When I search up terms like "rochester jane eyre" or "rochester's character in jane eyre", I get results that include stuff like "Byronic hero", "conventional romantic hero", "passionate", or "extremely appealing and sensual". Now, that really goes against all of my biases towards that awful asshole (okay, like Christophine said, he's "not a bad man", in that he's not bad through and through, but I feel as though this reflects my current sense of indignation). Some search results attempt to convince me otherwise and explain how I'd be hard pressed to not fall in love with him due to Bronte's writing, especially considering how easy it'd be to put myself in Jane's shoes (honestly, in this aspect, Jane Eyre is more fan-fiction-esque than Wide Sargasso Sea). Again, I've never read the book, so I might really be qualified to make a judgement. However, going off of some less convincing (and more so infuriating) search results, I'm very inclined to believe that Rochester is still (if we take Wide Sargasso Sea as his legitimate history) a person of pretty low caliber.
"how old is rochester in jane eyre": Rochester is 37 and Jane is 18 when they meet. So, he's twice her age. Awesome. He's totally not taking advantage of this girl who he's employed as a governess (that's another power dynamic that totally won't skew things!) and her lack of experience. Sure, you can tell me to not judge stuff in the past with the lens of now (or something better worded than that, probably), or that love is love, but it really can't change the fact that there are inherent (and significant) imbalances to their relationship, right off the bat.
Mr. Rochester is a Creep: A List: I don't agree with #7 (honestly I think that's a very biased--am I the pot calling the kettle black?--way of looking at things), but if all the other examples are true, Rochester seems to be secretive, manipulative, and possessive (who knew?!?).
Mr. Edward Rochester: The author of this piece is trying to justify Rochester's horrible personality ("always on the edge of violence, likes to order people around, keeps his wife locked in the attic, and teases Jane on at least one occasion until she cries... that’s why he’s so awesome"), and basically tells us everything's okay because "passion" and "moral relativity" and how Jane's different from all the other women and changes him. Uh huh.
Yes, my analysis might be overboard or a product of confirmation bias (also, it's not extensive enough to actually obtain that much credibility, but...). But if you really don't believe me, please check out those links yourself. Actually, what confounds me isn't that Rochester is still horrible in Jane Eyre, but rather that lots of people seem to like him (check out the Goodreads page on the book). What merit does he really have? Is Bronte's writing really that compelling? Am I misunderstanding something fundamental? Do I have to read Jane Eyre to figure things out for myself? If I read it and still don't understand, is it because I'm already too biased from Wide Sargasso Sea?
Rhys's Rochester can be read as an interpretive commentary on his character in Bronte's novel: she takes the man whom Mrs. Fairfax says has been "altered beyond recognition" by his time in the West Indies and imagines him before this transformative experience. The Rochester we meet in _Jane Eyre_ already is carrying around this "burden," the secret of his first marriage and the shame he's repressing, and this is what makes him a somewhat attractive figure to some readers: he seems "romantic" in the 19th-century sense, always brooding and with a "dark brow," moody and irritable, but with the implication that there's some really heavy stuff on his shoulders. Jane falls in love with him, but she also resists the impulse, as she has deep doubts about how worthy he is as a gentleman. Rochester needs redemption--a plotline that 19th century novels just love--and Jane is the one who can redeem him. His "problematic" character traits are just so many things that she'll need to "fix," in other words--and in the end, Bertha Mason falls into this category. The burning of the estate humbles Rochester--literally injuring and blinding him--and now that he's brought low in shame and self-reproach, Jane is there to redeem his character.
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend _Jane Eyre_, and it's a good read after Rhys. You've got the "prequel" here--now go check out how Bronte depicts his "later" life.