By Looking Closely At The Central Relationship, Consider To What Extent Jane Eyre and Rebecca Conform To The Conventions Of The Romance Genre?

The central focus of many books is the romantic hero the romance is based on. To what extent are the male characters in the two stories romantic heroes? In some ways both Rochester and Max De Winter fit into these roles but it could also be argued that the characters are in fact the exact opposite of what a romantic hero should be.

However, before answering this, it is important we look at what is the conventional romantic hero so that we can establish to what extent the male characters conform to this stereotype. Many romance novels describe the romantic hero as tall, dark and handsome, often rich and respected for his high status. The hero is most often the charming character, proud, confident and almost always in control. Intelligence is also often associated with a romantic hero as well as the more obvious characteristic of rescuing the girl.

In Jane Eyre, there are many heroic characteristics about Mr Rochester that suggest that Jane Eyre has conformed to the conventions of the romance genre of having a romantic hero. Rochester’s ‘dark, strong and stern’ features give him the mysterious characteristics of a romantic hero. This is also emphasized in the first meeting of Jane and Rochester when he does not reveal his identity, which also suggests he is secretive. Also the fact that he is rich and holds a very respectable high status suggests he is the conventional hero. Often the high status comes with pride as is true with Mr Rochester. This is shown when he does not want Jane’s help on their first meeting. Furthermore, Rochester’s confidence and intelligence also emphasize his heroic character. In addition to this, Rochester holds a great deal of control in the story, which is first apparent when he commands Jane to ‘just stand on one side’ as she offers her assistance.

When we are first introduced to the character ‘Mr Rochester’ there are many aspects of his entrance that also suggest he is the romantic hero like the ‘Gytrash-like’ horse. Rochester’s presence ‘broke the spell at once’ since nothing ever rides the Gytrash as though Rochester saves Jane from a fairy-tale monster hence Rochester presents himself as the fairy-tale hero. He is also dressed in a ‘riding cloak, fur collared and steel clasped’, which suggests secretiveness and mystery. There is also the fact that his entrance broke the solitude of Jane’s ‘lonely’ road almost suggesting that his entrance in her life meant she is no longer lonely and emphasizes the heroic entrance into her life as though he saves her from being in solitude the rest of her life.

But despite these heroic characteristics it could be argued that Rochester is in fact the opposite of a romantic hero. One of the reasons for this could be that Jane finds it easy to approach Rochester because he is not the ‘handsome, heroic-looking young gentleman’ but rather he is ‘past youth’, of ‘middle height’ and quite rude. His ‘vigorous’ efforts and his swearing when having slipped show his ill-tempered manner and impatience. It is actually ‘the frown, the roughness’ of Rochester that puts Jane at ease since these are not very heroic characteristics. Also the more obvious fact that shows Rochester as not the heroic type is the fact that when we are first introduced to his character he is in need of help and it is Jane that rescues him making Jane seem like more the romantic heroine. This also foreshadows what happened at the end since it is Jane that helps him when he is hurt again showing Jane as the heroine rather than Rochester as the romantic hero. This does not follow the romance genre of other novels since most romance novels have the male character as the central character that is the romantic hero and suggests that Jane Eyre does not conform to these conventions.

In Rebecca, similar to Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre, de Winter is also rich, since he is ‘the man that owns Manderly’. This gives him a high status and he is very respected, which suggests he plays the role of the romantic hero. His ‘arresting, sensitive, medieval’ features suggest he is handsome unlike Mr Rochester, which again fits the role. We do not know if he has dark features like Mr Rochester, however the narrator relates him to a painting and describes his ‘secret inscrutable look’, which suggests that, like Mr Rochester, he is also mysterious, hence suggesting he plays the romantic hero role. The romantic hero is also described as the gentleman, which is also shown in de Winter’s character when he remains standing and then sits on the hard chair so that the narrator is more comfortable on their first encounter. This shows his respect and courtesy – also a heroic characteristic. However the note that he sends to the narrator apologising for his ‘very rude’ behaviour, suggests he wasn’t behaving correctly and contradicts the romantic hero role.

