I can understand your problem with Jane because I wasn't totally convinced myself about Jane erring on the side of art but here is the reasoning behind the author's thoughts on it: "Jane errs slightly on the side of "art", I believe: her extreme reserve and self restraint, while admirably intended, certainly do her disservice in her love affair with Bingley." This is obviously his personal opinion so it is certainly subject to disagreement. I think most people would see Jane and Lizzy as being together and erring more on the side of nature or as Adrian says with Lizzy more to the art side instead of Jane. In any case, he sees them both as being close to the mean which makes them both pretty balanced which is what I imagine is looked for. I personally would have to go back and study Jane's character more closely with the art-nature antithesis in mind before coming to a final decision but I can definitely see where you're coming from.

As for the medieval, Renaissance roots this is the language of just a bit of it: the medieval and Renaissance world pictures is "the idea that the creation is ordered as a series of analogous planes, or macrocosms and microcosms. As E. M. W. Tillyard puts it, to the Elizabethan mind the world 'consisted of a number of planes, arranged one below the other in order of dignity but connected by an immense net of correspondence...The different planes were the divine and angelic, the universe or macrocosm, the commonwealth or body politic, man or microcosm, and the lower creation'. The structures of the higher planes are mirrored in those of the lower, and alterations or aberrations on one plane may affect another level. We see this idea reflected in the familiar medieval and Renaissance analogy between the state and the solar system or the cosmos. The king corresponds to the sun; his rule keeps the various elements in the body politic---which corresponds to the planets---in their proper order..." And it goes on from there and includes the universal law of concordia discors, etc. It also includes a few examples of poetry in the discussions (Shakespeare, Spenser). There are five and a half pages of this. I didn't feel I had time to do it justice and the parts I am presenting are taking more time than I originally thought. I tried to come up with a way of just scanning this background section and linking it but I don't have access to a web page and there's always the issue of infringement if too much is scanned.

I wish I'd flipped through this book before the GR started and I would have chosen it as my focus. I could have then done it in the order as presented in the book. There's a chapter before this one which I haven't even read on The Theme of Moral Blindness and Self-Knowledge. I got so taken with the idea of the symbolic motifs and posted on that. Since some readers have expressed an interest on JA's use of contrast, I've been trying to backtrack since the book is always referencing the previous chapters. I admit I am probably not doing as good a job as I'd like but the GR is almost over so time is an issue. I can only hope that it is adding, to at least some degree, a bit of depth to the story for some and/or giving food for thought. I know it has for me. Maybe the next two installments will be helpful in getting the idea of the heart/head contrast. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. I'll do my best to answer what I can. :)