What Is Rochester's Proposal For Jane Eyre

“Jane’s relationship with Rochester in the early part of the novel is based not on love but control, manipulation and secrecy. She does well to escape”

Rochester will later emerge in the novel as a complex character. So far, Bronte is attempting to create a Byronic hero in him, making him bother larger-than-life and quite normal. Jane admits that Mr. Rochester has faults, as any Byronic hero or everyday person would, stating, “Gratitude, and many associations, all pleasurable and genial, made his face the object I best liked to see; his presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire. Yet I had not forgotten his faults: indeed, I could not, for he brought them frequently before me” (Bronte 115). It is clear that Jane has fallen for Mr. Rochester despite his Byronic flaws.

We first encounter this relationship between Jane and Rochester during their first dramatic meeting. She encounters him when he falls off his horse and she is required to give him assistance. Jane’s first impression of his face is that ‘He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow’. This may portray the dimness in his face awaiting to be enlightened by a woman which, in this case Jane. Further on in this chapter, unaware of who he is, on her return home, Jane is amazed to discover that the gentleman she assisted in the road was her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. Jane’s future relationship with Rochester is most clearly set out in their first meeting. Although without any money, reserved and socially dependent, Jane is not

Throughout Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre is afflicted with the feud between her moral values, and the way society perceives these notions. Jane ultimately obtains her happy ending, and Brontë’s shrewd denouement of St. John’s fate juxtaposes Jane’s blissful future with St. John’s tragic course of action. When Jane ends up at the Moor House, she is able to discover a nexus of love and family, and by doing so, she no longer feels fettered to Rochester. Moreover, Rochester is no longer Jane’s only form of psychological escape, and thus Jane is in a position to return to him without an aura of discontent. At the end of the novel, Jane is finally able to be irrevocably “blest beyond what language can express” (Brontë 459) because she is “absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh” (459).

Mr. Rochester begs that Jane understand his motives, explaining to her the history of his family, and urging Jane to stay with him. However, an inner voice tells Jane to resist the temptations to be Rochester’s mistress. Despite her desire to live with Mr. Rochester and pursue a relationship with him, she knows that deep inside, she would be ruining her life and reputation-realizing the need to respect herself, she leaves Thornfield, despite her temptations. Jane knows that she can find a “temporary heaven” in living with Mr. Rochester, but she refuses to accept it.

Rochester. Jane wanted equality for most of her life, because throughout Jane Eyre’s life she has only been put down. After meeting Mr. Rochester Jane felt equal to Mr. Rochester, and feel in love with him. Jane was intellectually equal to Mr. Rochester. Because Jane feels equal and feels loved Jane decided to sacrifice her dreams. Jane did not want to be anyone’s mistress rather Jane wanted to make a name for herself. Jane always dreamed of being loved by someone and build a school to educate unfortunate young girls, but Jane gave up her dreams of bringing positivity to the world. Jane was given a chance by St. John to travel to India, and educate the woman in India, but Jane happily rejects the proposal from St. John for Mr. Rochester’s love and to serve Mr. Rochester’s every need. Jane says this “Shake me off, then, sir—push me away, for I’ll not leave you of my own accord” (Brontë pg. 444) reassuringly to the jealous Mr. Rochester, and Jane saying this displays that Jane will be with Mr. Rochester through every tough time that life throws at them. From this it is shown that Jane values love and equality more than her hopes and

Initially, his manner towards Jane is frigid, and at their infrequent passing, Jane recalls, “he would sometimes pass me haughtily and coldly, just acknowledging my presence by a distant nod or a cool glance, and sometimes bow and smile with gentleman-like affability,” (177). He treats Jane differently than the staff, observing her emotions and carefully concealing his own. When Rochester opens up about Adele’s origins, Jane recognizes a spark of warmth in him, and a desire for affection he has been denied. At this point, Jane begins to admire Mr. Rochester, stating that, “His presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire,” (203). Not long after Jane affirms this notion, a literal fire engulfs Rochester’s room while he is sleeping.

(E) These are interesting quotes on both the parts of Mr. Rochester and Jane. First, Mr. Rochester calls her daughter dumb. This is somewhat understandable because this child was had through an affair with a married woman and he does not seem to care about this daughter much. Nevertheless, parents usually do not say such negative things about their children as he has. We also notice that Jane does not include any details about her teaching ability in the book as she is not one to toot her own horn. This is very humble of her as a storyteller to do.

Furthermore, Jane says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Chapter 27, Bronte.) This statement greatly represents the growth that Jane has undergone. She no longer dreads the solitude that once haunted her because she respects herself enough to realize that she did not deserve to experience such great dismay. Through independence and self-recognition, Jane has discovered the importance of loving oneself. Without the reliance on the thoughts of others, the once extremely troubled girl found bliss through a lack of outside control. In regards to her relationship with Mr. Rochester, Jane understands that she must leave him behind to maintain her own well-being. She does not allow the wealth or proclaimed love from Rochester to skew her decisions and she does not linger to dominate the life of her lover. Instead, she moves forward to continue her endless pursuit of happiness and independence.