De Winter, however, is very confident and is often in control throughout the story, which are common characteristics of a romantic hero. His confidence is shown by the way he runs Manderly and how he is bored but well accustomed to ‘calling on people’. His control is shown by his authoritarian role at the house as is apparent with Mrs Danvers, ‘who doesn’t dare bully’ him despite her being very harsh with the staff. However, de Winter loses his control towards the end and it is the female role that rescues him, so it could be argued that it is the narrator that plays the romantic heroine. This is apparent by the fact that the narrator is ‘so good for him’ as she has prevented de Winter from ‘heading for a breakdown’ and it is up to her to ‘lead’ everyone away from ‘the past’. This foreshadows the ending of the story where the narrator helps Maxim through his suffering when trying to come to terms with what he has done and when being accused as she ‘comforted him’ as he came to her to ‘take his pain away’. This suggests that Rebecca also does not follow the romance genre of having the male characters as the hero despite there being many factors that suggest de Winter does play the role, which is also the case with Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre.

Many romance novelists have found that as well as describing the inner natures of the characters in the novel it is equally important to describe also the natural world around them, for the emphasis of the romance. ‘Beautiful’ scenery is now interpreted in several ways. It has been seen as colourful, bright, inspiring, moving, and magnificent surroundings. But over time, romantics have aspired a greater interest in its associations with the wild aspects of nature and with the darker and solitary surroundings.

In addition to this, often romance novels describe scenery in such a way that it relates to the characters in the story to emphasize either the strength of their relationships, the emotions the characters are feeling or to emphasize the highs and lows of the story. This connection between nature and humans is known as pathetic fallacy and is commonly used in romance novels.

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In Rebecca, for example, as the narrator recalls Manderley in the opening scene, she includes a lot of description of the nature around Manderley. She describes an ‘alien marriage’ which could be referring to her relationship with de Winter, since de Winter is keeping secrets from the narrator hence there is a barrier in between them making it an ‘alien marriage’. She also describes the ‘nameless shrubs’ of a ‘spurious origin’ that ‘clung’ to the roots of the rhododendrons that were ‘fifty feet high’ suggesting their dominance. The ‘nameless shrubs’ may refer to the narrator herself since the narrator’s name is never revealed and similarly the narrator is of a ‘spurious origin’ since she ‘has not been brought up’ in the same way as de Winter and so she does not really fit in at Manderley. She does not take on the identity of Mrs de Winter and we get the impression she is still searching for an identity. The rhododendrons may reflect de Winter’s character since he is the more dominant of their relationship earlier on and it could be seen that like the shrubs, the narrator ‘clung’ to de Winter when she sticks by him despite finding out he killed Rebecca.

The pathetic fallacy used in Rebecca enhances the romantic aspect of the story and the use of such vivid inspiring scene descriptions suggest this novel does conform to the romance genre of other books where often scene descriptions are used as such to inspire the idea of romance. The narrator also describes her relationship with de Winter as a ‘lilac’ that ‘mated’ with a ‘copper beach’. The lilac is a beautiful image used to relate to her character and the copper beach relates to maxim. The plants ‘mated’ which reflects the sexuality of their relationship. But the ‘malevolent ivy’ representing Rebecca, since ivy is associated with evil and is referred to as ‘she’, is the ‘enemy to grace’ hence Rebecca is in fact stopping de Winter and the Narrator from being happy. However, the ivy pushes them ‘more closely’ as we find that similarly, as Rebecca’s true character is revealed to the narrator, the narrator and maxim are drawn closer together.

