to forgeits own versionof the facts,to findin the naturalworld
thatcomplexsenseof relatednessthatthe romanticpoets find.
Such a concernmakes difficultdemandsof the novelist,howvever,especiallyone witha predilectionforautobiographicalform.
In Jane Eyre thereis the need constantlyto distinguishbetween
Jane's imaginationand CharlotteBronte's,and the two are not
alwaysdistinguishable.
Further,despiteher "romanticism,"
CharlotteBronteis not writinga formof romancebut attemptingto
registerthe claims of the imaginationwithinthe conventionsof
thenineteenth-century
novel. Her novel is as firmly
committedto
the evaluationof Jane as a social being,to the waysin whichher
social experienceformsher,as it is to what her imaginationdiscoversabout thatexperience.Such a balance of claimsis not easily
maintained.CharlotteBronte'sattemptto show,throughJane,the
powerof the imaginationto anticipate,organize,and even transformthe stuffof experience,is in dangerof succeedingtoo well,
that is, of lapsing into wish-fulfillment,
the kind of imaginative
absolutismto whichCraig objects."Annihilatingall that'smade"
may be possiblein the lyricsituationof Marvell'sgarden,where
the speaker'sisolationfroma social contextis also clearlylimited
in duration.But CharlotteBrontehas set herselfthe taskof showing thatherheroine'simaginationis necessarilylimitedas well as
extraordinarily
powerful.It is onlyby confronting
Janewiththose
aspectsofsocietyand identitythatresistthecontrolling,
synthesiz1 The
Mirror and the Lamp (New York, 1958),Chap. vii.
""On Poesy and Art,"Biographia Literaria, Vol. II, 256.
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283
ing activityof the observingand perceivingmind that she can
representthepowerofherown imaginationto tella tale thatcomprehendsmorethanJane's,and, as well, thevalidityof otherversionsof thefacts.This is, ofcourse,essentiallythemeaningof our
demand for "objectivity"in the novel-that the total view we
absorbfromitspagesshould takeits bearingsfrommorethanone
mind'sview,thatagainstanycentralcharacter'sintegrity
of vision
should be ranged the other possible visions (including the author's)thatmakeup thecomplexitiesofour compositeexperience.
In other words,while CharlotteBronte may explore, through
Jane'sexperience,theinteractionand fusionof internaland external, individualand society,thoughtand nature,she mustrepresent
as objectivelyas possible the factson which Jane's imagination
works,and also thatwhichis intractable,whichchallengesJane's
senseof herself,her desires,her imaginativedomination.
It is thisinterestin the problemsof livingin society,then,that
providesthe necessarycounterpoiseto the imaginativepowersof
the heroine.Jane'sprogress,like thatof manyanotherVictorian
heroine,is ostensiblya social one; the basic structureof the novel
depends on her defining,developingmovementsfromcontextto
context.Jane is patheticallyeager to belong: "I saw you had a
social heart,"Rochesterobservesof her. In the actingout of her
longingsto establishherselfsocially,to discovera role appropriate
to hersenseof self,she encounterssomechallenges,hardshipsand
restraints
thatno imaginativeenergycan transform.
Throughout
thenovel,a seriesofcrucialepisodessummarizeJane'simaginative
and social progress.A discussionof twoof these,and theirinforming contexts,mayhelp to demonstrate
the connectedrelationships
betweenJane and CharlotteBronte,Jane and society,and the
questionof thepowerand functionof Jane'simagination.
