cally, St John is the antithesis of Rochester, just as water is the opposite of fire. Their associated imagery is used to bring across this point. Jane must learn to combine the two - passion with reason - before she can be reunited with Rochester.Ferndean and the imagery used to describe the reunion between Jane and Rochester effectively concludes the themes of the novel. Jane finds Rochester alone and blinded by the fire - again, the fire, representing passion, has burned him. In effect, his overconsuming passion has made him blind. In keeping with the key themes of the novel, Jane finds Rochester by "a neglected handful of ice" - the water imagery is effective, as it shows that Rochester has learnt control and come to an understanding of the perils of an overly passionate nature. Jane, by seeking to build a larger fire for Rochester, thus rekindles some of that lost passion between the two. She has learnt that the extremes of control, as embodied in St John and the associated water imagery, is undesirable as well. Fire is essential in the novel for us to understand the motivations of the key characters in the novel. Representing passion and emotion, fire has both a comforting and a destructive effect. Water imagery is significant as it is the antithesis to the uncontrolled passion of fire. The fire in Rochester and Jane gives value to their love, but they must learn to temper that fire with some water and coolness before they can be together. ...
