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Jane Eyre
The wealthy master of Thornfield Hall and Jane's employer and, later, her husband. Over the course of his life, he grows from a naive young man, to a bitter playboy in Europe, to a humble yet still strong man worthy of Jane. Both share similar virtues and seek their personal redemption. Yet Rochester errs in giving more rein to his feelings than his judgment and in expecting the world to submit to his will, as when he tries to marry Jane while still concealing Bertha and his secrets. In his distress after losing his eyesight, Rochester comes to accept his need of guidance and respect for God. His final strength comes from his newfound humility.
Edward Fairfax Rochester Quotes in Jane Eyre
The Jane Eyre quotes below are all either spoken by Edward Fairfax Rochester or refer to Edward Fairfax Rochester. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14 Quotes
I don't think, sir, you have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.
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Jane Eyre (speaker), Edward Fairfax Rochester
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157
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Over the course of the first long conversation between Jane and Rochester, Jane's feelings towards the man quickly become complicated. On the one hand, she does feel a real connection to him, and admires the fact that he is largely willing to chat with her as an equal. Here, though, Jane uses the opportunity that Rochester has given to her to stress that, for her, equality is not just something that can be parceled out here and there, as a sign of good will. If Rochester really wants to treat Jane as an equal, he will have to hear what she has to say on the subject of anything that comes up - including, here, gender relations themselves.
Jane dismisses typical assumptions made about the reasons why men should be considered superior to women. Of course Rochester has seen more of the world than she has, Jane says - she would never, as a woman, be permitted to travel around the world by herself, and even if she could, her financial circumstances would prevent her. Independence, for Jane, is thus not necessarily only a personal character attribute: it is also a function of luck and circumstance, and it has little bearing on true moral equality.
Chapter 17 Quotes
"He is not to them what he is to me," I thought: "he is not of their kind. I believe he is of mine;—I am sure he is—I feel akin to him—I understand the language of his countenance and movements: though rank and wealth sever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart, in my blood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him … I must, then, repeat continually that we are for ever sundered:—and yet, while I breathe and think, I must love him."
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Chapter 18 Quotes
I saw he was going to marry her, for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connections suited him; I felt he had not given her his love, and that her qualifications were ill adapted to win from him that treasure. This was the point—this was where the nerve was touched and teased—this was where the fever was sustained and fed: she could not charm him.
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Chapter 22 Quotes
I am strangely glad to get back again to you: and wherever you are is my home—my only home.
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Chapter 23 Quotes
I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you—especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame.
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Chapter 24 Quotes
He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol.
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Chapter 37 Quotes
I will be your neighbor, your nurse, your housekeeper. I find you lonely: I will be your companion—to read to you, to walk with you, to sit with you, to wait on you, to be eyes and hands to you. Cease to look so melancholy, my dear master; you shall not be left desolate, so long as I live.
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Chapter 38 Quotes
Reader, I married him.
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Edward Fairfax Rochester Character Timeline in Jane Eyre
The timeline below shows where the character Edward Fairfax Rochester appears in Jane Eyre. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...the owner of Thornfield but the head housekeeper. She learns from Mrs. Fairfax that Mr. Rochester owns the place but only shows up intermittently. Mrs. Fairfax describes Rochester as peculiar, well-traveled,...
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...French girl Adèle Varens, whose mother was a French singer and dancer and who is Rochester's ward. Later, Mrs. Fairfax leads Jane on a tour of the luxuriously furnished house. The...
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Chapter 12
...away. On returning to Thornfield, Jane discovers from the servants that the gentleman was Edward Rochester, who has returned home.
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Chapter 13
When he learns that Jane can draw, Rochester is intrigued and asks to see her work. Jane's pictures show sublime and desolate scenes,...
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Jane mentions to Mrs. Fairfax that she finds Rochester unpleasantly abrupt. Mrs. Fairfax explains that Rochester has a difficult personality because of his troubled...
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Chapter 14
Jane barely sees Rochester, until one night after dinner he calls for Jane and Adèle to join him. He...
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Describing himself, Rochester claims to be a man of experience and unfortunate circumstances, hardened from flesh into "Indian-rubber."...
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Adèle soon returns, dressed up in a new pink gown, and dances around. Rochester says that Adèle reminds him of her French mother, Céline Varens. Rochester promises to someday...
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Chapter 15
One afternoon, Rochester takes Jane aside and explains his history with Adèle. Years ago in Paris, Rochester fell...
