Jane Eyre question

It's pronounced like "air", because the surnames of four of the main characters are meant to reflect the four classical elements - Jane Eyre (air), Helen Burns (fire), Bertha Mason (masonry -> stone -> earth), the Rivers family (water). I've always loved that. :)

OMG Finally, someone who understands me. Not just that, I mean look how the symbols fit them perfectly. Jane with her simple yet effective character is just like a summer's breeze, the way she made an impact on Mr.Rochester's character is like what the air does to the troubled soul. And in many occasions she describes the air, wind,and breeze and the way they affect. As for Helen, her name, her red hair and the color it reflects with the sun's rays, and the change or revolution she was able to make in a short time all elements of fire.Bertha and Richard on the other hand is just as stiff and stubborn as stones and Bertha's life ended on one(her head was smashed on a stone)you can also see that her name didn't reflect earth element directly because earth is a source of production while she didn't produce anything but sadness. The Rivers family caused me a lot of thinking, I couldn't think of something smart about them but I guess it's about the nature of their characters. They are kind and giving but also unpredictable, especially St.John he is kind and soft but he is determined and decisive and sometimes really mean just like a river in a storm. their house suggests something too( Moor House). But I always thought that their must be a fifth element, what do you think? And what about when Jane changed her name to Elliott, when you associate it with the duration of time she used it till she uncovered her real name. Some interesting ideas can occur about it too. Sorry for making this too long but this is my favorite novel and I didn't think that I'll find someone who has the same idea as me.

It's pronounced 'Air'. And Rebecca: I never thought of it like that... That's so clever!

Ooh, brilliant. And Rochester himself refers to Jane as a sprite or fairy, evaporating at will.

Oh my gosh, Rebecca, I never picked up on that. Cool!

That is so cool! I never picked up on that either.

Jessica wrote: "Is 'Eyre' pronounced air, ire, ear or another way..."

Air

One can also apply the four humors as well as the elements. Bronte had a lot of symbolism embedded into the text. The weather being used to foretell events, the four main locations of the the text being connected to the themes of social class and deception. It seems that 4 is the archetypal number in this text.

I never picked up on that, Rebecca. Now I want to re-read it. Well I always want to re-read it.

Wow! I never noticed that. How do you think Helen relates to fire?

About Helen and fire.
I think it's that she burns everything at the altar of her love for God and her father. Her philosophy is such that she herself so burns with this all-consuming love, that she endures everything.