Jane Eyre Chapter 6

In chapter XI, Jane explains her restlessness by describing how it is in human nature to find or create action. Jane’s unhappiness with her stagnation at Thornfield begins to wear her down, with no company of her own age or emotional/mental state to help absorb her heat. When the other people of thornfield are engaged in their own personal activities, Jane looks from the attic out towards the horizon longing for “a power of vision which might overpass that limit.” Jane wants to see more, she wants to be able to go into a world that is busy and full of life, somewhere that can tend to her flame instead of simply holding it. Agitation arises from within Jane when she is tranquil. Jane thinks to herself that “human beings” aren’t to be content with “tranquility”.
She sees the world as a place that not just for living, but as a place to create, and engage in life. She believes the world is more than just a fireplace, but a forge, where the fire of people is molded into their lives, lives that are wasted when not taking or creating action. Her view is that life is a place that should be lived in the moment, to capture the fire that is being alive. Jane sees her “tranquility” at lowood a prison for her previously mentioned fire, yet recognizes others are “condemned to a stiller doom” than her. Jane feels that a life that is still, a life not having or creating action, is truly a doomed fate. Jane fears this fate, and resists it all she can. She imagines “Life, fire, [and] feeling” constantly while at thornfield, all of which she lacks. Her lacking of these vital human needs in her “actual existence” cause her to become unhappy with her lifestyle, and she pines for a change, which later arrives in Rochester. Jane’s restlessness at Thornfield is explained by her inner monologue on people needing action in their