Research Task 4: Jane’s Dreams & Paintings

It is clear that one realises that Jane has a very active and creative imagination; this may be because of Jane’s horrid childhood that she tried to escape from her bad circumstances.  Jane‘s dreams and paintings tells one more about how Jane tries to face reality, threw her dreams and paintings she enables herself to look at her reality in an easier way.

In the novel one can note on the many dreams that Jane has and even some parts of them became true. When Jane awakes from her dreams she realises that the dreams are not true but only parts in her imagination.  Jane has a lot of dreams about children; this can inform the readers on Jane’s bad childhood, or the fact that Jane wants children of her own. This can even show one that as a governess Jane had a close bond with children.

Jane dreams about children lying in her arms, sitting on her lap or playing outside with the water. The children in her dreams were sometimes happy and in other days sad, this can be an indication to readers that Jane is still struggling with bad memories of her childhood. The fact that Jane’s dad that loved her left her at her aunts, and this haunts her at night.

When Jane gets engaged to Rochester she has dreams of them both walking on a road and he walks to fast for her to keep up. In terms of love Jane dreams about Mr. Rochester, marrying Blanche Ingram and that when they are married they fire Jane and show her to work at another place. Jane also gets awake from a nightmare and then her wedding dress material is thorn and ripped in pieces.

Jane’s paintings in the novel are closely linked to her dreams for both represent what is going on in her subconscious mind. One of her first paintings shows a ship’s mass, a bare hand and a bracelet rising out of the stormy sea. The second painting is a picture of a hill with heavy winds, a nightly sky from which a woman’s face is showing.

Adel also asks Jane to draw a picture of Mr. Rochester and so Jane does this, but Rochester think it is a mockery and tries to tear up the paper before Adel grabs it from him. After Jane leaves Mr. Rochester, because of their engagement failing she is after a year again in a happy environment teaching to less fortunate girls. It is here where she draws pictures to her enjoyment, showing one that she is once again happy.

Jane’s painting is her way of communicating, and Mr. Rochester is aware of Jane’s creative talent. In Jane’s dreams and paintings she uses a lot of water and human’s as inspiration which shows one her love for nature and that she likes to be around people that cares about her, this can be because of her childhood past. Jane so tries to escape getting trapped in a patriarchal society and faces her problems without letting them hurt her.