What is it about Mr Rochester that makes him so appealing? Throughout the novel, we discover that not only does he have a crazy ex-wife locked in the attic, but also he is willing to marry Jane with Mrs Rochester being hidden away. However, the reader constantly attempts to find excuses for him: the ex-wife wouldn’t be able to integrate into society, and has proven herself to be dangerous – surely to protect himself and his staff, locking her away would be the only option. In any case, he was tricked into the marriage, unknowingly espoused to someone who was certain to develop mental tendencies. With regards to the attempt at marriage, he could be hopelessly, even recklessly, in love with Jane, willing to risk the wrath of God for his polygamy. By not informing Jane of the crime she is about to commit, surely he is saving her soul from punishments to come?

We cringe, and pray that Jane will refuse St. John’s proposal of marriage. The headstrong, decisive Jane to be turned into a missionary’s wife, dragged across the continent to propose religion to people who barely spoke English? Never…

The punishment Rochester receives in his burns and loss of both a hand and his sight seem to us harsh, and sympathy is strongly evoked. Reminiscent of Adam and Eve in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, Rochester has committed his sin, been punished, and is now facing redemption in Jane’s reappearance.

A polygamous, lying man, known to have illegitimate children from a previous affair – any woman would go running…but his somehow attractive personality has us all cheering at “Reader, I married him”. The success this means for Jane is some sort of moral victory, she not only got what she wanted, but she lost nothing of herself in the process – even now, Rochester, in his blindness, is more dependent on her than she on him.

Finally, let us not forget the propriety of the novel – Bronte’s reader could never have socially accepted that Jane, in her financial state, could ever have married Rochester for anything other than his money, but her rise to fortune conveniently places Jane in a suitable situation for marriage to this blind, crippled man.