"If this were some dude cheating on his wife, of course you'd then wouldn't see it as so romantic and tear jerking."
Are you serious? Go to a typical Jane Eyre discussion board and listen to them go on and on, raving about how romantic Mr Rochester is. Synopsis:
Jane is a young governess working in a large mansion. The owner shows up and starts becoming interested in this governess twenty years younger than him. He's "been around." They chat and flirt and he apparently becomes infatuated with her. Bronte has her admit she "worships" him. Here is what he does for her.
-He forces her to attend a party where she is subjected to an evening of derision where the arrogant guests in HIS house where SHE lives deride governesses in general IN HER PRESENCE making her feel horrible. He sees it happen but when she leaves all teary-eyed he's all like "why're you leaving, why are you depressed," as if he doesn't know...ie he lies to her.
-He tries to make her jealous by pretending to be in love with another woman....ie lies to her.
-He dresses up like a woman to get Jane to speak candidly...ie he misrepresents himself to get her to open up to him.
-She saves his life from a fire and in return he convinces her a night visitor to her room who destroys her clothing was her imagination...ie lies to her. Later it turns out the visitor to her room was the same one who tried to kill him...and he knew it.
-He has her help him care for a man who has been bitten and stabbed in his house and allows Jane to believe the attacker was someone other than who he knows it to be...ie lies to her.
-He finally proposes to her and she's all like, "I'm so happy." THEN on the very wedding day DURING the ceremony, some guys show up and report that Mr R is married and his wife is STILL ALIVE. Jane finds out said wife is kept locked up in an tower of the very house where Jane has lived all these months. She's crazy...dangerous crazy, violently insane. Jane finds out it was HER that tried to kill Mr R, attacked the house guest and who snuck into her room and destroyed her clothing.
Well, and it gets worse...after the botched wedding, Jane is exhausted mentally and physically. Her world has been torn asunder, the "rug" jerked out from under her and HE spends the entire evening browbeating her, whining, cajoling, accusing her of not really loving him to GET HER TO STILL STAY WITH HIM AS HIS MISTRESS. He actually becomes violent at one point, making her feel in peril for her safety. At no time in his ranting and complaining does he ever:
1. admit he did anything wrong...he's either lying or has no moral standards.
2. nor is he the least concerned with HER feelings, her morality, HER safety and well-being. It's all about him and how he feels and how unhappy he'll be if she leaves him.
And some women (and guys too!) lap this up like cats at a saucer of milk...to them it shows true love, real chemistry, undying devotion and deep feelings. The contend that Mr R is basically a good man who just erred! He just committed a blunder, in Bronte's words. They go on and on about how many times they've read this book and how much they love it. It's a classic, you know. If you don't care to read the entire book just read chapter 27 keeping in mind all that I told you Rochester has done. It comes across to me as a most selfishly driven dialogue. See what you think.
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