Blinded By Love

Should Mr. Rochester have divorced Bertha Mason. This is a very complex question as it seems that Mr. Rochester wants to get a divorce, but he can’t ever bring himself to get a divorce. Another reason why he may have not been able to divorce her was because of the time it took place. As this book takes place in the 1800s, it wasn’t until after the 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act, which was passed 10 years after Jane Eyre, that divorces became more common and less frowned upon. Divorce nowadays though due to mental illness is not all that common.

Rochester's first interaction was when Mr. Rochester fell off his horse and Jane helped him in the woods. This might foretell that Jane is going to help Mr. Rochester again when he has troubles and need help getting through them. Then we they meet at the house, he kind of ignored Jane and he was “left alone” and “did not take his eyes off from the group of the dog and child (Bronte 175), however after he asked Jane to sit down, he immediately started acting rude and impolite. Jane felt that this was completely normal, and if he did otherwise, she would be shocked. Then Mr. Rochester deems interested in Jane because of the way she answers all his questions.

Finally, the details about society show that Jane recognizes the standards of her victorian society and needs to abide by them. After Jane had thought awhile, she no longer “felt justified in judging” Mr. Rochester and Blanche for “acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them.” Though Jane wishes to be loved by Mr. Rochester, she comes to the realization that rich men do not marry lower-class women in her

Jane requests to return to the Reed house, after learning about her cousin’s suicide and her aunt, Mrs. Reed’s, illness; however Rochester questions, “And what good can you do her… you say she cast you off,” Jane replies, “Yes, sir, but that is long ago; and when her circumstances were very different: I could not be easy to neglect her wishes now” (Brontë 227). Jane looks beyond that Mrs. Reed “cast[ed] her off,” implying that she has grown to let go of grudges and developed a mature mentality. The irony of Jane’s inability to “neglect her wishes,” infers how the injustice treatment of Mrs. Reed unaffectedly brings Jane to look past the situation by visiting the Reeds in a time of sorrow. In addition, Rochester attempts to convince his wedded Jane to stay with him, after learning about his mad wife; Rochester claims that his father had “sent [him] out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for” him but only so his brother and father to get “thirty thousand pounds,” Rochester further admits to Jane that “you know now that I had but a hideous demon. I was wrong to attempt to deceive you…

Both characters, venturing out of their gender roles, find ways to compliment and figure out who the other person really is, and, in the end, a burgeoning love fully blooms. When examining the gender roles of Mr. Rochester and Jane, both are a blend of each and life seems better when conventional gender roles are forgotten. In Rochester and Jane’s first meeting, the two begin to show their blended gender roles immediately. Rochester is first described as having a “dark face” with “stern features”, with a complexion that seems, “ireful and thwarted” (146).

Rochester is not a guy who is told “no” often. The fact the Jane was able to accomplish that, really shows how strong and powerful Jane truly

John was sacrificing passion for principal, while Rochester abandoned principle for consuming passion. This is one of the biggest differences in between the two characters, which is why Jane chose Rochester over John. At one point, Jane is describing both of their eyes, stating that Rochesters was, “under such steadfast brows, ever revealed such flaming and flashing eyes” (Ch.26). His eyes were full of fire, burning bright, full of passion, while St. Johns were rock, ice, and snow. Because of that warmth that radiated from Rochester's eyes, because of the emotion that flowed from them, Jane chose him.

The tactics he employs to get his way also provide insight into a major theme of the novel. The major motive for all of Mr. Rochester’s deception was to win Jane’s heart so he could marry her. He is shown to be very intuitive

{Rochester admits that he could not be alone and that he has always craved some type of love even if he didn’t love his mistress back.} He tells Jane, “Yet I could not live alone; so I tried the companionship of mistresses. The first I chose was Celine Varens--another of those steps which make a man spurn himself when he recalls them. You already know what she was, and how my liaison with her terminated. She had two successors: an Italian, Giacinta, and a German, Clara; both considered singularly handsome.

Rochester was a major influence on Jane as this was a critical time she was maturing, yet she did not let him get in the way of her work. The work that was expected of her what always her top priority, Rochester was her second. “I believe he is of mine;—I am sure he is,—I feel akin to him,—I understand the language of his countenance and movements: though rank and wealth sever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart, in my blood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him” (Bronte 266). The relationship between Rochester and Jane was undeniable.

Before Rochester, and his influence, Jane had been accustomed to men in power such as John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst. Their influences on Jane were more negative as they tore Jane down instead of putting her up. These figures allowed the arrival of a seemingly encouraging, kind, and adoring man such as Rochester to be a shock to Jane when she was first employed at Thornfeild. This stems Janes biggest growth from Rochester, the bettering of her self-esteem. Due to Rochester’s exaggerative language he constantly teaches her the value of her self-worth and her beauty.

She was not worried of anything and everything. It is not just Thornfield itself, she loved the people who made her feel safe and secure in life. Jane is talking to Rochester right after the first proposal and says “Thank you, Mr. Rochester, for your great kindness, I am strongly glad to get back again to you, and wherever you are is my home- my only home,” (264). Jane loves Mrs. Fairfax, Adele, and the other servants at Thornfield. Jane knows that Thornfield is a good place for her and her future.

The Power Struggle Between Jane and Mr. Rochester In Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, Jane and Mr. Rochester both have some power in the relationship. Jane has power because Mr. Rochester gives in to her wishes because he loves her, while Mr. Rochester has power because he has a lot of the money and Jane doesn’t. For example, the lines “‘What is the matter?’ he asked; ‘all the sunshine is gone. Do you really wish the bairn to go?

As an adult, Jane asserts her independence by rejecting unequal marriage. When Jane finds out that the man she was to marry, Mr. Rochester, was already wed, she ran away. Mr. Rochester pleaded passionately for her to stay, revealing his unfortunate history and even threatening to use physical force to restrain Jane. Both tactics failed since, as Jane puts it, her conscience personified strangles her passion for Rochester. Being a mistress to Rochester in addition to being financially and socially inferior to him prompts her to leave him.

- Edward is an economically independent man with a favorable status and influential connections still looking for a profitable match. Jane will be the one in charge to unmask him to the audience: “I saw he was going to marry her [Blanche Ingram] for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connections suited him” (Brontë 205) This manner of conduct converts Mr. Rochester from a hero into a villain, a perpetrator and “his project of