Mr Rochester’s first appearance in the novel is when he meets Jane, and in itself the meeting is very unusual. Mr Rochester comes galloping in on a horse, which is quite a dramatic and romantic entrance, however as he nears Jane, the horse falls and so forth does Rochester. So the entrance despite beginning as though Mr Rochester was a knight in shining armour, ends in a complete contrast and so Brönte inverts the course of the man saving the woman from trouble, to the woman saving the man and this seems reflected towards the end of the novel where Jane “rescues” Mr Rochester from a life of sorrow. Whilst helping Mr Rochester, Jane describes him as having “a dark face with stern features.” This all shows a contrast between romance and harshness and is in my opinion what makes Mr Rochester sound interesting and real.
Mr Rochester brings the young girl, Adèle Varens to Thornfield, after her mother – who Rochester had a relationship with – abandoned her. Despite her mother once being his mistress, Mr Rochester does not believe Adèle to be his daughter. I believe this shows that although he appears at most times within the novel as a confusing and apathetic character, Mr Rochester also has a softer, caring side. He brings her back a gift whenever he returns to Thornfield and this thoughtful gesture in itself shows him to obtain affection and think of others, furthering the point that he is caring.
Constantly throughout the novel, Brönte appears to present two very contrasting aspects of Mr Rochester’s character, for example Jane tells us that she feels Rochester’s “presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire” and then contradicts her statement by later saying he was “proud, sardonic and harsh.” This shows that Mr Rochester is a very hard character to understand because he is presented as having several facets to his personality, all contradicting each other, resulting in a very confusing character.
At times it appears as though Mr Rochester is presented sort of like the Beast half of Beauty and the Beast (ignoring the fact that Jane is no particular beauty). He has hair that appears almost as like a shaggy mane which could be to make him look beastlike and fearful. At the end of the novel he has locked himself away at Ferndean and seems to be wallowing in his own self-pity, he is described as “some wronged and fettered wild beast or bird, dangerous to approach in his sullen woe.” If Rochester were to be the Beast, Jane (acting as the beauty) would have to tame in him in some way and I feel she does do this, “"I can keep you in reasonable check now," I reflected; "and I don't doubt to be able to do it hereafter: if one expedient loses its virtue, another must be devised."”
When Mr Rochester appears towards the end of the novel at Ferndean, he is presented as being quite remorseful of his previous behaviour and actions for example, whilst talking to Jane, he states “I did wrong: I would have sullied my innocent flower.” This shows that despite him at first appearing as a dark and oppressive man, this was not all there was to his character and he was capable of changing from the overbearing man he at first appeared. This also gives the impression that he has now realised the difference between right and wrong.
Brönte brings religion into the character of Mr Rochester in some aspects of the novel, he speaks words from the bible and it is generally believed that he began to feel remorse, repentance and the wish for reconciliation” towards his maker. This stands out due to its alliteration and this is done to express the strength of Rochester’s feelings. It looks as though in the novel Brönte tries to show step by step that Mr Rochester first committed a sin in trying to marry Jane despite already being married to Bertha, then he suffered for it and this is seen by the fire, which could perhaps be symbolic of him going through purgatory after which he is then able to receive Jane’s love.
Throughout the book Mr Rochester’s character has a very interesting impact on the audience. We are in intrigued by him and at times we really want him to be with Jane despite lying to her and at other times we want him to be alone and punished for his actions. Overall I quite like Mr Rochester because it seems that he learns the error of his ways.
