Jane Eyre By Charlotte Brontë: Character Analysis

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, there are many changes for almost all characters, two of the biggest being how Mr. Rochester and Jane change over the course of the story; Mr. Rochester is changed tremendously by Jane and Jane by him. At the beginning of her relationship with Rochester, Jane begins to open up emotionally to him, but shortly after, closes down again because he breaks her heart. By the end, however, she opens up her heart again and they live out their lives very peacefully. Rochester is a closed-up hermit at first, similar to Jane’s closed heart, but then he evolves into a loving and caring husband to Jane. Mr. Rochester gets damaged in both emotional and physical ways when Jane and he break up, but he is resolved

by the end of the novel. Mr. Rochester is the most affected by their relationship because he endures both emotional and physical damage, where Jane only receives emotional damage.

In the beginning of the novel when Jane is a child she is very subdued and distant, but then she opens up and becomes vulnerable because of Mr. Rochester's influence. The reader has only seen the vulnerable side of Jane once before, when her dear friend Helen Burns passed. After Helen’s death Jane shows her first evidence of sadness. Jane learns that Helen is sick and wishes to see her. Jane starts showing her vulnerable side when she learns that Helen will die, “‘No, no, Helen!’ I stopped, distressed. While I tried to devour my tears...” (Brontë 97). She tries to prove that she is strong by hiding her feelings, even though getting stronger by releasing her emotions is what she should be doing. She does not show much more evidence of emotion until much after, when she meets Mr. Rochester. When she has known Mr. Rochester for some time, she starts to open up to him. When Jane and Rochester finally reveal their feelings for each other the tree in back of Thornfield Hall, they show sides of themselves that the reader has never seen. Jane narrates her thoughts and feelings of the event: “‘And so,’ thought I, ‘could I with you.’ I should have said so, perhaps, but a livid, vivid spark leapt

out of a cloud at which I was looking, and there was a crack, a crash, and a close rattling peal; and I thought only of hiding my dazzled eyes against Mr. Rochester’s shoulder” (296). There is a lot of action happening in Jane’s thoughts, as shown by the words “crack”, “crash”, “rattle”, and “vivid spark”. In contrast to Jane’s usual bland speech, this section is more exciting and wild, which resembles her wild feelings for Mr. Rochester. Now that Jane can handle grand emotions like love and excitement, she can also handle other stresses more easily. As the storm picks up, Jane narrates: “But joy soon effaced every other feeling; and loud as the wind blew, near and deep as the thunder crashed, fierce and frequent as the lightning gleamed, cataract-like as the rain fell during a storm of two hours’ duration, I experienced no fear and little awe” (296). Her newfound bliss blocks out the negative circumstances of the storm. This moment is the most happy experience Jane has had in her lifetime.
When Mr. Rochester reveals his wife to her, Jane closes down all of her emotions, even anger and sadness. She describes how she is feeling hollow inside: “My hopes were all dead—struck with a subtle doom. … The whole consciousness of my life lorn, my love lost, my hope quenched, my faith death-struck, swayed full and mighty above me in one sullen mass” (341-342). She accepts the doom of her and Rochester’s relationship, and she closes off all emotions and goes back to the same empty state from earlier in the novel when she taught at Lowood.
When Jane leaves Mr. Rochester, he is also emotionally damaged because, like Jane, he has endured a great loss of love. The reader first sees the eccentric side of Mr. Rochester at the party when pretends to be a gypsy. At this time, Mr. Rochester is very emotional and vulnerable when he and Jane have a heart to heart talk. "’Come to my side, Jane, and let us explain and understand one another… My bride is here,’ he said, again drawing me to him, ‘because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you marry me?’” (457-458). Rochester is now opening up to Jane about his love and foreshadowing their impending engagement. Prior to meeting Jane, he was closed off and anti-social, so this scene shows that he has changed very much by Jane. Mr. Rochester shows the point where he most changed when he reveals his wife to Jane; he is being more open by telling the truth about his wife. Rochester talks to the people in the third story chamber when his wife is revealed to the reader and Jane: “I wanted [Jane] just as a change after that fierce ragout… Compare these clear eyes with the red balls yonder—this face with that mask—this form with that bulk; then judge me, priest of the Gospel and man of the law, and remember, with what judgement ye judge ye shall be judged!" (528-529). When Rochester reveals his wife, it changes him because he comes to terms with being a liar and an unloyal spouse, which cause him to go back to being a closed off hermit.
By the end of the novel Mr. Rochester has a few ailments including loss of vision and loss of a limb. I believe this directly correlates to Jane leaving him. Because Jane is not there so he let himself go.
In conclusion Mr. Rochester was the most changed between Jane and him because he is now more emotionally fluent and riddled with aliment. Mr. Rochester was so deep in depression he could not take care of himself in the slightest way. This novel put many challenges in front of Jane, but she overcame them usually on her own. Mr. Rochester on the other hand did nothing, but decay away till Jane came back at the end to save him from himself.