Charlotte Bronte makes use of nature imagery throughout "Jane
             Eyre," and comments on both the human relationship with the outdoors
             and human nature. The Oxford Reference Dictionary defines "nature" as
             "1. the phenomena of the physical world as a whole . . . 2. a thing's
             essential qualities; a person's or animal's innate character . . . 4.
             vital force, functions, or needs." We will see how "Jane Eyre"
             Several natural themes run through the novel, one of which is the
             image of a stormy sea. After Jane saves Rochester's life, she gives us
             the following metaphor of their relationship: "Till morning dawned I
             was tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea . . . I thought sometimes I
             saw beyond its wild waters a shore . . . now and then a freshening
             gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne:
             but . . . a counteracting breeze blew off land, and continually drove
             me back." The gale is all the forces that prevent Jane's union with
             Rochester. Later, Brontë, whether it be intentional or not, conjures
             up the image of a buoyant sea when Rochester says of Jane: "Your
             habitual expression in those days, Jane, was . . . not buoyant." In
             fact, it is this buoyancy of Jane's relationship with Rochester that
             keeps Jane afloat at her time of crisis in the heath:
             "Why do I struggle to retain a valueless life? Because I know, or
             Another recurrent image is Brontë's treatment of Birds. We first
             witness Jane's fascination when she reads Bewick's History of British
             Birds as a child. She reads of "death-white realms" and "'the solitary
             rocks and promontories'" of sea-fowl. We quickly see how Jane
             identifies with the bird. For her it is a form of escape, the idea of
             flying above the toils of every day life. Several times the narrator
             talks of feeding birds crumbs. Perhaps Brontë is telling us that this
             idea of escape is no more than a fantasy-one ca...