The Real Rochester in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

The Real Rochester in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester was one of the most infamous rakes from the Restoration period. While Wilmot’s debauched lifestyle was well recorded, his deathbed conversion became even more popular. Through these early biographies and the poetry written by Wilmot, Charlotte Bronte became familiar with this historical figure. Bronte modeled her character of Edward Rochester on Wilmot. There are many instances in the novel Jane Eyre that link the two figures. In his essay "John Wilmot and Mr. Rochester" Murray Pittock establishes the link between Rochester and Wilmot. Pittock does such a thorough job of supporting the claim that Rochester and Wilmot are related. However Pittock fails to explain why Charlotte Bronte chose to compare her Rochester to the historical Rochester. The key to understanding Bronte’s motivation in selecting John Wilmot as the model for Rochester lies in Wilmot’s deathbed confessional. By the end of his short life Wilmot repented his immoral lifestyle. After his death, Wilmot became the focus of a number of religious tracts publishing his deathbed conversion. It is this aspect of Wilmot’s career as the rake that intrigued Bronte. In Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte not only establishes a connection between John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, but she also links Rochester’s reform to the reform of Wilmot. However, unlike Wilmot’s reform which occurs on his deathbed, Bronte allows her character to reform and continue his life.

The similarities between John Wilmot and Edward Rochester go far beyond the traits associated with the rake. Charlotte Bronte uses names for her characters that link the two characters. Wilmot’s title as the Earl of Rochester directly relates to the name of Edward Rochester. John Wilmot’s grandfather had the name Sir John St. John (Pittock 464). Edward Rochester’s main rival for Jane’s affection is St. John Rivers. Again the use of a name closely related to John Wilmot is remarkable. The repeated usage of names links the character of Edward Rochester with John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester.

That Charlotte Bronte would have been familiar with the second Earl of Rochester is undeniable. In his Lives of the Poets, Samuel Johnson included a biography on Wilmot. That Bronte would have been familiar with Johnson’s work can be established in the references she makes to Johnson’s novel Rasselas. Gilbert Burnet, a Scottish Bishop and famed historian, wrote Life and Death of John Rochester based on interviews he had with Wilmot on his deathbed.