Again, these scene descriptions enhance the romance and emphasize the passion and intimacy of the story and suggest Rebecca conforms to the romance genre. But despite using the dark, wild aspects of nature, which is also considered a beauty in a different way, to reflect certain characters and inspire ideas that in turn enhances the romantic aspect, Rebecca also uses more traditional beautiful scenery that is associated with bright, magnificent, even magical surroundings. The narrator describes herself a ‘dreamer’ looking onto the ‘sheet of silver’ near Manderley and how the ‘dream water’ was ‘undisturbed’. These dreamy images suggest that Manderley is the type of place that people only dream about. We also get the sense that Manderley is almost magical as the narrator ‘walked enchanted’ around it. This emphasizes the romantic surroundings at Manderley, since magical places are often used as a theme in romance novels, hence by describing the scene around Manderley, Rebecca does conform to the romance genre of having romantic scenery.

But does Jane Eyre also conform to the romance genre of using romantic scenery like Rebecca to enhance the romance of the story and to relate to the characters? On their first encounter, Jane Eyre makes a lot of references to the surrounding scenery, as she takes a ‘pleasant winter afternoon walk’. She emphasizes that the ‘best winter delight’ is the ‘utter solitude’ and ‘leafless repose’ on the road, which could be referring to her own feelings of solitude. The ‘absolute hush’ also suggests a peaceful and calm atmosphere and she goes on to describe the ‘tinkle of the nearest streams, the sough of the most remote’ that the ‘evening calm’ brings. The ‘rising moon’ adds to this romantic scenery and suggests this is the conventional moonlight meeting. In Rebecca, however, the narrator doesn’t give any scenery descriptions of their first meeting and unlike Jane Eyre, it is not the conventional romantic setting.

In addition to this Jane Eyre also describes vividly the natural surrounding around Thornfield when Rochester proposes. The fact that it is ‘midsummer-eve’, almost the hottest day of the year, suggests passion and intimacy thus it relates to the characters since this is the same day that Rochester and Jane Eyre become more intimate when he reveals his true feelings for her. This is the opposite to their first encounter, where it was mid winter, suggesting there was no passion or intimacy in the meeting but rather only a romantic winter atmosphere as Rochester and Jane Eyre exchanged a few words, and despite her aiding him, there was no real intimacy between them on this encounter.

The proposal takes place as ‘sunset is thus meeting with moonrise’ which is also the romantic setting described when Rochester and Jane Eyre first meet. Jane Eyre describes this as the ‘sweetest hour of the twenty four’. In the west where the sun sets, ‘spread a solemn purple, burning with the light of red jewel and furnace flame’ in contrast to the east which had its own ‘charm of fine deep blue’ and had ‘the rising and solitary star’ that would soon ‘boast the moon’. These vibrant, breath-taking descriptions could also be relating to the relationship between Rochester and Jane Eyre where the ‘furnace flame’ represents the passion or intimacy of their relationship that is crossing with the ‘deep blue’ and the moonlight that represents the romance of their relationship. The ‘rising and solitary’ star could be referring to Jane before the proposal, as she is also lonely and the moon that the star would soon ‘boast’ could be referring to Rochester, as Jane would soon be boasting of her engagement to Rochester and also the fact that the moon is more dominant than the star as is Rochester in their relationship. These beautiful images of perfection used suggest that Jane Eyre does conform to the romance conventionalities of having beautiful background scenery during a proposal. Similarly in Rebecca, the narrator describes the beautiful scenery at Manderley but there isn’t any description of similar beautiful surrounding during the proposal hence unlike Jane Eyre, Rebecca does not conform to the conventions of using romantic scenery during a proposal.

Jane Eyre describes the orchard ‘full of trees’ and it ‘bloomed with flowers’. The ‘laurel walk’ that leads to the ‘horse-chestnut’ tree adds to this ‘Eden-like’ beauty. The ‘moonlight’ and the sound of the ‘nightingale singing’ finalises this romantic scenery. ‘No nook in the grounds more sheltered’ than the orchard suggesting the proposal took place in a private secluded place hence we get a sense of intimacy since this is more appropriate in private places, such as the orchard, as she emphasizes when she points out ‘one could wander unseen’ in the orchard. The orchard in Thornfield plays the role of the conventional romantic surrounding for a proposal not only for its seclusion but also for its sheer beauty, which suggests that Jane Eyre does follow the romance genre of many novels of using romantic scenery. This is also true for Rebecca when the narrator describes the romantic surroundings around Manderley. However, Jane Eyre is more conventional since the romantic scenery is used at particular significant moments of the relationship like the first meeting and the proposal. But this isn’t the case with Rebecca as the proposal and the first meeting is not set in beautiful scenery hence these encounters lack romance.