Jane'straumaticexperiencein thered-roomis one such episode:
it starklyimagesJane'slifeat Gatesheadand herdevelopingsense
ofherselfin relationshipwithothers.Althoughshe is herselfnarrator,the interestof her tale lies more in the dramatizingof her
relationshipwiththe Reed familythan in any outpouringsof her
innerlife.She is "humbledby the consciousnessof [her]physical
to Eliza, John,and GeorgianaReed," excludedfromthe
inferiority
familygroupat thefiresideuntilshe shouldacquire "a moresociable and childlikedisposition,a moreattractiveand sprightly
man-
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ner." And althoughJohn Reed's brutalityand his mother'santagonismare more sharplyfelt by being presentedthroughthe
consciousnessof Jane,we are stillmade aware thatthe Reeds are
not as monstrousas theymay appear to the sensitivealienated
child, but comprisea not untypicalVictorian familyof spoilt
childrenand coldlycorrectmotherfacedwitha strangechild who
in no sensebelongsto them.Imprisonedin the fearfulred-room,
the child,who scarcelyunderstandsher disgraceand alienation,
has theuncannyexperienceof catchingher reflection
in the glass:
I had tocrossbeforethelooking-glass;
Returning,
myfascinated
glance
involuntarily
exploredthe depthit revealed.All lookedcolderand
darkerin thatvisionary
hollowthanin reality:and the strangelittle
figuretheregazingat me,witha whitefaceand armsspeckingthe
gloom,and glittering
eyesof fearmovingwhereall elsewas still,had
theeffect
of a real spirit;I thoughtit like one of thetinyphantoms,
halfimp,Bessie'seveningstoriesrepresented
as comingup
halffairy,
out oflone,ferny
dellsin moors,and appearingbeforetheeyesof belatedtravellers
(I, ii, 11).
Jane'simagination,playingon thissharplyisolatedimage of herself,revealsto her theessentialnatureof herpositionat Gateshead
and makesexplicitwhatlies implicitin the precedingpages. She
is a strangesmallcreature,a visitoramongordinarypeople, bringingwithherfromherown lonelyregiona startling
powerand even
a malevolence(ofthekind,we laternote,thatterrifies
Mrs.Reed).
It is a genuineperceptionof thecreativeimagination,blurringthe
distinctionbetweenthe Jane who looks in the mirror,and the
reflected
Janewho looksup out of the hollow: "All looked colder
and darkerin thatvisionaryhollow than in reality"and yet the
reflectedfigure"had the effectof a real spirit."The interaction
betweenfactand imagination,betweenexternaland internal,is
suchthatwe are compelledto accepta compositeviewofthechild's
insignificance
and her power,of her subjectionto experienceand
her controlof it. And of coursethe incidentis a paradigmof romantictheoriesof the imagination,in its playingon the mirror
paradoxesof activityand passivity,inclusionand exclusion,egotismand self-abnegation,
and in thatthe essentialcreativeinsight
into thesocial factscomesat the momentof mostcompletesocial
isolation.
The real successofthepassageis perhapsthatCharlotteBronte's
own imaginationis workingso preciselyand relevantly.Jane's
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285
vision,while losingnone of its power,is complementedby CharlotteBronte's"placing" of the child. The later reflections
of the
matureJane extendthisplacing: "theywere not bound to regard
withaffection
withone amongst
a thingthatcould not sympathize
them,a heterogeneousthing,opposed to them in temperament,
in capacity,in propensities"(I, ii, 13). Her experienceat Lowood
school is a furtherstage of Jane's self-discovery
in relationwith
others,where,in particular,the stoicHelen Burnsradicallyquestions Jane's tendencyto a self-justifying
view of the Gateshead
years.Helen's doctrineof endurancebeginsto influenceJane as
she attemptsto "returngood forevil," "to eschewtheself-centredness of day-dreamand self-righteousness,"
and to adhere to certain fixed social and moral principles.This social and moral
growthleads Jane to submitwithpatienceto the coldnessof her
dyingaunt and to the selfishness
of her cousins.And it bears directlyon her rejectionof Rochester.
