Since Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre in a first person narration she had to use a lot of symbolic imagery to show the hidden emotions of other characters and the relationships between them. The imagery in relationships is particularly interesting because of the symbolic context that it gives to characters. The relation ship between Helen and Miss Temple is a combination of passionate love and motherly love. Bronte uses fire to represent passion and images of the moon to represent motherly love. She also gives the characters symbolic names that indicate the roles they play in the novel.
             Fire is used to depict the passion of Helen and Miss Temple's relationship. As Helen and Jane are in Miss Temple's room the fire that the three are seated around controls the atmosphere of the moment, the fire becomes an extension of Helen's passion, and more specifically her love. "...The brilliant fire, the presence of and kindness of her beloved instructress...had roused the powers within her. They kindled at first, they glowed in the bright tint of her cheek...then they shone in the liquid luster of her eyes..."(Pg 85). Through the short time Helen is in the novel she is always shown around small subdued fires, glowing embers or candlelight. She is never around bright fires until she enters into the company of Miss Temple, where the fire is described as a "good" and "brilliant". This sudden change in the intensity of fire also suggests that this love may be more than that of the daughter mother like relationship, because of its sexual overtone. It is possible that Helen may have a crush on Miss Temple, and that the special attention that Miss Temple is giving her has brought the passion into the open.
             Throughout time the moon has been regarded in a motherly protective way, and in the novel Jane refers to it as "mother" (Pg358) and addresses it as a person. Jane is not the ...