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Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Chapter 27
Explanation and Analysis—Cursed Colonialism:
Mr. Rochester's first marriage is an allegory for the corruption of colonial profiteering, and the bad fortune many people believed would befall society as a result of it. In Chapter 27, Mr. Rochester describes to Jane how he married into the Mason family:
"My bride’s mother I had never seen; I understood she was dead. The honeymoon over, I learned my mistake; she was only mad, and shut up in a lunatic asylum. There was a younger brother, too – a complete dumb idiot. The elder one, whom you have seen (and whom I cannot hate, whilst I abhor all his kindred, because he has some grains of affection in his feeble mind, shown in the continued interest he takes in his wretched sister, and also in a dog-like attachment he once bore me), will probably be in the same state one day.["]
Related Themes:
Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Death Bed:
In Chapter 29, Jane is safe at the Rivers family home after a brief but harrowing period of being unhoused. The chapter opens with a simile that evokes a Christian allegory of resurrection:
Unlock with LitCharts A+To that bed I seemed to have grown; I lay on it motionless as a stone; and to have torn me from it would have been almost to kill me.
Related Themes:
Chapter 38
Explanation and Analysis—For Love and Country:
Jane and Mr. Rochester's relationship is an allegory for England's salvation from the corruption and dangers of colonialism. Mr. Rochester represents a class of English landowners who have tried to make their fortune through foreign speculation and trade.
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Related Themes:
