Rochester

Since I know the story of Jane Eyre very well, and now having read Wide Sargasso Sea, I have two very different views of Edward Rochester. In Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, Rochester plays a very crucial role. Although it is hard to like him at first, as the story goes on and we learn more about his story, Rochester becomes more and more likeable to the reader. However, in Wide Sargasso Sea, the reader gets a very different view of his personality. He is a very difficult person to admire. He is self-centered and arrogant. Eventually he is unfaithful to Bertha (known as Antoinette at the time).

In class, we discussed who we felt more sympathetic for in Wide Sargasso Sea and, not surprisingly, most people definitely feel much more for Antoinette because they know her story and how much she has been through. Although I am sympathetic towards Antoinette, I also feel a lot of sorrow for Rochester. He is basically being forced into a marriage that he doesn’t completely want to be a part of, although he eventually comes to appreciate Antoinette. In Jane Eyre, the reader can’t help but feel sorry for him. He is such an unhappy and lonely person and it is clear that his heart is full of the pain of his past, but it is understandable why it would be hard for people who have only known him from Wide Sargasso Sea to feel this sympathy towards him.