Tara Walker Anne Fleming English 295 2 March 2011 In Defense of the Master: A Closer Look at Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester mournfully declares, “When fate wronged me, I had not the wisdom to remain cool: I turned desperate; then I degenerated” (Brontë 142). His poignant articulation is the excuse of many “other defaulters” who blame their poor choices on “ill fortune and adverse circumstances” (141 Brontë). Truthfully, the man was indeed a victim of ill fate. But his greatest misfortune was his inability to choose how to respond when the unfortunate conditions arose. Every situation is provided with a choice. The choice is not always between outcomes, particularly in constricting time periods like the Victorian Era, but there is always a choice of attitude. Jane is similarly wronged by fate, but unlike Rochester, she establishes a relationship with God and finds peace in making the most of her situation in life. Although Mr. Rochester is a victim of his circumstances, he lacks both the ability to make rational choice and the healing relationship with God that will free him from the guilt of his past; essential components for him to have a happy, fulfilling life with the woman he really loves. Born the second son of a wealthy father, Edward Fairfax Rochester was denied the position of joint-heir to the family estate because his father “could not bear the idea of divi[sion]” (Brontë 301). Consequently, as an impressionable young man he was presented with a single visible option for obtaining riches: marriage to a wealthy woman he did not know. It is possible that Rochester could have avoided the situation, but due to the expectations of his social class, the pressure from his father “that [no] son of his should be a poor man” (301), and his naiveté, “I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her” (301), he was unable to act for himself. The nature of his
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new bride’s psychological insanity proved an extremely unfortunate turn of events. This severe circumstance of Edward being acted upon resulted in immense disaster and would later greatly affect his ability to choose wisely for himself. In an early conversation with Jane he describes his youth. “I might have been very different; I might have been as good as you,—wiser,—almost as stainless. . . . I was your equal at eighteen—quite your equal. Nature meant me to be, on the whole, a good man” (Brontë 141). At the beginning of his adult life he was forced to accept the circumstances thrust upon him. This loss of control created in him a desperation that removed reason and the capacity to act rationally. Far from home and trapped in a marriage that had sullied his reputation and destroyed any hope for a life of normalcy, he contemplated suicide. The severity of his mental and emotional desperation highlight the lack of rationality he was experiencing. Instead of divorcing Bertha (which would have been both possible and legitimate) and going home a free and wealthy man, he takes upon himself the blame and the burden of his failed marriage and returns to England with a crazy wife. It is at Thornfield where he locks up his past and attempts to leave it behind. Unfortunately, his guilt and his desperation drive him to choose a troubled path full of mistresses, mayhem, and an occasional murder. His returns to Thornfield are infrequent and when he returns to the estate he meets the new governess employed to teach his young ward (a possible consequence of a short-lived affair). He immediately recognizes the plain-faced girl’s ability to “listen with no malevolent scorn of [the speaker’s] indiscretion, but with a kind of innate sympathy; not the less comforting and encouraging” (Brontë 142). It is during Mr. Rochester’s confessions to Jane that his lack of a relationship with God first becomes evident. He finds in her a safe place to confide his sins and transgressions. There is no evidence of his confessions to a priest or to the One who grants
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ultimate forgiveness. Mr. Rochester is unable to continue living with the guilt and bitter disappointment of his choices, but he cannot turn to God because he does not believe it can save him. He does, however, believe that “remorse is the poison of life,” but when Jane invites him to repentance he replies that not repentance, but reformation is its cure (142). Edward then reveals the detrimental thought process that prevents him from both repentance and reformation and boldly states his justification for reckless and wild behavior. “Where is the use of thinking of [reformation], hampered, burdened, cursed as I am? Besides, since happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may” (Brontë 142). The driving force behind Rochester’s absent relationship with God and his poor choices is a belief that he does not deserve happiness and that he will never be granted it. In this way he ultimately allows his role as a victim to define him. He gives up the ability to choose by believing he cannot overcome his past. In believing that he cannot overcome his previous mistakes, he separates himself from God’s love and the peace that repentance and reformation could bring him. Consequently, he keeps Bertha to punish and remind himself that he is not worthy of love or forgiveness. Rochester’s use of Jane as unauthorized intermediary does not free him of his ultimate burden because he cannot disclose it to her. Thus their intimate relationship only serves to complicate the stress and grief in his life. Rochester claims that he will acquire happiness for himself regardless of the cost. Unfortunately, one of the costs of his selfish desire is the near destruction of the one he has come to love and find hope in. He attempts to find this happiness through his proposal to Jane despite already having a wife. His desperation blinds him from thinking rationally and he continues to deceive her of his marital status. Although his actions are appalling, his love for and appreciation of Jane is sincere. When he proposes to her in the garden he tells her, “My bride is here . . .
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because my equal is here, and my likeness” (Brontë 253). However, at this point in the novel, Mr. Rochester and Jane are not yet equal. As much as he loves Jane for her intellect, wit, and spirit because it matches his own, he has not yet learned to master himself, nor has he come to the feet of God like she has. He finds in her the things he so desperately wants to be himself: She has a purity and goodness about her and always remains full of self-control. Jane is never rash or thoughtless. She seeks always to do the right thing by her society, her God, and herself, even if she often wants to rebel against the strict and rigid expectations of all three. She is in many ways his opposite, many ways his mirror; but above all little Jane Eyre is what he aspired to be and to have. She is the happiness he thought he would never be worthy of receiving. The ultimate cost of Edward’s actions is his separation from Jane. She proves her righteous devotion to God when she leaves Thornfield after discovering the heart-wrenching truth about the man she loves. He is left alone in the great house that has him bound, to wallow in self-loathing and pity until his life ends or another bout of irrational behavior consumes him. The irony of Rochester’s situation is that because of his continued inability to act for himself, he falls victim once more to another’s actions. Only this time it frees him of his greatest burden. When Bertha burns Thornfield to the ground and jumps from the roof to her death, she releases Edward of the guilt and responsibility that had controlled much of his actions up until that point. Additionally, because he is left blind and crippled, he is humbled enough to find God in the darkness of his sorrow. It is only in his anguish and humility that he develops this relationship. “I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. I began sometimes to pray . . . I supplicated God” (Brontë 435). He must suffer the ultimate refiner’s fire, one that purges him of crippling guilt and despair, so that he can be reunited with Jane as her equal.
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It is not possible to know if Edward ever overcomes his inability to act instead of being acted upon. However, his humble declaration near the close of the novel provides evidence that he has been granted the opportunity to change and that he recognizes it. “In the midst of judgment [my Maker] has remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeemer to give me strength to lead henceforth a purer life” (Brontë 437). The fresh start, healthy relationship with God, and acquired wisdom replace Rochester’s despair and degeneration with hope and renewal. When Rochester woefully compares himself to the lightning-struck chestnut-tree, Jane gently replies, “You are no ruin . . . you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots . . . because your strength offers them so safe a prop” (Brontë 433). The man who dared not believe he could be granted happiness has all he ever hoped for. Rochester’s heart is full and his life is complete.
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Works Cited Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre; Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Beth Newman. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996. 15-441. Print.