Jane Eyre (Grades 9–1) York Notes

Brontë uses the first description of Rochester to present him to the reader as well as to Jane. Jane says ‘I could see him plainly’ which could be seen as a metaphor for how Jane ‘sees’ or understands and relates to Rochester throughout the novel. However, it is dark, which is also symbolic of Rochester’s ‘dark face’ and also dark personality with secrets and mystery. This links to the fact that he does have a dark secret and is unhappy in his life. He also has ‘stern features and a heavy brow’ and his eyes are described as ‘ireful and thwarted’. This makes him sound dangerous, gloomy and threatening. The effect of this might suggest that he is frightening to Jane, but instead she says that if he was handsome she would ‘instinctively’ know to ‘shun’ him, which suggests that her instincts draw her to him instead.

This extract introduces Rochester to the reader, but also introduces the relationship between Jane and Rochester. Jane isn’t frightened or intimidated by him at all, which shows that she is quite a strong character. She describes him by saying he has a ‘frown’ and ‘roughness’ which introduce him as quite a gloomy character. This is important as Brontë is using the first description to tell the reader some important features about Rochester, and using the physical description of him to highlight some aspects of his personality.

He is also shown to be like this when Jane meets him next at Thornfield Hall and he questions her about her past and her abilities. He also speaks with ‘roughness’ to her here as well. Jane is not intimidated or frightened by this at all, and it shows that she understands Rochester well and that there is a connection between them. He is like her in the way that neither of them are comfortable in polite society and both of them speak plainly and honestly. This is one of the things that draws them to each other.

This first meeting sets up this connection because Jane seems to see through the surface appearance of Rochester. It also sets up the equality of the relationship between them and shows that they will be equal in intelligence as well as having ‘kindred’ minds, as Jane puts it. As the novel progresses, Rochester is shown to be like this first description of him in many ways. Mrs Fairfax tells Jane that he is ‘troubled’ because of some family circumstances and spends lots of time abroad. This suggests that he is unhappy and unsettled. He is also shown to be lonely by the way he keeps the house locked up most of the time and doesn’t socialise much.

However, Brontë also shows that Rochester is deep feeling and very passionate. He is shown to be a very sympathetic character by the way he feels about Jane and also by the way he sees through Blanche Ingram and also saves his servants from the fire at Thornfield. Also, he tries hard to save Bertha in spite of the fact that she is making his life miserable.

Overall, this extract introduces the character of Rochester through the language Brontë uses to describe him, and highlights some of the features of his personality that will be developed later in the novel.