Jane_Eyre

The relationship between Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester Jane Eyre is the story of a woman who finds herself in a world that has not made her growing an easy process, but it’s a woman who, in the end, finds a family and a lover. The love story starts one evening a few months after Jane’s arrival at Thornfield, when Jane is walking alone watching the moon rise, when she perceives a horse approaching. It calls to her mind the story Bessie once told her about a spirit disguised itself as a horse or a dog, but when she sees that the horse has a rider she comes back to reality and she continues walking. Just after the horse passes her she hears a noise, she turns and sees the horse slipping on a patch of ice and its rider tumbling to the ground. Jane helps the man rise and she introduces herself. It seems quite a commonplace event, but when she returns to Thornfield she finds that the man she helped earlier in the evening is Mr. Rochester, the master of the house. The day following his arrival, Mr. Rochester invites Jane and Adele to have a tea with him. His attitude towards Jane is rather cold although he seems charmed by her drawings. Because of her status, Jane doesn’t feel very comfortable in front of Mr. Rochester and she doesn’t understand why he’s trying to converse with her when, in the same time, he treats her with some kind of discredit. From the beginning, Jane is described as a plain woman, lacking the physical beauty. Mr. Rochester is also described as being physically unattractive, dark and sullen. At one point soon after their meeting, Mr. Rochester asks Jane if she finds him attractive, and she surprises him with a firm no. Jane and Mr. Rochester’s conversations progress in unusual ways. As I said, he asks unusual questions in terms of her beliefs and opinions and as we can see, this is a strategy he uses in order to test her. In the episode when Mr. Rochester’s bedroom is set aflame, Jane rescues him and, normally she expects some kind of gratitude, but again Mr. Rochester surprises her by saying that she wanted to drown him. But after all, he thanks her for saving his life. Later on, Jane realizes that she is beginning to have feelings for Rochester and she feels very disappointed because of the close friendship between Edward and Blanche Ingram. When Mr. Rochester arrives at Thornfield Hall with his guests, Jane finds herself in the uncomfortable position of governesses, being obliged to endure Blanche Ingram’s comments about the nature of governesses. By this stage of the story, the narrative has begun to focus on the potential relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. Blanche’s presence threatens the possibility of union between the two and Jane besides feeling her as a competitor, she sees her as a foil (=contrast) because they differ in every respect. Another important moment in Mr. Rochester’s strategy is the one in which he disguises himself in that gypsy woman. He wields a kind of magical power over Jane, and the scene reveals how much he controls her emotions at this stage of the novel. This manipulative disguise tries to discover Jane’s feelings for him. Later, in the Mason’s episode, by allowing Jane upstairs to see him, Rochester seems to be inviting her to help cure the ills produced by Bertha, and he attempts for the first time to talk with Jane about his past. This shows that trust interferes between the two and takes their relationship to another level. Jane comes to understand what Thornfield and Rochester mean to her. In Rochester she has found someone she truly cares for. Also, he gives her a true sense of belonging as she tells him “wherever you are is my home – my only home”. We discover that the entire story between Rochester and Blanche was also a way of making Jane jealous and also a way in which she could realize what she feels for him. That’s why the weird manner of proposing marriage, by first allowing Jane to believe that he intends to marry Mrs. Ingram, is also part of its game started with the governess. Although Rochester’s declaration of love and marriage proposal make Jane very happy, she is also very concerned about the marriage. She has always longed for freedom and marrying Edward would be a form of tying herself down. Also she is worried that this marriage will string her into a position of inferiority. The incident of the madwoman in the attic has one of the most important roles in the novel. Bertha represents the reason why the wedding is cancelled and she plays a very important role in voicing Jane’s fears about this commitment. Bertha’s tearing of Jane’s wedding veil could suggest the incertitude felt by Jane about the marriage. Despite the great pain she feels, Jane is forced to leave Mr. Rochester and Thornfield Hall. Maybe other women would have understood Edward’s situation and his link to Bertha, but because of her strength of principle and self-interest, Jane reacts differently. Jane is able to gain a new perspective on her relationship with Mr. Rochester when she meets her cousin, St. John Rivers. Maybe unconsciously, she makes a compharison between the two man. Unlike Mr. Rochester, who is unattractive but passionate, John is an attractive man, but there are things about him which she finds unlovely, like religiousness and coldness. He begins to impose his will on Jane by using religion and he ends up proposing her marriage. Almost breaking under John’s pressions, Jane hears Mr. Rochester’s voice calling her back to him. All the experiences with John prepare a path for Jane to return to Edward Rochester. She is now aware of the fact that she is no longer alone in the world, that she knows her own strenght and she feels prepared to enter a marriage without having that feeling of inequality. Finding herself at the edge of a loveless marriage, she understands now the importance of following not only the mind but also her heart. In the end of the novel, Jane and Mr. Rochester find a perfect balance of love, freedom and equality, therefore they choose to marry. Their relationship is to be one between equals and based on a spiritual love. Beeing blind, Mr. Rochester depends etirely on Jane to guide him and this gives her the happiness she has always wanted, because he is now incapable of mastering her and she feels fully equal to her beloved. In „Jane Eyre”, a loving relationship is possible only after comming to know yourself and to reach independence.