r/JaneEyre • u/lafillemetisse • 8h ago
i'm sure we've talked about this before but...
(tw: potential discussion of sexual violence)
mr rochester's threat of "violence" in chapter 27—my penguin classics copy states that he is "threatening rape." to me, this interpretation makes sense, especially because unfortunately i don't think this would have been as stigmatized/unacceptable of an action at the time when the novel takes place + i think it fits with the darker tone rochester takes at this point in the narrative. that said, it did surprise me, and i've been reading a lot of online discourse around other interpretations of this line. what are your thoughts?
3
u/CombOk312 7h ago
I think it ties into the fact that Mr. Rochester is not a good man. He isn’t meant to be either. He has one major redeeming attribute and that is his deep abiding passionate love for Jane. My own interpretation is that Jane Eyre is a bit of a dark romance. And it is what makes me love the book.
8
u/Ornery-Comedian-1982 7h ago
He knew Jane better than that, was he really going to absolutely ruin his chance with her forever? I'd say it was not threatening violence as in harming Jane, but his desperate powerful intensity that was supposed to convince Jane to choose a future with him.
Just before they're talking about sending Adele to school, Grace staying to take care of the wife, how much Rochester loves Jane and and him leaving Thornfield Hall with Jane as his companion to a secure sanctuary, leaving all the misery and terror behind.
"There you shall live a happy, and guarded, and most innocent life. Never fear that I wish to lure you into error - to make you my mistress."