Themes And Symbolism In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester is not an average prince charming or even an overly attractive man. Instead, Mr. Rochester is a man with an undesirable past of chasing women and power. At the end of this novel, Mr. Rochester’s house is burnt down by his wife Bertha who has been locked away in the house for many years after being declared insane shortly after her marriage to Rochester; this fire leaves Rochester with not only a burnt house and a dead wife but also with a mutilated left arm and blindness. While many Freudian critics believe that this incident was a form of symbolically castrating Rochester, Adrienne Rich states that, through this incident, “Rochester has paid his dues” (Rich 481). Rochester’s past life is

Rochester explains that Adele is the “daughter of a French opera-dancer, Celine Varens” (Bronte 120). According to Rochester, he felt intense emotions towards Celine Varens; it is obvious that he falls, and falls hard, for Celine Varens. He goes to great odds to make Celine comfortable and happy by giving her “a complete establishment of servants, a carriage, cashmeres, diamonds, and dentelles” (Bronte 120). This radical behavior is unusual for Rochester to be doing for someone he is not married to, and he says that their relationship is one of “grande passion” or deep passion (Bronte 120). This passion is inappropriate for two unmarried people, especially in the time of the novel. After Rochester explains the ending of this passionate relationship, he explains that after their parting, Celine comes to him and confirms that Adele is his daughter, though he still does not believe her, and after Celine abandons her daughter Rochester takes her in (Bronte 124). Having an affair with a dramatic woman, giving extravagant gifts to this mistress, and having a child out of wedlock are all obvious examples of a misspent lifestyle of an unworthy

In chapter twenty-six, Rochester and Jane Eyre have gone to get married when the ceremony is interrupted and objected by the means that Mr. Rochester has a wife that he has stowed away for many years but is still alive. When Rochester is accused of attempted bigamy he does not refuse but claims, “I have been married; and the woman to whom I am married lives” (Bronte 249). Even after Rochester tries to explain his wrong doings away by describing his wife as “mad” and a “lunatic” (Bronte 249). This proclamation still leaves Jane knowing that she can only do one thing: leave Thornfield Hall. This scene portrays Rochester has conniving and deceitful. He knows that he cannot possibly be married to two women at the same time, but that does not stop him from attempting it. Along with attempted bigamy, Rochester does not tell Jane about his marriage prior to the ceremony but leaves her in the