A two-part question:
Rochester claims he was tricked into marrying Bertha. Do you buy it? Does he deserve sympathy or to be rid of this burden? Why or why not?
Look at his discussion/confession and specifically comment on Bronte's language use to characterize Rochester and express his tone.
I definitely felt like Rochester was tricked into marrying Bertha, but that is entirely based on the story he told Jane, which may or may not be true. :) I think that based on his story and the way he is portrayed in this section, which in my opinion almost seems desperate, I believe he does deserve some sympathy and forgiveness for lying to Jane. Similar to what Emmellia mentioned in class today, I tended to side with Rochester in the whole section of Rochester’s confession and Jane’s leaving. I felt like the way that Rochester was explaining his situation made him seem genuine to me. He was almost, in my mind, begging Jane to stay and trying to make her see and understand his side of the story and fully comprehend why he did everything that he did. He mentions every single mistake he had made in his lifetime, concerning his marriage to Bertha, which he was misled into according to him, and his mistress’, all the way up to the point of meeting Jane on the side of the road when falling off of his horse and explaining the cold treatment he originally gave Jane. As Jane is trying to leave Rochester and say she is leaving permanently, he continues to ask for more time, more time to explain his situation, more time to be with her and make her his wife, more time to make her comprehend that he was tricked into his marriage with Bertha. Rochester continues to mention that he is not a well-tempered man, and that he will result to violence if necessary, showing his desperate desire to make her understand and stay with him. He will go to any means necessary to make her comprehend why he has not sent Bertha away, or done something to make amends with the family and allow him to remarry. Rochester even accepts Jane’s mention of pitying him, which seemed to make it more genuine to me. Rochester was so desperate to make Jane understand that when Jane says she pities him, he accepts it and continues on, in my opinion, hoping that her pity will lead to her ultimate understanding and forgiveness which would allow her to stay with him. He mentions his regret in using mistresses and even talks of suicide when feeling completely hopeless. He then ends his confession/ discussion, with talking about how Jane saved him and has brought him back from the misery of his life and the terrible circumstances he had lived through. All of his desperation comes to a close as he describes his love for Jane and apologizes, asking for her love and pledge of fidelity as he again offers his to her. He is hoping that he has been able to win over Jane’s heart completely again and can make her stay with him. As Jane again still says she is leaving, Rochester turns to anguish, he even lets out “a deep strong sob” and he utters that his heart is broken, as his true love is leaving him. His desperation comes to an end and leaves him completely heart broken and wishing he could do anything more to make Jane stay with him.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that he was tricked into marrying Bertha I believe he did it on his own accord. I think he married her because he was in love with her or he married her for the fortune she supposedly had in her name but his story was very convincing when he was telling Jane that he was tricked into marrying her and even though Jane forgave him it was still unfortunate for him because she left him. I think Jane showed sympathy toward Rochester too soon if I was in her place I wouldn't I wouldn't forgive him as easily as Jane did. Deceiving and lying to someone and trying to marry them without them knowing the truth is unforgivable to me but how long can a person hold a grudge you have to let it go but Jane is too naive and innocent and she tries to see the best in everyone. Bronte portrays Rochester way out of his character in this part of the novel. She portrays him as someone who is desperate, clingy, heartbroken which not at all how a Byronic hero should be like. This is one place where the reader can actually see the reality of the situation and not as something that is fiction and made up. This situation can occur or have occurred in real life and we get to see Jane and Rochester as real human beings.
DeleteI believe that Rochester wasn't "tricked" into marrying Bertha because everyone has secret in their lives. He was simply unaware. Although Bertha's secret was very significant in both sides, I believe that Bertha had the right to keep her personal life a secret. Rochester was in the same situation where he didn't inform Jane about his past and his true relationship status. I believe that Rochester doesn't deserve any sympathy because he deceived Jane as well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Rochester confesses about his relationship with Bertha (during the wedding), I believe that he only acted because he didn't have any evidence to contradict Mason. Charlotte Bronte allows Rochester to use dictions that make him seem victimized and "cheated", but I believe that is claims weren't efficient enough. We aren't able to hear Bertha's side of the story of their marriage, which leaves this situation with more uncertainty.
Rochester's confession about his secret marriage does not convince me that he was tricked into marrying Bertha. He said it himself, he needed to marry well because his family was suddenly poor and once his father discovered the Mason family (and their wealth) he did just that. Rochester also claimed that he loved Bertha and was "dazzled" by her appearance. Rochester made the decision to be with Bertha without any hesitation- there was nothing deceiving about it. Now, whether he deserves sympathy/ forgiveness for his secrets could go many different ways. In my opinion everyone deserves to be forgiven, as Jane should forgive him. I can understand him wanting to keep his past a secret because confessing it to Jane would be a lot for her to take in. But at the same time, it was selfish of Rochester to keep such a huge ordeal from Jane and actually proceed to marry her knowing that he was already married. Sure, after having to deal with his mad wife, I can see why Rochester would want to find another woman and live a better life. But by lying to Jane, he is only looking out for himself in order to escape his past. He does not take into consideration her feelings, and by not telling her he is ensured to have the redemption he longs for and have his burden erased. If you claim you love someone you wouldn't keep secrets no matter how awful they may be, and because Rochester did not do so I don't think he deserves sympathy. In regards to how Bronte's uses language in this passage, she uses a tone of passion, anger, hurt and desperation as Rochester begs and pleas Jane to forgive and continue to love him. This brings significance to his character as we see how desperate he is to rid his burden.
ReplyDeleteI feel like his Rochester is telling the truth to a certain extent and can be believable. The only thing that is concerning is that we only here about his point of view/side of the story at this point, so even if he is telling the truth it is still not fully believable since we only have one side of the story. As we find out that Bertha is actually mad later on I do feel bad for Rochester, but I also feel bad for Bertha since she has been locked away alone with only Grace Poole to take care of her for several years. Although Bertha is mad when everyone first sees her in the attic, I do not think she was as mad when her and Rochester first met. She may have been, but again, we only get Rochester's side of the story up until this point where things can be mixed up or made up while sounding believable. I feel bad to Rochester's situation as a whole because of the fact that he was pushed into a relationship by his father that he did not want only to gain a fortune out of it, but at the same time I do not think it was right for him to go and try to make Jane his wife while also courting Ms. Ingram in the process to make Jane jealous, only to later propose and rush the wedding without telling her about his past unless a year passed by.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if Rochester could very easily be lying here. Yes, his family could very well have tricked him into marrying Bertha but I feel the illness of Bertha causes the issues here. I believe Rochester did fall in love with her because he still kept here after he found out about her mental illness. So I believe he wanted the marriage, but when he hears about her illness he doesn't want to be married to her anymore however still wants to make sure she is treated right since he still cares about her so much. Saying all of this, I do feel sympathy for Rochester because he didn't know of her illness when he married her, and if he did he probably wouldn't marry her so he could avoid the situation that he ended up getting in.
ReplyDeleteBased on his story, he is trying to convey that he was tricked, but I don't feel truth in his words. I believe he must have married her for a reason and is just lying to Jane to get her to stay and go through with the marriage. Also, if he was tricked into marrying her then why would he keep her in the attic? He clearly feels something towards her and does not want to send her away, just as he feels something towards Jane and does not want to see her leave.
ReplyDelete