For all theforceand insightofJane'simagination,then,we are
still aware that it here subservesas well as renders Charlotte
Bronte'scontrollinginsight,and that the essentialdistance betweencreatureand creatoris preserved.For contrast,one might
take the comparablepassagewhereJane firstexploresThornfield
Hall:
I lingeredin thelongpassageto whichthisled, separatingthe front
and backroomsofthethirdstory:narrow,
low and dim,withonlyone
littlewindowat thefarend,and looking,withits tworowsof small
blackdoorsall shut,likea corridor
in someBluebeard'scastle.
WhileI pacedsoftly
on, thelastsoundI expectedto hearin so still
a region,a laugh,struck
myear.It wasa curiouslaugh;distinct,
formal,
mirthless(I, xi, 135).
Here the distinctionbetween the imaginationsof heroine and
creatoris lost: the impact of that laugh surelydepends for its
effecton the kind of sensationsuggestedin "the last sound I expectedto hear in so still a region,"thatis, on a quietness,an absence of threat.In fact,however,Jane'simpressionsof the small,
dark,close corridor,her telling"Bluebeard's castle" comparison,
have preparedthe wayforjust such a sinisternote,so thatJane's
surpriseat the intrusivenoise is not as convincingas it should be.
In thiscase,CharlotteBronte'simaginationhas leapt ahead, forestallingherheroineand callingin questionthe dramaticintegrity
of her responses.
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There is, of course, a furthervision in the red-room. The real
trauma comes afternight falls, and the child's mind dwells on the
morbid associations of this place where her uncle has died:
I began to recallwhatI had heard of dead men,troubledin theirgraves
by the violation of theirlast wishes,revisitingthe earth to punish the
perjured and avenge the oppressed; and I thoughtMr Reed's spirit,
harassed by the wrongsof his sister'schild, might quit its abodewhetherin the churchvault or in the unknownworld of the departed
-and rise beforeme in thischamber.I wiped mytearsand hushed my
sobs; fearfullest any sign of violentgriefmightwaken a preternatural
voice to comfortme, or elicit fromthe gloom some haloed face,bending over me with strangepity.This idea, consolatoryin theory,I felt
would be terribleif realised: withall my mightI endeavouredto stifle
it-I endeavoured to be firm.Shaking my hair frommy eyes,I lifted
my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room: at this
momenta lightgleamedon the wall. Was it, I asked myself,a ray from
the moon penetratingsome aperturein the blind? No; moonlightwas
still,and this stirred;while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and
quivered over my head. I can now conjecturereadily that this streak
of lightwas, in all likelihood,a gleam froma lantern,carriedby someone across the lawn: but then,prepared as my mind was for horror,
beam
shakenas mynerveswereby agitation,I thoughttheswift-darting
was a herald of somecomingvision fromanotherworld. My heart beat
thick,my head grewhot; a sound filledmy ears, which I deemed the
rushingof wings: somethingseemed near me; I was oppressed,suffocated: endurancebrokedown; I rushedto the door and shook the lock
in desperateeffort.
Stepscame runningalong the outerpassage; thekey
turned,Bessie and Abbot entered(I, ii, 14).
This is one of several occasions in the novel where weight is given
to Jane's "fairy" powers; later incidents go even further,and suggest that she actually does possess supernatural or extrasensory
perceptions. Here, we are in no doubt that Jane has only seen a
gleam of light. As the lengthyanalysis of her thought process indicates, the final climactic delusion is the imagination's attempt to
transformthe factsof her imprisonmentand alienation. One more
readily accepts this incident than the comparable later one of the
mysticcall and answer between Jane and the blinded Rochester,
because here Charlotte Bronte, although showing the power of
Jane's imagination to affecther own perceptions,is in no danger of
endorsing those perceptions in the face of all probability. Nevertheless, the interest of the incident clearly lies in the effectsof
Jane's vision, for however private and deluded it does bring about
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the desiredend, changingJane's position fromoutcastto object
of pityand wonder,and thusof acceptance.
