On Paintings In Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the masterpiece of Charlotte Bronte,a famous British female novelist in the nineteenth century.It tells a story of an ordinary heroine continually exploring the way out and finally reaping an equal love in a patriarchal society.Since its publication,the novel has received widespread concern from academic circles abroad and at home.Currently,based on macro literary criticisms,the studies on Jane Eyre abroad and at home mainly focus on the themes and characters,with a little attention to the paintings,which also occupy a certain proportion in this novel.At present,the study of paintings in Jane Eyre mainly discusses the cormorant,Evening Star and iceberg paintings drawn by Jane at Lowood Institution from the perspective of the heroine,while the analysis of her later four portraits and other three landscape paintings is rare.Through close reading,and combined with three aspects,namely,the setting,characters in the novel as well as Charlotte's life experience,the study analyzes all Jane's paintings in order to investigate the deep meaning of these paintings and the relationship between paintings and the novel as well as the various ideas embodied in them.Through an investigation of these ten paintings,the study finds that at the context level,these works are Jane's self-reflection based on the current living condition,expressing her dissatisfaction of women's position in the patriarchal society and longing for getting rid of the traditional definition on women,as well as thirsting for equal love;at the predictive level,each element in the painting indicates the destiny of each character,reflecting the development trend of female consciousness and the disintegration of male power;in addition,as a semi-autobiographical novel,paintings express all-female artists',including Jane's and Charlotte's,exploration for women's future and call for independence as well as equality in the patriarchal society.Hence,paintings are not independent of the novel,and they play profound roles in promoting the plot and shaping characters.By interpreting Jane Eyre from paintings,the study shows the importance of paintings in understanding the setting,the characters and the author herself and provides a new perspective for research of this novel,so that readers can understand this great artistic work Jane Eyre better.