Rochester as the Rake in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
The rake became one of the most recognized figures of the Restoration Comedies. The rake character was seen as unmarried, cynical, coarse but with the manners of a gentleman, manipulative and self serving. By the twentieth century the rake had given away to the Regency dandy and the dark Byronic hero of Victorian literature. However, the rake does not completely disappear from twentieth century novels. Charlotte Bronte resurrects the Restoration hero in the creation of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre. Edward Rochester exhibits many of the qualities associated with the Restoration rake; he manipulates the woman around him and his actions are self serving. Bronte’s rake varies just enough that she can present her character as both hero and villain which eventually allows for his reformation.
Readers are often deceived into believing that the rake should be viewed as a villain, hence their resistance in accepting Edward Rochester as a rake. However, as Harold Weber suggests that readers should not be concerned "with whether or not the rake emerges as a hero or a villain – he must [. . .] be both" (Weber 53). The rake’s mistreatment of women categorizes him as villain. Rochester’s mistreatment of Jane and the other women in the story is detestable. He confesses that he used Blanche Ingram to make Jane jealous. Rochester admits that he "feigned courtship with Miss Ingram" (261; ch.24). Rochester deceives Blanche into believing his intent was marriage; yet she was merely a pawn in his romantic conquest of Jane. The whole time Rochester pursues Jane he is already married to Bertha. Rochester hides his marriage in an attempt to find his definition of a more suitable wife. He t...
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In the creation of her hero, Edward Rochester, Charlotte Bronte resurrected the Restoration rake. Rochester posses many characteristics associated with the rake. His past life is nonexistent without discussing some former lover. He deceives Jane into believing he is unmarried. Like many rakes, Rochester can be viewed as both villain and hero. While his actions towards the other characters in the novel are villainous, Bronte presents them in such a manner that the reader’s sympathies lie with Rochester. Rochester repents for his debauched lifestyle and is rewarded by the death of Bertha and his marriage to Jane.
Works Cited
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Beth Newman. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1996.
Weber, Harold. The Restoration Rake-Hero: Transformations in Sexual Understanding in Seventeenth-Century England. Madison U of Wisconsin P, 1986.
Charlotte Bronte utilizes the character of Bertha Rochester to interrupt Jane’s potential happy ending with Mr. Edward Rochester. Bertha is announced by Mr. Briggs as a way to stop the wedding and it also shows how hopeless Jane’s situation is. “That is my wife “said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have,’” (312) and “’I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout,’” (312) are quotes that express Mr. Rochester’s reasons for trying to remarry while he already has a wife, meanwhile showing his disposition towards said wife. Had Mr. Briggs and Mr. Mason not been present for the ceremony, Jane may have lived happily in ignorance. Due to Bertha’s involvement however, Jane could never truly call herself Mr. Rochester’s wife. She says, “’Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.’” (323) This quote shows that as a result of Bertha’s exposure, Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester. The influence that Bertha’s brief debut had on Jane’s life was significant enough to hinder the growth of her relationship with Mr. Rochester.
To begin, when Mr. Rochester secretly returns to Thornfield as a gypsy he tells many fortunes but when the secret comes out there is nothing but distrust for him. For example, when Jane finds out that Mr. Rochester was the gypsy, and Mr. Rochester asks if she can forgive him for his trick, she says ¨[She] cannot tell till [she] [has] thought it all over. … [she] shall try to forgive [him]; but it was not right¨ (Bronte 213). This shows that Jane had lost some trust in her beloved Rochester by such a simple joke and it was that, the secret had been kept from her, that makes Jane really wonder if she could tru...
In the third paragraph of Last Names, Earnshaw illustrates that the “roche” is Rochester is actually French for “rock”. His personality matches the symbol of a rock: being stubborn and bearing wealth. Plus, many of the other characters describe him with rock-like features, “I should dare to drop a kiss on that brow of rock”(Charlotte Bronte, pg.318). Additionally, his research into Charlotte Bronte’s earlier life and what she might have drawn inspiration from proves to be fascinating. The legend of Eyre found in the last paragraph is especially interesting. The legend goes, “the first ‘Eyre’ was
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is an early 19th-century English literature; a literary work that is evocative and riveting. It depicts acts of betrayal between family members, loved ones and self-inflicted betrayal. The acts of betrayals are done by Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre herself.
Bronte, we meet Jane Eyre, who finds her true love to be someone she is not
The novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is about Jane who is a strong, independent women who went from being an orphaned, isolated ten-year-old to excelling at school and becoming a governess.The character Blanche Ingram is intended to marry Edward Rochester, the man Jane loves. Throughout the first half of the novel Bronte uses Blanche Ingram as a foil to Jane, to reveal her true persona. This is evident firstly by appearance, where Blanche is described as beautiful and Jane plain, their different inner characters, the way they connect with Adele and finally how they express their feelings towards Edward Rochester.
He acts very flirtatious and by the way he speaks to her it seems as
Analyse the methods Charlotte Brontë uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre in the opening chapters. Reflect on how the novel portrays Victorian ideology and relate your analysis to the novel’s literary content.
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
In conclusion, Jane Eyre’s painstaking journey to find a sense of acceptance, affection, and family was finally completed, attaining the things she yearned. She eventually discovered everything she was searching for through Mr. Rochester, forgetting her agonizing past and looking to what was ahead. As Jane looked for many different alternatives to make her feel as if she was complete, she found that Mr. Rochester was the only one who could make her feel
Charlotte Bronte wrote the novel Jane Eyre in the mid-eighteen hundreds. In her novel she expresses her views on many important factors present during this time including social problems such as race, class, gender, and the role of religion. Each of these factors affects the way that the protagonist, Jane Eyre, grows as a person. Throughout the novel Charlotte Bronte uses images and symbols that either influence or represent Jane's growth. Bronte uses a common imagery throughout the novel reflecting images of "fire and ice." She also uses symbols in Jane's life such as the red-room, from her childhood, and the character Bertha Mason Rochester, during her time at Thornfield. Other characters who influence Jane as a person are Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers. Each of these images, symbols, and characters influences Jane a great deal and leads her down the path to true belonging and happiness.
Edward Rochester, the owner of the Thornfield estate and the later romantic interest of Jane, also has dynamic emotional relationships throughout this Bildungsroman novel. Rochester, a powerful but unusual man, uses his authority to assert his position through his relationship with both Bertha and Jane Eyre. Bertha, his first wife, with whom he has an arranged marriage, involves an association that primarily revolves around preserving
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.
Love is an important theme in the famous novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Jane's love for Rochester is clearly noticible throughout the novel. But Jane's true love for Rochster becomes appearent in only a few of her actions and emotions. Although it may seem Rochester manipulated her heart's desire, this can be disproven in her actions towards him. Jane followed her heart in the end, by returning to Rochester.