"Reading Jane Eyre" by Smith

To shortly sum up Smith's article, the themes of a Gothic novel are huge in Jane Eyre, but they are more subdued than in other works such as those by Poe. Within Jane Eyre the Gothic turns what is commonplace phenomena into the symbolic. The three key Gothic scenes within the novel are 1) Jane reads about Bewick's History of Birds, 2) Jane's dream of Bertha Mason, and 3) descriptions of Bertha. Smith also concludes that race in the novella outlines tensions between the rational and irrational. Bertha and Jane are really only separated by race because they are very similar in passion and will. Smith notes differences between the West-Indies and Europe: the first is described as sulpher and bloody, while Europe is described as fresh and pure.