In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the issue of the troubled self is a significant element of the story considering Jane Eyre's experiences at Gateshead and Lowood. Jane Eyre's experiences of the conflicting aspects of passion versus reason, social, sexual, and spiritual hunger, and the quest for spiritual fulfillment confirm the underlying importance of the troubled self in the novel Jane Eyre. However, to a large extent, the book also deals with " plain Jane's progress" in the words of Gilbert and Gubar. This incorporates the elements of the Bildungsroman, the pilgrimage plot, and the concept of awakenings.
             The concept of the troubled self is evident in the opening chapter through Jane Eyre's choice of reading material, Bewick's History of British Birds. Bewick's etchings are monochromatic, darkly suggestive, yet delicate, which echoes the landscape of Jane's mind and her yearning to be loved" the words.. connected themselves with the succeeding vignettes, and have significance .. to the rock standing up alone.. to the broken boat.. to the cold and ghastly moon (page 4). Similarly, the scant food and drink at the Lowood School are figurative emblems illustrating broader hunger and thirsts, such as Jane's appetite for social, sexual, and spiritual fulfillment. The situation of the seafowl that inhabits " solitary rocks and promontories" (Page 4) are similar to the alienation Jane Eyre feels at Reed's house. When the Reeds marginalize Jane by treating her as the scapegoat of the nursery, they are projecting their fear of poverty and dependency onto Jane. According to the Jungian analyst Erich Neumann in Depth Psychology and a New Ethic, scapegoatism is the "projection of the shadow," a method of displacing guilt and other unwelcome psychic components.
             The conflicting elements of fire and ice represent the conflicting values of passion versus reason within the troubled self. Jane seeks to find a harmonious balance bet...