ather lax in respecting the full weight of marriage, but she acts as an example to him and teaches him this. By the end of the novel, the reader sees Rochester respecting these bonds.It is fire imagery that in fact, pre-empts the break-up between Rochester and Jane. The chestnut tree in the orchard is hit by lightning, a form of fire imagery. Though "scarred and scorched", "the cloven halves were not broken from each other" and the "strong roots kept them unsundered below". The fire, or passion, has burnt the tree and split it into two, just as Rochester and Jane must be split apart as they have yet to recognize the perils of being overly passionate. However, like the chestnut tree which is still joined at the roots, the basis of the love between Rochester and Jane remains, which leaves the path open for reconciliation later in the book.In marked contrast to the wealth of fire imagery used to describe Rochester and the relationship between Jane and Rochester, St John Rivers is identified largely with water imagery. Seen in their first meeting, Jane sees St John and says, "I have never seen that handsome face of his look more like chiselled marble…as he put aside his snow wet hair from his forehead". It is stated that he was "at the fireside a cold, cumbrous column, gloomy and out of place", hinting at the incompatibility of Jane and St John. Jane's nature is basically passionate - Mrs Reed, Helen and Bessie all comment on this - while St John, associated with water and ice imagery, is not passionate. She speaks of his "ice kisses" and says that he is as "cold as an iceberg" from her point of view. When the crucial point in the novel where St John proposes to Jane comes, Bront again describes the proposal of marriage with water imagery. She compares him with imagery of cold, running water - "he … has no more a husband's heart for me than that frowning giant of a rock, down which the stream is foaming in yonder gorge". Themati...