The ‘giant horse chest-nut’ is very significant in the orchard because this is where Rochester actually admits his ‘deep love’ for Jane. Jane Eyre describes the chestnut ‘circled at the base by a seat’, which gives the image of a wedding ring hence the chestnut may have been used to represent their relationship since Rochester proposes to Jane on this wedding ring-like seat. Also the fact that the tree gets struck by lightning and is split in two after she accepts his proposal foreshadows the outcome of their relationship. The relation between the tree and their relationship is known as pathetic fallacy and suggests that Jane Eyre does conform to the conventions since many romance novels use nature to describe the romance of their relationships.

Similarly in Rebecca, the natural surrounding at Manderley is used to describe the narrator and de Winter’s relationship. Hence both Jane Eyre and Rebecca use pathetic fallacy to show the romance of both relationships, which is a technique that many romance novelists have used. Although in Rebecca, there is a great deal of natural things being related to the evil character, Rebecca. This is not as conventional for a romantic story but suits a more gothic genre.

In a number of ways, both proposals in Jane Eyre and Rebecca are very different but do they portray the traditional romance genre of other novels? Often, as previous romance novels have shown, romantics use the beauty of natural scenery to enhance the romance of the proposal. However this is not the case with Rebecca where there is no visual imagery of the natural world but rather they are on the terrace while de Winter has his breakfast. This non-traditional proposal is emphasized by the narrator’s thought of how ‘in books men knelt to women and it would be moonlight. Not at breakfast,’ and even where de Winter himself admits this is not the traditional romantic proposal as they ‘ought to be in a conservatory,’ the narrator in a ‘white frock with a rose’ and a ‘violin playing a waltz in the distance. Hence this shows a lack of romance in the proposal scene and suggests Rebecca does not conform to the conventions of romantic proposals.

In Jane Eyre, however, the proposal takes place in the ‘Eden-like’ garden where the ‘sunset is thus at meeting with moonrise’. The flowers and the beautiful scents set the romantic scene and the ‘nightingale’s song’ is the sweet music in the background. This image sounds almost perfect and ‘heaven’ like and is often the scenery used in many other novels to enhance the romance of the proposal. This suggests unlike Rebecca, Jane Eyre does conform to the conventions of a romantic proposal.

In addition to this, it is also common in romantic novels that the male character confesses his love for the female character when proposing and there is a lot of passion and intimacy in the proposal. However, Rebecca again does not conform to these conventions of romance genre since de Winter does not say anything about ‘being in love’, is not very intimate with the narrator, as he only goes as far as ‘stretching his hand’ to her across the table, and also the fact that he is not passionate when proposing but rather cool about it. He eats his breakfast ‘as though everything were natural’ as he tells the narrator her choices: America or Manderley, and then upon confessing her love to him, he tells her of her ‘duties’ at Manderley. This does not portray a romantic proposal and makes their engagement seem insignificant and an everyday thing. This is also emphasized by the fact that the proposal is in the beginning of the story suggesting it is not an important part of the story. However, as many romance novels have shown, often the proposal is further off in the story after the couple have got through a number of obstacles, hence building up the romance.

