Amithav Reddy
Dr. Carter
Honors British Literature
November 19, 2015
Rochester as the Byronic Hero A hero is defined as a person that has noble qualities is usually admired for his courage and amazing accomplishments. There are many different types of heroes in literature, but one that is characterized a little different from the norm is the Byronic hero. A Byronic hero is usually an arrogant, enticingly romantic, and defiant hero who is also classified as an antihero. The Byronic hero was first created by Lord Byron in the 19th century and has been replicated in many works of literature later on. An example of a Byronic hero is Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte displays Rochester as a Byronic hero in Jane Eyre…show more content… Rochester shows his dominant manner in his first conversation with Jane when he is having tea with her as he says, “Did you expect a present, Miss Eyre? Are you fond of presents?” (112). He starts talking to Jane in a very condescending tone as he thinks that he holds power over her as many Byronic heroes do. Rochester once again shows his arrogance and dominance over Jane when he says, “Speak” (124) and “You are dumb, Miss Eyre.” (124). Rochester wants Jane to talk to him about something when he is being arrogant and dominating and Jane does not respond to Rochester until a while later. Mr. Rochester also shows his arrogance when he thinks that it is fine to lock his wife Bertha in captivity by herself with the exception of her caretaker Grace Poole taking care of Bertha. Rochester continues this dominance throughout the book as he even has short bursts of anger when he tries to convince Jane to stay at Thornfield and is slightly angered when Jane won’t agree to any of his plans. His dominance over Jane is gone only when he has lost his sight and he has lost one of his hands and he is dependent on Jane to help him to many small…show more content… Rochester describes how he went looking for love after he discovered that Bertha had gone mad when he says, “My fixed desire was to seek and find a good and intelligent woman, whom I could love: a contrast to the fury I left at Thornfield” (296). Rochester went looking for another woman that he could love and this soon lead to problems as he had to leave one of his mistress’s who ended up being Adele’s mom even though he doesn’t believe that Adele is his own daughter. Many Byronic heroes like Rochester have had many mistresses and these mistresses caused Rochester some emotional conflict within himself. Byronic heroes are also known for having emotional trauma and Rochester has gone through a lot of emotional trauma. Rochester had been lied too and this forced him to get married to Bertha as he says, “My father and my brother Rowland knew all this; but they thought only of the thirty thousand pounds, and joined in the plot against me.” (291). Rochester has gone through a lot of emotional pain as Jane left him later on and he lived with his crazy wife and it only got better when he met back with