Passion Between Jane And Rochester In Charlotte Bronte's Novel

The director has distinctly illustrated the scene of Rochester’s proposal as one of the vital moments of Bronte’s novel as it extensively displays the disclosure of passion between Jane and Rochester. In comparison, it persists to exhibit the symbolic imagery in the novel; prior to his proposal, similarly to the novel the film displays a medium long shot of Rochester’s shadow cast by moonlight signifying his hidden identity, in which the reader would discern as a sense of doom. Additionally, the contrast between the light and dark surrounding the characters also portray as Zeffirelli’s effort to reveal Jane’s innocence in contradiction to Rochester’s dark and secretive nature – likewise, in the novel this contrast is used to communicate to the readers as the catalyst to the downfall of their relationship. This crucial scene is one of the various moments in the film highlighting Jane and Rochester’s relationship (another instance would be when Jane saved him from the fire). Thus, this scene reveals that the entirety of the film is conspicuously dedicated to portraying the passion between

In the novel, Bronte explores the theme of love versus autonomy as well as the symbolic element of ‘fire versus ice’ through Rochester and St John. Jane realizes she would sacrifice her dignity and freedom by marrying Rochester, and in comparison she realizes that freedom would mean imprisonment by marrying St John as she would need to keep her emotions in check. Therefore, the novel is focused on Jane’s journey to balancing the conflicts in order to become content as well as learning how to gain love without sacrificing her dignity in the process. In contrast, the film shows no basis of contrast between St John and Rochester and consequently excludes Jane’s development as a human being as the film is solely focused on her affair with