Jane Eyre Term paper
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Edward Rochester has many disappointing relationships. Some aspects are out of his control, like Bertha s insanity, but nothing the man does seems to help his case along. He is bitter and alone and succeeds best at pushing people away.
Edward and Bertha Rochester s union results from a typical marriage arrangement between families in Victorian England. Rochester s father left all of his land to his older son, Rowland, as was typical among the upper and middle classes in England. England had long been practicing primogeniture, wherein the oldest son inherits both the land and money of an estate. In the upper and middle classes, property and wealth were usually left to the eldest son in order to preserve the family line. Rochester s father had to ensure that Rochester was provided for, but Rochester says that he could not bear the idea of dividing his estate and leaving me a fair portion (p. 332, ch. 27). Instead Rochester s father did what was commonplace among the upper class in regard to younger sons: arrange a marriage or join the clergy. In Rochester s case, a profitable marriage was arranged.
In securing a marriage to Bertha Mason, Rochester s father provided his son with a fortune and the Mason s in return received a rise in social standing. Rochester met his bride and was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited I thought I loved her (p. 332, ch. 27). Bertha s family wished to secure [Rochester], because, [he] was of a good race (ibid.). In exchange, Rochester would receive Bertha s dowry of thirty thousand pounds. This was a very typical situation; Bertha s family made their fortune in trade, which was not considered respectable in upper class society, and they wanted to belong to one of the upper echelons of English society. Rochester, although he had a good name, needed money to survive. Rowland died while Rochester was married to Bertha, leaving Edward with his fortune and estates because Rowland had no sons to entrust his estate. Nonetheless, Rochester found himself in a predicament, which he cannot extract himself from.
It would have been very difficult and expensive for Rochester to get a divorce in the Victorian period. In addition to this, Rochester married Bertha before she was insane, which was the grounds he would have used had he attempted divorce proceedings. So it was not possible for a divorce to be granted, as Bertha became insane after they were married. When Rochester informs Jane of his past with Bertha, he is rather callous and cruel in describing his feelings for his wife. He refers to Bertha as a hideous demon a filthy burden a maniac (p. 336, ch. 27). He no longer considers her to be a person.
Yet with the knowledge that he has a failed, hellish marriage, Rochester proceeds to court Blanche Ingram (or at least so it appears), whom he describes as a fine woman tall, dark, and majestic (p. 332, ch. 27). Blanche is in somewhat of the same predicament that Rochester was in before he married Bertha. She is of the nobility, while Rochester is at the upper end of the middle class. Blanche needs to marry for money and is willing to marry beneath her in exchange for Rochester s rise in society. He does not appear to care for Blanche, yet he uses her to tease Jane. In fact he seems to be very cold towards Miss Ingram, evading her probing questions about his wealth. This is best exemplified by Rochester s trick on his guests, when he dresses like a gypsy, and tells them their fortunes. Rochester, as the gypsy, informs Jane he is aware that Blanche seeks a different type of fortune, namely his.
Rochester uses the gypsy disguise as a test, and it proves to Rochester how superficial Blanche is. Blanche comes out from her reading quite upset by what the gypsy has told her, she had obviously not heard anything to her advantage (p. 223, ch. 18). Once Rochester starts the rumor that his fortune is not nearly as large as people had been led to believe, the Ingrams are suddenly no longer interested in Rochester courting Blanche. Perhaps Rochester sees himself in Blanche, for she must marry for money as well. Jane is happy when Rochester tells her that he does not love Blanche, but she is disturbed by the way Rochester exploited Blanche s feelings in order to determine the nature of Jane s. While Jane chastises Rochester for his treatment of Blanche, she has hardly anything to say about the more serious injustices that he inflicted on Bertha.
Rochester is an outsider. While he is of the upper middle class, he also detached from his position because of his life experiences. He has seen the corruption and unhappiness that has grown out off his playing the part of the dutiful, younger son. Rochester has met someone whom he thinks he will be happy with, Jane Eyre, only to have that chance at happiness destroyed by Bertha s brother. Society and his role in it disillusion Rochester. He hints at contempt for the system while at...
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