The relationshipwith Rochesteris the obvious danger point
forCharlotteBrontW's
tendencyto be overinvolvedin Jane'ssuccess. Jane's life as governessat ThornfieldHall, even beforeshe
meets its master,encouragesher in the kind of escapistdream
quoted at the outset. Her dreams are of movement-busyness,
people, towns-the qualities CharlotteBronte found lacking in
the novelsofJaneAusten: "whatthrobsfast,full,thoughhidden,
whatthe blood rushesthrough."12 The "stormyseas" and violent
motionsofwhichshe dreamson thenightshe savesRochesterfrom
the fire,and her strangepropheticdrawings,have the melodraa coloringof which
maticcoloringof conventionalromanticism,
CharlotteBronteis usuallyaware.But it is Craig'scontentionthat
Jane's visions,swingingfree of any "objective" factsthe novel
mightprovide,become the substanceof the novel.
There are, I think,two points at which one must agree that
CharlotteBronteis notsecurelyin controlofherheroine'simaginings-where an unqualifiedconventionalromanticismis offered
and endorsed.One is the episode followingthe mock-marriage,
whereJane,in flightfromthe bigamousintentionsof Rochester,
coincidentallydiscoverssome long-lostcousins. Jane's encounter
witha new and different
social contextis partof the basic pattern
of the book. But her cousin St. John'ssubsequentofferof a "missionarymarriage,"embodyingjust thatadherenceto rightprinciple thatJane found lackingin Rochester'sproposal,is too schematic,too much the passionlessoppositeof Rochester's.For this
reasonI cannotsee it,as Craig does,as a climaxofJane'sprogress.
It is a "religiouscall' certainly,
but in contextit looksmorelike a
humiliationthana victory.The finalheaven-directed
reunionwith
Rochestercircumventsthe whole dilemma. And again, in the
mysticcall and answer between the separated lovers Charlotte
Bronteseemsto be strainingto deliverher heroine,laboringthe
connectionbetweenJaneand Rochesterto thepointwhereevents
are falsifiedto vindicateJane's vision. In both these cases, the
evidencelies in a dislocationofthedelicatelybalancedrelationship
betweenJane's imaginingsand the world theyencounter.That
" Correspondences,Vol. III, 99.
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world,reduced to the schematicand the coincidental,is temporarilya mereadjunctofJane'swillfulimagination.
These pointsof weakness,however,surelydo not vitiateCharlotteBronte'spurposein thenovel as a whole.That Jane'sdreams
and drawingsare highlycoloredand girlishlyromanticthe author
does indeed see and know as part of a girlhoodshe had herself
lived through.It is the intentof thisnovel to showthatthe heroine, in her developmentfromdaydreamto maturity,hoversbetweenfancyand real insight.The interestis not primarilyin the
qualityofJane'simaginativeactivity,but in its relationshipwith
thecontextin whichit works.Jane'sdrawings,so clearlyspringing
from, and prophesying,aspects of her experience-from the
ornithologicalbook she reads at the opening of the novel, to the
blindingofRochester-but luridin themselves,
are a case in point.
We are, I think,compelledto accept thatJane's imaginationhas
extraordinary
powers:the detailed analysisof her physicalsymptomsat momentsof heightenedawareness-the rapid beating of
the heart,chill,paralysis-conveyan almostscientificvindication
of such statesof being. Jane's sensitivity
and the acutenesswith
which she judges Rochester'swhims justifyin part his favorite
descriptionsof her-"mocking changeling,""almost unearthly
thing"-and his parableoftheirlove,forhis step-daughter:
"it was
a fairycomefromelf-land."And thedreamsin whichJane foresees
her separationfromRochesterand the devastationof Thornfield
Hall seem to me to relatevalidlyto the "actual." Like her drawings,Jane'sdreamscombinesensationsalreadyexperiencedin the
narrative,such as the social barrierthat divides the lovers,and
Jane'ssenseof duty-"burdened withthe chargeof a littlechild."
