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What makes Jane Eyre's paintings "typical"?

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Jane Eyre's paintings are "typical" because they reflect the expected accomplishments of polished young ladies, showcasing her artistic talent similar to that of her peers. Additionally, her art serves as a medium for expressing her inner emotional state. Rochester's analysis of her paintings reveals a deep, empathetic understanding of Jane's soul, making his interpretation of her work unique, despite the conventional nature of her skill.

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Jane’s artwork is “typical” in the sense that her talent as an artist is an “accomplishment” polished young ladies are expected to have. When Bessie comes to visit her at Lowood, she exclaims over one of Jane’s paintings: “Well, that is beautiful, Miss Jane! It is as fine a picture as any Miss Reed’s drawing-master could paint, let alone the young ladies themselves….” Bessie sees the artwork as a kind of proof of Jane’s equality with the Miss Reeds (and proof that she was right to think well of Jane).

You could also argue that the work is “typical” in that, like many young people, Jane uses her art as a way of expressing her inner emotional state. You can see very clearly, in Chapter 13, that Rochester ’s scrutiny of Jane’s artwork is much more than simply an employer trying to become better acquainted with an employee....

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It is as if, in looking at Jane’s pictures, Rochester is looking into her soul. His appreciation for her art is both critical and empathic:

These eyes in the Evening Star you must have seen in a dream. How could you make them look so clear, and yet not at all brilliant? for the planet above quells their rays. And what meaning is that in their solemn depth? And who taught you to paint wind? There is a high gale in that sky, and on this hill-top. Where did you see Latmos? For that is Latmos.

Jane’s paintings are the physical manifestations of her own sense of self and imagination. It’s worth noting, as well, that the information we have about these works comes from Jane’s own description of them; the pictures themselves exist only as words on the page. In this way, we can understand Jane’s writing (the novel is written from her point of view) as another kind of “word picture” of her soul. “Typical” as her art may be, Rochester’s penetrating “reading” of her art, and of her, is anything but typical!

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