So on my first blog post about Jane Eyre, I talked about the scene with Jane and Brocklehurst, and how Jane was portrayed as the OTHER. For pretty much Jane's entire life she was pushed outside of the normal society and portrayed as someone different. Not only did her family and teachers treat her as an outsider, but they also portrayed her as someone to be avoided--as if her different-ness could be caught like a disease; as if her presence and how she acted could badly affect those she associated with. This once again relates back to Women of Colour: the scene where George thinks that he can become filthy from touching someone black.
In chapter twenty seven, we find out that Rochester's emotional background is similar to Jane's. He was cast out from his family, treated like an other as well. His family even set him up in a horrible marriage to a to-be insane woman just so they could get her inheritance and money. His family, just like Jane's, set him up to be cast aside as an outsider. He only ended up with such a huge fortune because his family died. But all the money that he inherited from his marriage and from his family didn't make him happy or feel full. On the contrary he is very empty, and travels the world in search of a woman that he feels will make him feel whole. His large house and tons of money doesn't make him happy; he doesn't feel at home there. So he leaves and attempts to find home elsewhere, in someone else. This is similar to Jane who is constantly looking for a home, but can never really find one because she is always pushed out and made the other.
BUT, then they find each other! And as much as Rochester seems kind of creepy and overbearing at first, and Jane resists him at first, he and Jane's relationship makes complete sense! They have both been cast out in their families and are both searching for a home, but lucky for them, they have found comfort and home in each other! They still have their problems.. like Rochester wants Jane to be a little different than she is, he never casts her out like her family did. They welcome, compliment, and help each other. It's so cute and I love it. They are each other's home. They're lives set them up to be together and they're wonderful soul mates and it's the best. Rochester and Jane FOREVER.
I agree that Jane and Rochester are bound together by the "otherness" that has been instilled in them by their respective families and their relationship is something that could bring comfort to both of them, but I found it to be oddly dark. Another person mentioned in their blog that Rochester seems to have a dark magical power over Jane and it seems like something that would make pretty much anyone else run away, but she has no where to go and he has a some sort of power over her that keeps her there. Also, Rochester's way of showing affection is by enforcing control that Jane feels the urge to rebel against. I mean...is that a healthy relationship? Or one that you would want to last? I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with it.
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