Jane Eyre
Edward Rochester
The master of Thornfield
The brooding, sardonic master of Thornfield Hall, who finds in Jane someone who speaks to him as an equal.
Mr. Rochester is a tall, dark, impatient man who is often away and rarely explains himself. He is Adèle's guardian and master of Thornfield, and he tests everyone he meets. He first meets Jane when his horse slips on the ice in Hay Lane, and she helps him up.
Rochester is haunted by something in his past. He talks of being a good man once, hardened by life, and asks Jane whether a wounded soul can reform. He values her honesty, and she is one of the few people who speaks frankly to him. He is passionate, protective and sometimes manipulative, and he is not above deceiving the people he loves to get what he wants.
“I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions. Jane, will you marry me?”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Rochester is drawn to Jane, throws a house party with Blanche Ingram, and disguises himself as a gypsy to read Jane's heart. After she saves him from a fire, and after Jane tells him she has as much soul as he, he proposes. On the wedding day, the truth is exposed: Bertha Mason, his wife, is alive. Rochester begs Jane to flee with him, but she leaves.
Thornfield is burned by Bertha, who dies in the fire. Rochester loses his sight and left hand trying to save everyone, and he retreats to Ferndean. Jane finds him there and he asks if she can accept a blind man. They marry, and two years later he regains sight in one eye and sees their first son.
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