Jane Eyre Art Essay
By convention, artwork – both in the illustrative and written medium – serves as a literal representation of an idea. Brush strokes paint vivid colors in hopes of capturing an iconic moment, and words are deliberately structured to tell a moving story. At its core, any form of art fulfills the capacity to capture life; yet it is the hope of true artwork to not only represent, but rather provide meaning. Artwork, and in particular ekphrastic descriptions of that artwork, serve as a recurring theme placed at the forefront of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The novel uses Jane’s myriad occurrences with various forms of artwork to provide insight into the understanding of the semantics of emotional expression, and rather than project art through
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Rochester’s preliminary conversation regarding Jane’s portfolio, in which Rochester asks, “where did you get your copies?” (Brontë 114), to which Jane responds, “Out of my head” (Brontë 114). Though the narrator asserts that the paintings are, “nothing wonderful” (Brontë 115), she proceeds to ekphrastically describe each of the three paintings in extraordinary detail and claims that they, “had risen vividly on [her] mind” (Brontë 115). Jane’s reflections on these paintings not only show the radiance of her own imagination in creating such works of art, but further serves to exemplify her belief in art as a tool to not merely represent but provide meaning to both her life and her thoughts. Mr. Rochester confirms this understanding by commenting that, “I daresay you did exist in a kind of artist’s dreamland …” (Brontë 116), and further delves into the thematic understanding of the artwork, and reports to Jane that, “you have secured the shadow of your thoughts” (Brontë 116). This deliberately ambiguous word choice by Brontë, allows for introspection on the complexity of Jane’s artwork and how she uses the canvas as a form of expression. These discussions with Mr. Rochester help associate Jane’s artistic expression to intellectual understanding, strengthens their relationship, and provides Jane with future opportunity to draw emotional awareness from her
Rochester’s preliminary conversation regarding Jane’s portfolio, in which Rochester asks, “where did you get your copies?” (Brontë 114), to which Jane responds, “Out of my head” (Brontë 114). Though the narrator asserts that the paintings are, “nothing wonderful” (Brontë 115), she proceeds to ekphrastically describe each of the three paintings in extraordinary detail and claims that they, “had risen vividly on [her] mind” (Brontë 115). Jane’s reflections on these paintings not only show the radiance of her own imagination in creating such works of art, but further serves to exemplify her belief in art as a tool to not merely represent but provide meaning to both her life and her thoughts. Mr. Rochester confirms this understanding by commenting that, “I daresay you did exist in a kind of artist’s dreamland …” (Brontë 116), and further delves into the thematic understanding of the artwork, and reports to Jane that, “you have secured the shadow of your thoughts” (Brontë 116). This deliberately ambiguous word choice by Brontë, allows for introspection on the complexity of Jane’s artwork and how she uses the canvas as a form of expression. These discussions with Mr. Rochester help associate Jane’s artistic expression to intellectual understanding, strengthens their relationship, and provides Jane with future opportunity to draw emotional awareness from her