Jane Eyre Isolation

When Jane returns to Thornfield after her first, unofficial, meeting with Rochester, Brontë highlights glass as a border between the inside and outside. In this particular scene, Jane attempts to look into the building as she praises the evening sky. She “lingered at the gate…the shutters of the glass door were closed; I could not see into the interior; and both my eyes and spirit deemed drawn from the gloomy house…” While outside, Jane is unable to look in, which highlights the place of glass as a border between the inside and outside. In addition, the emphasis on Jane’s place outdoors suggests a shift from forced, indoor isolation, to physical engagement with a world she would only look at through glass. Jane’s inability to look inside is
caused by the distracting beauty of the sky; she says, “…that sky expanded before me…the moon ascending it in solemn march; her orb seeming to look up as she left the hilltops, from behind which she had come, far and farther below her…Little things recall us to earth…I turned from moon and stars, opened a side door, and went in” (107). The use of “her” in addressing the moon personifies the celestial object, suggesting that the moon exists as another supernatural being in the novel–furthermore, it exists as an other worldly consciousness. However, unlike earlier instances in the novel, Jane appreciates its presence. In addition, Jane is outside as she praises the moon, unlike in earlier instances where she was indoors and the supernatural like individual was also indoors.
Thus, Brontë establishes a growing comfort with a place that was otherwise marked as dangerous. Furthermore, Jane’s inability to look inside while distracted by the beauty of the outdoors highlights that her movement from the inside to the outside furthers her development from isolation. In addition, the proposal scene between Rochester and Jane evokes the latter’s kinship with the moon. As he proposes to Jane, Rochester calls her “ ‘You–you strange, you almost unearthly thing!...' ” (229). Just like the moon she praises, Jane is also of beyond the earth. Brontë links Jane to a personified celestial object; thus, she implies Jane’s rightful place is outside. Therefore, Jane Eyre suggests Jane’s inevitable shift from social isolation to possessing a deep
bond. Before the failed wedding, Jane’s encounter with Bertha Mason, Rochester’s legal wife, distances her from her reflection on mirrors.
She claims that she saw Bertha’s “reflection…and features quite distinctly in the dark oblong glass.” In her childhood, Jane uses the mirror to see her own reflection; yet, in adulthood she sees the image of another individual. She describes the face as “fearful and ghastly…discoloured,” and wished she “could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation of lineaments!” Rochester replies, “Ghosts are usually pale…” (254) Despite there being a different individual in the reflection, Jane still uses supernatural terms to describe what she sees. After the encounter, Jane again looks in the mirror, but this time she wears her wedding veil. She remarks that in her reflection, she “saw a robed and veiled figures, so unlike my usual self that it seemed almost the image of a stranger…” (257). Even though she looks at her own reflection this time, she still remarks upon how she appears as an individual unknown to her. Hence, the novel still denotes glass as a border between the worlds of the fantastical and reality, as Jane still uses supernatural diction to describe the visual reflections. However, it suggests Jane’s distance from self-reflection by her finding other individuals in the mirror–marking a shift from mental and physical
solitude. Jane’s uncanny ability to hear Rochester’s call through an open window suggests that the absence of glass and her location outside allowed for the “supernatural” communication to occur. At the end of the novel, Jane returns to Rochester after the destruction of Thornfield. During their reunion, he describes his agony during their separation and how he found solace in his “own room, and sitting by the window, which was open: it soothed me [Rochester] to feel the balmy night-air: though I could see no stars and only by a vague, luminous haze, knew the presence of a moon…” Previously, Brontë implied a kinship between Jane and the moon; through Rochester’s account she suggests a parallel between the two, which highlights Jane’s maturation from social isolation to forming a deep, romantic bond as a result moving between worlds. Rochester claims that he, “… pleaded…of my heart’s wishes broke involuntarily broke from my lips in the words–‘Jane! Jane! Jane!’” Therefore, he insists that he calls out to her through the window. Jane then remarks upon her strange ability to his calls, despite their great physical distance, “The coincidence [that Jane heard Rochester’s cries] struck me as too awful and inexplicable to be communicated or discussed. If I told anything, my tale would be such as must necessarily make a profound impression on the mind of my hearer; and that mind, yet from sufferings to prone to gloom, needed not the deeper shade of the supernatural…” (398-399). Here, Brontë writes an explicit connection between the supernatural and glass. Furthermore, through this connection, she also emphasizes the bond between Jane and Rochester–it is one that transcends the borders set by glass. Notably, Jane was outside and Rochester was enclosed when she heard him. This perplexing, fantastical occurrence highlights a contrast from Jane’s social isolation in an indoor setting, which implies that because Jane ventures outside, into a world she that was once protected by with glass, she is able to freely communicate and form a deep bond that evokes the supernatural. Thus, Brontë insinuates that in order to form social bonds, one must move beyond a place of protection and isolation.