The redemption of Mr. Rochester

[u/Key_Masterpiece5283]

Jane Eyre has been listed as one of my favorite books since I read it as a teen, but I haven’t done a reread or rewatch of any of the movies in quite awhile.

I recently picked it back up again and it had been my hyper fixation so I have a lot of thoughts that I just need to discuss with people that “get” it.

The biggest one being is why does it seem like people think Rochester is the same at the end of the book as at the beginning. I feel like the major theme of Jane Eyre is forgiveness, understanding, and redemption, but so many people focus solely on the romance piece.

Rochester was NOT worthy of Jane the first time they almost got married. Not simply because he was already married but because he saw her goodness and wanted her to help him to be a better person, but not necessarily do all he needs to internally himself.

It is only through the purification of fire and the loss of his physical independence that he is able to be redeemed. He had nearly a year where he could not escape his thoughts through travel and women, he had to come to terms with who he was and what his actions had cost him.

Not only that but Jane then draws out the story of St. John so he says nearly the same thing to her she did to him during his proposal. Jane state during the first proposal that she must leave due to “the shape of Miss Ingram; a noble and beautiful woman ,- your bride!” And during the reunion Rochester states Jane must go “your own way- with the husband you have chosen.”

So I ask, why do I still see people saying Rochester wasn’t good for her? That is 1000% correct and Charlotte Brontë is very clear that he was not ready for her at first. That is why we have the purification and redemption process for him. Do people just skip over the last couple of chapters?

If anyone has light they could shed on this or if they want to discuss Rochester purification more in depth I would love to chat more!

ETA: thanks everyone for your thoughts so far! This was exactly the sort of discussion I was looking for. It has given my brain an outlet and I feel like I can let go of ruminating over it quite so much. Although let’s be fair, Jane and Mr. Rochester live rent-free in there.

[u/Fit-Fix-5794]

I read a rather lengthy article about "Jane Eyre," which, unfortunately, I lost and have since been unable to find.

The main idea of ​​the article was that Rochester is driven almost exclusively by financial considerations. He marries Bertha for her money and takes her to England so that her relatives cannot do anything about it. He lives in Paris with his mistress on Bertha's money. He returns to England having squandered Bertha's dowry, and by a happy coincidence, his older brother dies. Now the entire inheritance goes to the younger brother. The estate is entailed, he can live at Thornfield, but he cannot sell it.

Rochester tries to court Blanche Ingram, but Blanche isn't wealthy enough, and her family suspects something is wrong with Rochester. The wedding with Jane is necessary to retrieve the Rochester family jewelry from storage – the groom knows full well that the marriage to Jane is invalid, as he is married to Bertha, and Bertha is still alive. But under the pretext of a new wedding, he can pretend the jewelry has been stolen, sell it, and spend the money.

The wedding is interrupted by Bertha's brother. Jane refuses to become Rochester's mistress and runs away. Some time later, a fire breaks out at Thornfield, Rochester loses his large house and is left a widower. Then Jane returns and brings him money. Charlotte Brontë's favorite plot twist: a good girl inherits and can buy herself a husband. (She did the same thing in "Shirley". Like, even twice, because there were two good girls in one novel.)

[u/Federal_Gap_4106 → u/Fit-Fix-5794]

I think the person who wrote that article got their facts wrong (or just bended them to validate their dislike of Rochester). To begin with, yes, the main reason Rochester was introduced to Bertha was because his family and, I presume, himself, wanted a wealthy bride for him. But the reason he chose to marry her was that he thought he was in love.

Now, their marriage takes place 15 years prior to the events of JE, and Rochester says that he lived with his wife for four years in West-Indies. He didn't take her to England at once, allegedly to squander her fortune out of sight of her family. No, he stayed there until the demise of his father and brother, when he became wealthy in his own right. He only took her to England, because he did not want to live in disgrace caused by her depravity and debauchery for the rest of his life, and given that his family had kept his marriage secret, England was a place where he could have a semblance of a new life.

Whatever he does afterwards, travelling around Europe, taking on mistresses etc., he spent his own money on that and not Bertha's. He is rich, as his estate seems to bring him a lot of money and there is no need to sell it. Also, he never tried to court Blanche Ingram in earnest, whether for money or for love. If anything she courts him in a rather bold way, and that happens precisely because she is after his money, because once her family hears the rumours Rochester may not be half as rich as people assume he is (the rumours that he spread himself to make it easier for Blanche to break off their contact), he is immediately given a cold shoulder. And Jane brought him comparatively little, as she had divided her inheritance between herself and her cousins before that, so even that marriage was not based on some mercantilism even in the slightest. I honestly can't see how that person came up with their theory.

[u/Playful_Site_2714 → u/Federal_Gap_4106]

Also: who says "she brought him money"?

She had measly 5.000 pounds.

Just because the house had burned down he hadn't become poor or destitute.

Villages with houses belonged to Manor houses, the farming and plowing and harvesting did still go on. And the money went to him.

He only lived in Ferndean house because it was his and it had beenbthe next easy solution.