Unlike Rebecca, Jane Eyre does conform to these conventions. Before the proposal takes place Rochester is supposedly going to be married to lady Ingram and Jane is absent from Thornfield for a month as she has to attend to her dying ‘Aunt Reed’. The obstacles anticipate the reader but when Rochester finally proposes to Jane it is all the more romantic, hence Jane Eyre does build the romance up to the proposal similar to previous romance novels. In addition to this the intimacy between Jane and Rochester during the proposal and also the passion of the proposal when Rochester makes Jane jealous of Lady Ingram only to reveal that he loves the narrator and wants to marry her, emphasizes the romance of the proposal. Hence, unlike Rebecca, Jane Eyre does conform to the romance genre of passionate and romantic proposals in other romance novels. However, the fact that, like de Winter, Rochester does not bend down when proposing suggests it is not as conventional as some novels but this is not such a significant thing.

Obstacles to happiness are very common in romance novels since they build up the romantic suspense and when the couple overcome the obstacles and finally seek happiness, the romance is enhanced. In Rebecca, the biggest obstacle the narrator and de Winter have to overcome is the shadow of the ‘late Mrs de Winter’ – Rebecca. Her shadow is at first a barrier in between the narrator and de Winter, which is apparent to the narrator from the start as he changes moods easily and a ‘dark, lost look’ forms on his face. De Winter is always holding back and his dark secret about Rebecca keeps the narrator at a distance. During the course of the story, the gap between them gets smaller as more of the ‘dark secret’ is revealed to the narrator hence they become closer and the romance heightens. The romance builds up to the confession of de Winter hence the walls are dropped, the shadows are lifted and he is able to be honest with his feelings since ‘for the first time’ he confesses he loves her. Hence the gap is bridged, they are drawn together, become as man and wife, ‘shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand with no gulf’ between them and they are at a point where the romance, passion and intimacy are heightened as is apparent when de Winter kisses her with passion and flare, ‘different from his old abstracted way’.

Despite there being ‘no shadows’ between them any more, their relationship is not secure since Rebecca’s body and boat have been found putting de Winter is at risk of being found out and possibly ‘taken away’ to face the ‘death penalty’ hence Rebecca’s presence is still stopping them from being together. Favell and Mrs Danvers are also obstacles since Favell is determined to get de Winter tried and Mrs Danvers is determined to get rid of the narrator and keep Rebecca’s presence alive. But, de Winter and the narrator’s relationship is now strong enough to overcome them and they get through this, forming a stronger bond hence the romance heightens.

However the novel ends with one last obstacle they have to face, the fire at Manderley but the fire also signifies the end of Rebecca and the beginning of a new life for the narrator and de Winter, which is emphasized by the fact that the Narrator tells us what became of them after the Manderley fire at the beginning of the novel hence relating to the beginning of their new life. She describes their ‘present peace and security’ and how they ‘conquered’ all the obstacles, but most importantly ‘the devil’ (Rebecca) does not ‘ride’ them any more. The fact that there are several obstacles in between the narrator and de Winter and more importantly the fact that their biggest obstacle is another woman is very common in romance novels and suggests Rebecca does conform to the conventions of romance genre where obstacles are often used to heighten the romance when they are overcome.

Similarly, in Jane Eyre, there are several obstacles standing between Jane and Rochester that also heighten the romantic suspense. The two main obstacles standing between them are also women. The first being Lady Ingram, whom in Jane’s eyes, Rochester admires. Rochester leads Jane to thinking he will be married to Lady Ingram to make her envious hence draw her true feelings out. This anticipates the readers since they know that inevitably, Rochester and Jane Eyre will get together but there is still the romantic suspense until they do. However, upon hearing of Rochester’s admiration of such an ‘accomplished lady’, Jane scorns herself for having thought he had feelings for her and retreats further thus Lady Ingram stands as a barrier.

The gap between Jane and Rochester widens and this heightens the suspense of any romance between Rochester and Jane. This is common in romance novels where the man pushes the woman further away so the tension of romance heightens. Rochester pushes Jane so far away that finally she asserts a right ‘to overcome, to live, rise and reign at last: yes, - and to speak’. Hence Rochester proposes and admits he has loved Jane all along, the romance and passion flares up as a result of the possibility of Lady Ingram standing between them. Jane and Rochester come out strong having overcome this obstacle with them being engaged.

