to think MrRochester is actually a bit of a shit.

[SheelaNeGoldGig]

He is miserable, grumpy. He leads Jane on, puts her in danger, makes Blanche think he's going to propose to he. Cross dresses. Is a bigamist, imprisons his wife in the attic and an all round cad and bounder.

AIBU?

He is a shit.

I used to love JE but I've gone right off it.

How could he not tell the First Mrs was ill, if she was so ill she had to be locked up. Before marriage they spent time together in those days in groups.

Jane Eyre is one of my favourites, I never understood why Rochester didn't just tell Jane that he loved her instead of testing her and basically making her be the one to admit her feelings first.

She explains to him at the beginning that she has basically no life experience, no experience of men etc. so I really don't understand his insecurity.

Well I don't think you can 'accuse' him of being a cross dresser. Deceitful and manipulative yes and to achieve this he donned a disguise. I don't think he made a habit of it though.

He was totally duped into marrying Bertha Mason though (if you read The Wide Sargasso Sea which presents him slightly more sympathetically!)

He is a selfish bastard though.

I like him. I think the fortune telling scene is just one of the many examples of his sense of humour. I think he treats Jane as an equal.

We can forgive him for Blanche (?) as she only wanted to marry him for his money, which he was well aware of.

Yabu he is fab

YANBU - I've never liked the story of Jane Eyre. Read the book aged 10, watched the 80s TV series with Timothy Dalton when I was in my teens, and saw the play as adult. I guess I kept hoping I would feel differently about it each time, but no - I found it deeply depressing each time.

Wuthering Heights is far more depressing. Heathcliff's a total bastard and perfect for Catherine, a bitch.

A friend of mine used to teach a college course which she called "Jane Eyre ruined my life."

I remember reading it as a thirteen year old and wondering how someone so "plain" manages to rack up two marriage proposals within a year. Quite like Mr Rochester, and doesn't he keep her in the attic because he knows she'll be better treated there than if he packs her off to an asylum?

But Jane is such a contrast to the type of woman Rochester's used to, isn't she? Including her honesty, morality, and plain speaking. I think that must have appealed to him.
St. John, admittedly, is not in love with Jane when he proposes. He wants her for more practical purposes.

I never understood why it was deemed a 'good' book

I bloody hate it

Another annoying one: Daisy from the Great Gatsby.

What's so great about her?

(love the book though)

Daisy's a bitch.

I still love the book.

Rochester is not a 'hero figure'. He is the one in need of redemption. She is the 'hero' the one of strong moral and spiritual fibre, in her he finds the strong moral and loving code that people need to find strong and loving relationships. Her refusal to bend to his desires, her navigating her way through all of his manipulation, being naiive and heart broken but not deviating an inch from her inner guide.

Can't be that bad, not when he looks like Michael Fassbender.

And yes, Wuthering Heights is the most depressing book (well maybe Les Miserables) I've ever read. Heathcliffe and Cathy have no redeeming features and totally deserve each other.

I love the book, but always thought Mr. R. was a miserable bastard!

A bit of a shit?

He looks poor mad Bertha in the attic.

I don't think you can say he was duped into marrying Bertha as evidenced in The Wide Sargasso Sea as TWSS was wasn't written by Charlotte Bronte. Great book though it is!

Still, better off with Rochester than that awful priggish cousin. And as much of a sod that Mr Rochester is he doesn't even come close to the levels of Heathcliff. People who hold Heathcliff up as some sort of romantic ideal worry me!

I love Wuthering Heights, it is very bleak indeed. I do agree about Cathy and Heathcliffe, perfect for each other.

I found Villette the most depressing of the Bronte books, personally.

yup he is indeed

squoosh I realised it was clutching at straws a bit.

Least shaggable fictional lead apart from Edmund in Mansfield Park. Barrel of laughs he aint. But then maybe in Austen's day it wasn't uncommon to only meet 2 or 3 men in one's lifetime so he might have seemed like the best of a bad lot? And they have been brought up brother and sister . Almost as creepy as Mr Knightly's 'I remember dandling you on my knee when you were a baby'. (Worst chat up line ever?)

yes, and the reason I don't take the 50 shades compaitns particularly seriously is that this character is just as bad.

read wide sargasso sea op. you will love it!

My favourite book. I agree Rochester is a right grumpy bastard, however I much prefer him to the patronising St.John.