The settingsof thesedreams,too, recall the actual, notably the
roadwayon whichtheloversfirstmetand parted,and the strange,
deceptivestructure
of ThornfieldHall itself.The effectis to show
how Jane's sensitiveresponse to her experience can foresee,
throughthe transmutingand organizingactivityof dream, the
calamityimplicitin whathas alreadybeen lived through.
Certainly,then,thecomingof Rochestertransforms
Jane'sexistence,but forthemostpartit providessomethingactual on which
herimaginationcan feed,in Rochester'sown fascinating
personalityand in the introductionof the neighboringsociety.We in no
sense feel thatJane createsthis life,or that Rochesteris a mere
puppetof herimagination.There is a sensein whichher imagina-
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289
tion comprehendsand assimilateshim, anticipatingthe course
theirrelationshipwill take. As Rochesterfirstrides towardsher
she remembersBessie'sfable of the Gytrash,or North-of-England
spirit,whichcomes upon belated travelers,and she glimpses,as
horseand riderand dog pass her,"one maskof Bessie's Gytrash."
The fancylinksthe riderwiththe Jane of the mirrorvision and
prefigures
thewaysin whichJanedoes come to controlRochester,
and he to dependon her.A momentafter,hishorsehas slippedand
thrownhim. Later, the incidenthas a strangeunrealityforJane,
theelementof fableagain catchingthe blurringof factand fancy
or wishing.On her returnhome she stopsagain at the stile "with
an idea thata horse'shoofsmightringon the causewayagain,and
that a rider in a cloak, and a Gytrash-like
Newfoundlanddog,
mightbe again apparent"(I, xii, 147).
Nevertheless,elsewherein this sectionJane's seemingcontrol
of her experience,her imaginationleaping ahead of the action in
dream,vision,propheticdrawing,is counterpoisedby aspectsof
her experiencethatare not susceptibleof her controlor her foreknowledge.Rochester'sstrangecapricesbewilderher; the visiting
gentry,despitetheirAngrianbehavior,reduceher to a meregrey
shadow.NeitherJane'simaginativepowers,nor CharlotteBronte's
tendencyin a fewcasesto claim too muchforthem,can be said to
cancel out Blanch Ingram'ssocial superiority,
the uncomprehendof the Reeds, therecurringdisharmoniesbetweenthe
ing hostility
desire of the individual mind and the intractablefactsof life.
"There is no difference
betweenthemind thatknowstheworldof
thisnovel and themindthatseeksto know it in termsof a private
vision,"Craiginsists.PerhapsI can bestconcludemydisagreement
withhimbytakingup therelationshipbetweenJaneand "nature."
Jane'sfeelingforand dependenceon thenaturalworldmaywell
seem to questionthe kind of social orientationI have been stressing. In the anguisheddays aftershe leaves Rochester,when her
senseof identity,purpose,meaningis completelyshakenand she
feelsall tieswithhumansocietycut,throwingherselfon themercy
of the elements,she seeksthe solace of nature:
I touchedthe heath:it was dry,and yetwarmwiththe heat of the
I lookedat thesky;it was pure: a kindlystartwinkled
summer-day.
justabovethechasmridge.The dewfell,butwithpropitious
softness;
no breezewhispered.
Natureseemedto mebenignand good;I thought
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she loved me, outcastas I was; and I, who fromman could anticipate
only mistrust,rejection,insult,clung to her with filial fondness.Tonight,at least,I would be her guest-as I was her child (II, xxviii, 1 1).
And yet the solace is temporary:"I was a human being, and had a
human being's wants." "Human life and human labour were near.
I must struggle on: strive to live and bend to toil like the rest"
(114).
