How Does Charlotte Bronte Use Rain In Jane Eyre

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In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë uses the literary symbol of rainfall to display the suffering of her characters as well as their transformation as time goes on. Because Jane Eyre is the main character, Brontë’s use of rain mirrors Jane’s actions more than that of her other characters. Nonetheless, rain still plays a role as an important symbol in relation to Rochester and other characters and their treatment of Jane throughout the novel.
Brontë utilizes rain as a symbol in Jane Eyre to function as an indicator of transformation and emotional well being as it pertains to Jane and Rochester. Brontë’s use of rain parallels, to an extent, the definition that Thomas Foster provides in his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor which defines rain as “more mysterious, murkier, more isolating than most other weather conditions” (Foster 76).
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When Jane is at Gateshead, a heavy rain falls with a “ceaseless, lamentable blast” (Brontë 60) and the “rain [beats] strongly against the panes” (Brontë 346). The intensity of the rain further highlights the volume and magnitude of the abuse that Jane faces at Gateshead as well as the suffering that she is forced to endure. At Lowood the rain continues to “fall in torrents” (Brontë 79) and at Thornfield the rain is “assaulting, relentless [and] harsh” (Brontë 190). In each location the relentless rain represents a significant overall theme of intense suffering such as when John Reed throws a book at Jane. When “the volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the pain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax” (Brontë 8). This type of suffering that Jane is subject to reflects the constant subservience and feelings of hatred spewed towards her throughout her