Often the more that is at stake, the bigger the obstacle as many romance novels have shown. Similarly, in Jane Eyre, the second obstacle is bigger thus it stands between them getting married, the closest they can get and where intimacy is at its highest. Bertha Mason, the ‘lunatic wife’ has been an obstacle throughout the story although the reader is not aware of this. Despite Rochester and Jane having overcome the first obstacle, they could still never be married because of this bigger obstacle that stands between them hence his lunatic wife was an obstacle all along. The build up of happiness prior to the wedding anticipates the reader but before they are pronounced husband and wife, when all is revealed their hopes are dropped and the tension of them parting increases. When Jane ‘exerts to leave’ Rochester, Rochester is very passionate and there is a lot of romantic suspense of whether they will stay together.

It is also common in romance novels that the bigger the obstacle the wider the gap becomes between a couple, which is also the case in Jane Eyre since having faced this obstacle she decides to ‘leave Thornfield at once’ to ‘a place long way off’. So the tension builds up and readers fear they will not re-unite. So when they do finally re-unite there is a strong feeling of passion and the romance reaches its summit since they have overcome the last obstacle and biggest obstacle of all and are now content. Again the romance of the relationship being at its highest at the end of the story is also common in romance novels. The fact that Jane Eyre has used obstacles to enhance the romance of Jane and Rochester’s relationship and the more important fact that both obstacles are women suggests Jane Eyre has conformed to the conventions of Romance genre like Rebecca has also done. Also the way in which the romance and passion heightens as the obstacle is greater and more threatening is also common in romance novels and suggests Jane Eyre and Rebecca conform to the conventions of these novels.

However, the fact that the women obstacles in Jane Eyre and Rebecca are more conventional than the narrator (in Rebecca) and Jane Eyre as they are of the same class and status as the male characters suggests both novels have gone against the romance genre since it is more conventional that a couple have ‘equality of position and fortune’ as is expected of the societies in both novels however more so in the Victorian society of Jane Eyre, where the differences in social class of the characters are more emphasized. Both Lady Ingram and Bertha Mason are or were ‘handsome, noble, witty, accomplished’ ladies unlike Jane who is not of the same social class as them, hence Jane is not the ‘suitable partner’ of the romance genre. Although it could be argued that when Jane marries Rochester, Jane is an ‘independent woman’ and so they are now of ‘equal rank’.

Rebecca is also from a high-class back round, with ‘her beauty, her charm, her breeding’ hence she is more the conventional partner for de Winter. The narrator however, belongs to ‘another breed of men and women’ hence she lacks in ‘confidence, grace, beauty, intelligence, wit’ which ‘mean most in a woman’ in that society. Like Jane, this makes the narrator opposite to the conventional partner for a male character in romance novels. However, it could be argued that towards the end of the novel the narrator achieves confidence since ‘his (de Winter’s) dependence’ on the narrator makes her ‘bold at last’ hence her and de Winter ‘march in unison’ as they are more of equal rank. Therefore, it could be argued that despite the narrator and Jane Eyre not conforming to the ‘suitable partners’ for the male characters in the romance novels, they do achieve qualities that suggest they are of equal rank to their male partners hence more the conventional women of romance novels.

Despite all the obstacles in Jane Eyre, like Rochester’s bride Lady Ingram Rochester’s lunatic wife, Bertha Mason and St John, fate still brings Rochester and Jane back together. This conveys the conventional romantic ending where the couple always get back together. However, this is at the expense of Rochester’s health and property since the fire at Thornfield is the cause of him being blind, having a crippled hand and the loss of his property. Hence this contradicts the romance of them getting back together and suggests the story does not follow the conventions of having a romantic ending.