Jane's closeness to nature, her sensitivityto its signs, is linked
with her tendencyto visualize in order to understand-the natural
world offeringthe most immediate, as well as the most deeply felt,
source of analogy. She goes to nature in order to discover and define, but her discoveries lead back inevitably to the problems of
social living. It is the relevance of nature, as well as the kind of
natural world represented, that distinguishes Jane from such a
Jane Austen heroine as Fanny Price. Fanny turns from the
troubled household of Mansfield Park to look at the scene outside
the window,13
where all that was solemn,and soothing,and lovely,appeared in the
brilliancyof an unclouded night,and the contrastof the deep shade of
the woods. Fanny spoke her feelings."Here's harmonyl" said she;
"Here's repose! Here's what may leave all painting and all music behind, and what poetryonly can attemptto describe!Here's what may
tranquillizeeverycare, and liftthe heart to rapture!When I look out
on such a nightas this,I feelas if therecould be neitherwickednessnor
sorrowin the world; and therecertainlywould be less of both if the
sublimityof nature were more attended to, and people were carried
more out of themselvesby contemplatingsuch a scene." 14
It would be inconceivable for this heroine to throw herself into
such intense physical contact with nature as Jane Eyre does, when,
for example, she sleeps on the bare turf.The ordered eighteenthcenturylandscape on which Fanny delights to look, her veryformulation of response to it-"carried more out of themselves by
contemplating such a scene"-measures the distance that separates
her fromJane. For it is essential to Charlotte Bronte's intent, to
her conception of the imagination, that she should attempt to blur
such distinctions between the observer and the scene and to
make the world of nature contiguous with the human mind.
The Verbal Icon (New York, 1964),p. 110.
14MansfieldPark, Bentleyed. (London, 1877),p. 98.
2S
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Jane Eyre's Imagination
291
Again we mustpressthe distinctionbetweenCharlotteBronte
and herheroine,however.Both of themare strivingto apprehend
thatof her creanalogiesin nature,Jane'simaginationreflecting
ator.Rochester,forexample,takeson theshape of themightytree
riven by storm,in the dream of Jane as in the actual garden
created by CharlotteBronte. But Jane's analogies sound stock,
second-hand,at a remove,as indeed theyare. Jane visualizesthe
noise of Rochester'scoming
as, in a picture,thesolidmassof a crag,or theroughbolesof a great
effacethe aerial
oak, drawnin dark and strongon the foreground,
distanceof azurehill,sunnyhorizonand blendedclouds,wheretint
meltsinto tint(II, xii, 140).
There is an irrelevanceas well as a remotenesshere.But Charlotte
Bronte'simagination,at its creativework,conveysthe quiet, suspended existenceof Jane in her winterwalk, in the integrally
relatedtermsof the peacefulbare countryside:
If a breathof air stirred,
it madeno soundhere;fortherewas not a
hawthorn
and hazel
holly,notan evergreen
torustle,and thestripped
busheswereas stillas the white,wornstoneswhichcausewayedthe
middleofthepath.Far and wide,on eachside,therewereonlyfields,
whereno cattlenowbrowsed;and thelittlebrownbirdswhichstirred
in thehedge,lookedlikesinglerussetleavesthathad foroccasionally
gottento drop (I, xii, 140).
Jane is so stilledin wintrysuspensionof life that,like the birds,
she has becomeas inanimateas the last dried leaves. The natural
world is more than mere analogy here-it is an essentialand
harmoniousdimensionof human experience.With similarevocathe whole of natureseemsto attendthe coming
tiveparticularity,
togetherofJaneand Rochesterin thegarden"shelteredand Edenlike" and to provide,in a wayno analysiscould do, a sense of the
forceand naturalnessof theirlove, aspectsonly suggestedby the
crisp repartee that characterizesit. And Jane's delight at the
harmonyof Thornfieldis given in natural terms;her returnto
Thornfieldon a warmeveningis fullof harvestsightsand sounds,
the "shootingleafand flowery
branches,"the midsummersun, the
of
skies extraordinary
purity:
Naturemustbe gladsomewhenI was so happy.A beggar-woman
and
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292
Nineteenth-Century
Fiction
herlittleboy-pale, raggedobjectsboth-werecomingup thewalk,
and I randownandgavethemall themoneyI happenedtohavein my
purse-somethreeor fourshillings:good or bad, theymustpartake
ofmyjubilee.The rookscawedand blitherbirdssang;butnothingwas
so merryor so musicalas myown rejoicingheart (II, xxiv, 23).
