Rising Into The Sky: An Analysis Of Bertha's Paintings

Jane’s dreams suggests that although Jane is close to her suppressed feelings, she is still rejecting them out of fear.
Bertha’s presence within Jane’s paintings suggests Jane’s desire to have some of Bertha’s characteristics as well as her awareness that she must remain within the confines of society. During one of their many meetings, Rochester ask Jane to show him her drawings. Jane describes her second picture to the reader:
Rising into the sky was a woman's shape to the bust, portrayed in tints as dusk and soft as I could combine. The dim forehead was crowned with a star; the lineaments below were seen as through the suffusion of vapour; the eyes shone dark and wild; the hair streamed shadowy, like a beamless cloud torn by storm or by electric travail. On the neck lay a pale reflection like moonlight; the
Her eyes are described as “wild,” which connects to Jane’s later description of Bertha as a “strange wild animal” (338). Bertha’s eyes are described as wild, implying that there is a sense of recklessness and “strange” implying there is a uniqueness in Bertha that Jane aspires to have. By having Bertha’s forehead “crowned with a star,” Bronte suggest that Bertha is admired by Jane for her power and control, similar to a royal. This woman figure, Bertha, rises into the “dark” sky, symbolizing Bertha’s choice to counter the oppression in society. Later in the novel, Bertha is described as “mad” (337), yet she also as a “a big woman, in stature almost