Mr. Rochester

"His presence in this room was more cheering than the brightest fire."

- Chapter 15

Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester is a major character in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. He is the owner of Thornfield Hall, the husband of Bertha Mason and then to the titular character.

Originally a stern and emotionless man, Rochester was wanting to have a relationship with a pure woman, and he wins Jane over with their love, until a secret of his resurfaces and nearly puts their romance in the way. He is an example of a Byronic hero.

Description
Mr. Rochester, despite his stern personality and rough appearance, is a unique and fascinating love interest. Like Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Rochester is described as a Byronic hero, in which he is a dark, brooding like character but is proud, arrogant and romantic. Rochester was also guided by some of the decisions he makes than by his mind. From the several women he had met prior to Jane, from Celine Varens to Bertha Mason, he was lavished by their qualities and appearance and drove him to take interest in them resulting in his tragic affairs with them.

Early Years
Edward Rochester was the younger son of his father, also named Mr. Rochester. He had a difficult relationship with his father and older brother Rowland. Old Mr. Rochester had given their estate Thornfield Hall to Rowland before handing it over to Edward, so it wouldn't divide their property. He wanted his younger son to be wealthy, too, but had put him in a painful position for the sake of their wealth.

As a young adult, Edward finished college and was partnered with Richard Mason as they traveled to Jamaica in the West Indies after being sent there by his father following Rowland's inheritance. The Rochester's had hoped Edward would marry Richard's sister Bertha Mason, who had promised him a large fortune. Edward barely knew Bertha after meeting her, but he was appalled by her beauty and he marries her. He had believed that Bertha's mother was dead but after the wedding, he discovers that Mrs. Mason is not dead but is insane and locked up in a mental hospital. Bertha would soon become insane just like her.

Not too long afterwards, Old Mr. Rochester and Rowland had died and Edward finds himself alone with a large inheritance and an unstable wife. He had considered suicide but ends up returning to England, moving back to Thornfield and keeping Bertha locked up inside the attic. He assigns one of his servants, Grace Poole, to watch over her. No one else around him knows about his marriage, and would spent the next ten years sowing his wild oats.

Céline and Adéle Varens
While travelling in Paris, France, Rochester began to have a relationship with a French opera singer named Céline Varens, who had a young daughter named Adéle. However, when Céline came back home with another man, she has an affair with him and they even mocked Rochester's appearance. After he overhears the conversation, Rochester ends the relationship.

He doesn't believe Céline's claim that he is Adéle's father, but after she ran off to Italy with a musician a few years later, Rochester decided to take Adéle in as his ward at Thornfield and to make sure she has a good upbringing. At some point, he decides that Adéle would need an education, so he has his housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax send out an advertisement searching for a governess for the young girl.