This passage is particularlyinteresting,
I think,in explaining
how thiskind of relationshipwith naturediffersfrommere patheticfallacy.As W. K. Wimsatthas pointedout, such a relationshipworks,in romanticnaturepoetry,by blurringthe distinction
betweenliteraland figurative-thepoet wantsto read a meaning
into the landscape,but he also wantsto findit there.'4Jane's rejoicingheartidentifies
itselfwiththe birds'songs,nature'sjubilee
increasesher own, and out of the fullnessof her joy she seeks to
human lives too. Yet CharlotteBronte is carefulthat
transform
the passagealso acknowledgesthe presenceof povertyand suffering,the more sober cawingof the rooks.And therecomes a time
whenJane'smiseryputsher out of tunewithnature'sbountyand
creativity:
He whois takenout to passthrough
a fairsceneto thescaffold,
thinks
notoftheflowers
thatsmileon hisroad,butoftheblockand axe-edge
(II, xxvi, 107).
Birdsbegansingingin brakeand copse:birdswerefaithfulto their
mates;birdswereemblemsof love. What was I? In themidstof my
pain of heart,and franticefforts
of principle,I abhorredmyself(II,
xxvi, 108).
These passagesseem to me to preservethe kind of validityI find
in the novel at best-to show on the one hand the energyand
powerof Jane'simaginationin transforming,
or makingits own,
aspectsof the naturalworldit seizesas relevant,yeton the other
ofthenaturalworldas somethingthatexistsin
hand,theintegrity
its own right.For furtherillustrationof the distinctionbetween
Jane'simaginationand CharlotteBronte'sin thisrespect,thereis
a momentwhenJane'simagination,powerfullytenantedby grief,
playsupon the destructionof her happiness:
JaneEyre,who had been an ardent,expectantwoman-almosta
bride-was a cold,solitarygirlagain: herlifewas pale; herprospects
weredesolate.A Christmas
frosthad come at midsummer;
a white
Decemberstormhad whirledoverJune; ice glazed the ripe apples,
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Jane Eyre's Imagination
293
driftscrushedtheblowingroses;on hay-fieldand corn-field
lay a frozen
shroud: lanes which last night blushed full of flowers,today were
pathlesswithuntroddensnow; and thewoods,whichtwelvehourssince
waved leafyand fragrantas grovesbetween the tropics,now spread,
in wintryNorway(II, xxvi, 74).
waste,wild, and whiteas pine-forests
It is significant
thatsuch is Jane'ssenseof dispossession,
of alienation at thispoint thatshe deliberatelyturnsfromthe contemplation of naturein its midsummerbeauties,and by her metaphor
transforms
itssightsand sounds,theformeremblemsof her courtship, into the fancifulequivalentsof her own darkenedvision.
Hers is a landscapethatswingsawayfromtheactual,and it is part
of our understandingof her stateof being at this crisisthatwe
shouldsee it so. And thiscase of theabsolutismof theimagination
is clearlyrecognizedas absolutismby CharlotteBronte.
But in general,natureis forJaneno mereescape fromthepressuresofsocial livingbut a meansbywhichshecomesto understand
more surelyand deeplywhat her social experienceteaches.And
for CharlotteBronte the mind's relationshipwith the natural
world offersthe most immediateillustrationof the powersand
limitationsof theimagination.For thisremarkablenovel does not
merelymap a privateworld. It attempts,thoughnot alwayssuccessfully,somethingquite original. In probing the relationship
betweenone mind'sworldand the largerworldof social relations
it demonstrates
theinsightsofromanticism
withintheconventions
of the nineteenth-century
English novel.
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