Yet I had not forgotten his faults: indeed, I could not, for he brought them frequently before me.” (149). Rochester’s appearance was altered in Jane’s eyes, as her opinion of him changed. She continued to love him even though he makes plans to propose to Balnche Ingram. Rochester is manipulative because he appeared to be able to identify Jane’s feelings for him, yet he constantly liked to toy with her.

She sees these prideful flaws in Rochester amongst all the good qualities brought by his passionate nature: His presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire. Yet I had not forgotten his faults; indeed, I could not, for he so frequently brought them before me (148).” Despite all this, Jane sees the potential in him and wants to help him become a better person. Though Mr. Rochester thinks she is cold, sick, and silly for not fully drawing out the lively spirit within her, Jane still has reason with

Jane’s approach could be considered romantic and embodies conventional feminist concepts; she remains headstrong and stubborn in the face of injustice. The representation of Jane as a strong, independent woman upholds the belief that woman can achieve their goals. Jane does precisely this; she marries Rochester, becomes a part of a family as well as gains financial independence. The way in which Bronte represents Jane is emphasized through her narrative stance. The reader is presented with a firm and rebellious character, her diction is simple and assertive. She addresses the reader directly and is able to identify and challenge the problems she faces with determination. Furthermore Jane is able to identify and comment on how she feels woman are subjugated by their society; she denounces that “woman are supposed to be very calm generally: but woman feel just as men feel […]” (Bronte

In the first passage, Mr. Rochester had recently returned back to Thornfield and decides to engage in conversation with Jane to get better acquainted with her. However, soon after their discussion, he bluntly points out his first impressions and makes assumptions about her character and personality. Rochester notices the lasting impact of Jane’s background at Lowood which makes her suppress her feelings by “controlling your features, muffling your voice, and restricting your limbs…in the presence of a man and a brother – or father, or master” while comparing her to “a curious sort of bird” (162; ch. 14). She is submissive and taciturn in the presence of a male figure, seen at the time as superior and powerful. A possible explanation would be that Jane is still caught in the remnants of the cage of her past, marked by the strict, structural environment of Lowood that changed her from a passionate, outspoken child to a mature, rational young adult.

Jane realizes her own detachment from God in the days in which she is courted by Rochester, and when she discovers his existing marriage she knows she must leave Thornfield. Leaving her position at Thornfield was not easy for Jane, who had been a dependent her entire life and found herself relying on begging, which drew a suspicion to those around her because of the visual contrast between her decent clothing and awful situation. Taken in by the Rivers family, Jane again becomes a dependent until she becomes aware of the existence of her inheritance, which gives her the key to independence. During this time, Rochester “in his humbled state seeks God… and Jane's virtue, her earlier refusal to become Rochester's mistress, is graciously honored by God's dealings with Rochester, who, having been refined by fire physically, morally, and spiritually, can now be Jane's [equal] partner” (Griesinger 54). Only by being divided for this period of time can the two become united in a holy matrimony, as Jane had the time to prove her independence and Rochester had the time to become right with God. The contrast between Rochester’s two proposals directly illustrates Jane’s cherishment of her own relationship with God, and her equality in her marriage to Rochester. To further demonstrate Jane’s commitment to retaining her sense of biblical feminism, Brontë includes an additional proposal delivered by St. John Rivers.

Rochester. At first Jane sees him as rude and disrespectful due to his cold and gruesome remarks, but it is her fight and how Jane stands up for herself that leads to one of the most known relationships in literature. Eventually Rochester asks Jane for her hand in marriage but at the scene of the wedding, we come to learn, that Rochester is already married to an insane woman, living in his attic, named Bertha. With this Rochester asks Jane to run away with her to Europe, this is exactly where Jane is faced with a very hard decision between following her heart as everyone wants to do, or keeping her respect and dignity. We can see the respect Jane now has from Rochester when he says to her, “I was wrong to attempt to deceive you; but I feared a stubbornness that exists in your character” (Bronte 354). This shows that Jane has gained Rochester’s respect and the ‘stubbornness’ in Jane’s character is the best thing for her, for without this trait Jane could never gain respect from others, especially men, in his novel. Knowing that Jane has decided to leave her, Rochester begins to persuade Jane to stay with him. He says, “Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This – this is wicked. It would not be wicked to love me” (Bronte 355). Jane replies, “It would to obey you” (Bronte 355), showing that she will not give into his pleading, regardless of how much she loves him because to obey him would lead to the loss