Project Title
Abstract/Description
In her novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë established several elements that are still components of many modern novels, including a working, plain female hero, a depiction of the hero’s childhood, and a new awareness of sexuality. Alongside these new elements, Brontë also engineered a new type of male hero in Edward Rochester. As Jane is written as a plain female hero with average looks, Rochester is her plain male hero counterpart. Although Brontë depicts Rochester as a severe, yet appealing hero, embodying the characteristics associated with Byron’s heroes, she nevertheless slightly alters those characteristics. Brontë characterizes Rochester as a Byronic hero, but alters his characterization through repentance to create a new type of character: the repentant Byronic hero.
Recommended Citation
Forina, Marybeth
(2014).
Edward Rochester: A New Byronic Hero.
Undergraduate Review, 10, 85-88.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol10/iss1/19
Rights Statement
Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.