In Rebecca, the fact that de Winter admits his love for the narrator leaving ‘no shadows’ between them and bringing them closer as husband and wife suggests the book does have a romantic ending. This is also conveyed by the fact that de Winter is cleared of all charges of murdering Rebecca hence he will not be imprisoned or worse off executed and so him and the narrator can stay together. This conventional romantic ending where de Winter and the narrator stay together and form a stronger bond suggests Rebecca does conform to the conventions of romance genre. However, similar to Jane Eyre, this is at the expense of Manderley going up in flames hence both de Winter and the narrator are left with no property, possessions and not much money, which is not the conventional romantic situation in romance novels.

However, despite there being two major tragedies in the endings of both novels, the fire at Thornfield that results in Rochester’s crippled hand and loss of eyesight and the fire at Manderley, that suggest the novels do not conform to the conventions of having a romantic ending, these tragedies also have their benefits. This is because both losses of properties signify the end to the obstacles keeping the couples apart. The burning down of Manderley for example signifies the end of Rebecca’s presence since ‘the beauty of Manderley…the Manderley that people talk about’ is ‘all due to her, to Rebecca’ thus de Winter and the narrator can live together ‘happily ever after’, a common phrase associated with romance novels. Similarly, the fire at Thornfield is the cause of Bertha Mason’s death hence Jane and Rochester can be married and so they can also live a happy life together and despite Rochester’s deficiencies as a result of the fire, Rochester and Jane become closer together since it brings Rochester down to be more of an equal to Jane which enhances the romance of their relationship. Eventually Rochester gets his eyesight back in one eye, which also enhances the happy, romantic ending.

Therefore, the fact that the tragedies are the prime cause of the couples living happy, fulfilled lives afterwards suggests that both novels conform to the conventions of the romance genre of having romantic endings. But this is to a lesser degree than some romance novels where there are no tragedies and the couples live a perfect life. It could also be argued that despite the relationship of Rochester and Jane Eyre ending romantically, the last paragraph of the book refers to the death of St John. This could be because Christian faith is an important issue addressed throughout this book since this was of great importance in Victorian times and so, the actual end of Rebecca is more conventional than that of Jane Eyre’s ending since it actually refers to the couple whereas Jane Eyre does not.

In conclusion, I have found that the male characters in both Jane Eyre and Rebecca do conform to the conventions of the romance genre in most ways. Despite both heroes having to suffer as a consequence of their happiness, it is conventional that the romantic hero goes through some suffering since romantics often like to represent the heroes as suffering victims. I also found the scenery descriptions in Jane Eyre and Rebecca also conform to the conventions of romance genre since most are used to enhance and emphasize the romance, passion, and intimacy of the relationships between the narrator and de Winter in Rebecca and between Rochester and Jane in Jane Eyre. In addition to this the obstacles that stop the narrator and de Winter in Rebecca and Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre from being together also suggest both books conform to the conventions of romance genre where obstacles are common in enhancing the romance. Finally there is also the fact that both novels have a happy ending where the couples are together and have overcome their obstacles; again this is one of the conventions of romance genre.

The male characters, the scene descriptions, the obstacles and the endings of both novels all play a role in emphasizing that Jane Eyre and Rebecca are the typical romance novels and suggest that both Jane Eyre and Rebecca do conform to the conventions of the romance genre. However, the proposals in the novels suggest that Jane Eyre is more conventional than Rebecca since the proposal in Jane Eyre is at the centre of the romance in the story suggesting its significance, a typical feature of romance novels, whereas the proposal in Rebecca does not conform to this convention. The fact that the proposal in Jane Eyre is more conventional might be due to the fact that it was written at an earlier time than Rebecca, where this sort of proposal is more traditional. But this is contradicted by the fact that the narrator’s relationship with de Winter is all about passion and romance, a conventional thing in romance novels, whereas the relationship between Rochester and Jane Eyre crosses with the Christian faith, her ‘conscience’ and morals, emphasized by the fact that the novel ends with the death of a priest. These religious references are also due to the fact that Jane Eyre was written in the Victorian times, where religion is very important. Hence this suggests both Rebecca and Jane Eyre equally conform to the conventions of romance genre and in some ways equally do not conform to these conventions.