Fire
Fires recur throughout the novel, representing destruction,
damnation, and smoldering passions. In Part One, Antoinette describes
the fire that burned down Coulibri Estate and triggered her mother’s collapse
into madness. In Part Two, Rochester describes the use of candles
at night, paying particular attention to the moths that burn themselves
in the flames. These descriptions not only recall the grotesque
death of Annette’s bird, but they also mirror Antoinette’s perverse
fascination with fire and foreshadow her own tragic end.