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That night, Jane thinks over Rochester's story and realizes that she really likes speaking with him now that he no longer...
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...retreating to the third floor. She runs into the hallway and sees smoke coming from Rochester's bedroom—Rochester is asleep, but his bed curtains are on fire. She douses the curtains with...
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Rochester, now awake, rushes up to the third floor. He returns and asks Jane if she's...
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Chapter 16
...morning, Jane is surprised that the servants believe that the previous night's fire started when Rochester accidentally fell asleep with a lit candle next to his bed, and that he woke...
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To Jane's dismay, Rochester soon leaves for a nearby estate to join a party of aristocrats, including the beautiful...
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Chapter 17
Rochester is gone for a week when Jane is upset to learn from Mrs. Fairfax that...
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...the ball and looks as beautiful as Jane imagined. The flirty Blanche hones in on Rochester and, taking a crack at Jane, loudly discusses all of the dreadful governesses that she's...
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Watching Rochester with Blanche, Jane realizes that she's helplessly in love with him. She sneaks away, about...
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Chapter 18
The guests remain for several days. Each night Jane has to watch Blanche flirt with Rochester, including during a game of charades from which Jane is excluded.
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Jane senses that Blanche, despite all her efforts, cannot charm Rochester. Still, she thinks Rochester will probably marry Blanche, perhaps for political or social reasons that...
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One day, Rochester is away on business. A strange gentleman—Mr. Mason—comes looking for him. The man's unusual, vacant...
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Chapter 19
...achieving happiness. She tells Jane that Blanche's dismay resulted from the gypsy's telling her that Rochester wasn't as rich as he seemed.
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...speaking, her voice deepens, and Jane suddenly recognizes the gypsy's voice and hand—the gypsy is Rochester in disguise! (For a moment, Jane had suspected that the gypsy was Grace Poole.)
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Though furious with Rochester for fooling her, Jane still mentions Mr. Mason's arrival at Rochester. Rochester staggers and Jane...
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Chapter 20
...rips through the midnight silence at Thornfield. All the guests run into the hallway, but Rochester calms everyone by saying that the noise came from a servant having a nightmare.
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Once everyone has returned to bed, Rochester taps on Jane's bedroom door and asks for her help. They go up to Grace...
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...Poole's locked room down the hall emerge "canine" snarling sounds and human groans. Before dawn, Rochester returns with the surgeon. They sew up Mason and send him away before any of...
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Rochester takes Jane for a walk in the garden. He tells her about an obviously autobiographical...
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Chapter 22
While at Gateshead, Jane gets a letter from Mrs. Fairfax that says Rochester has gone to London to buy a carriage, presumably in preparation for his marriage to...
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On the road, Jane unexpectedly meets Rochester, who's out driving his new carriage. Rochester begs her to look at the carriage and...
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Chapter 23
Rochester confesses that he has no plans to marry Blanche. He was only trying to make...
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Chapter 24
Rochester promises a wedding in four short weeks. After the engagement is announced, Mrs. Fairfax congratulates...
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Feeling like she's living a fairy tale, Jane is exuberantly happy—at first. But when Rochester starts lavishing expensive gifts and flattering compliments on her, Jane feels objectified and degraded. She...
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Throughout the wedding planning process, Jane resists Rochester's romantic overtures. To put him off, she argues with him and aggravates him. But even...
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Chapter 25
The wedding day approaches and everything is packed for a honeymoon to Europe. While Rochester is briefly away on business, Jane wanders outside to see the lightning-blasted chestnut tree.
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Chapter 26
On the morning of the wedding, as Rochester hurries Jane to the church, Jane notices two strangers in the churchyard. The strangers also...
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The stranger identifies himself as Mr. Briggs, a London lawyer, and reveals that Rochester is already married. 15 years ago in Jamaica, Rochester married a Creole woman, Bertha Mason,...
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Rochester is furious. He concedes that the story is true, but stresses that neither Jane nor...
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Chapter 27
...that she must leave Thornfield. But when she steps out of her room, she finds Rochester waiting for her. He asks her forgiveness. Jane doesn't respond, though she secretly forgives him...
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Rochester admits that he acted cowardly and wrong and tells Jane the full truth about his...
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By this point Rochester's father and brother had died. Legally bound to Bertha, Rochester returned to England, secretly installed...
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For an instant, Jane considers staying with Rochester, reasoning that she deserves a devoted man after a life of isolation and neglect. She...
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Chapter 31
...life is going nowhere. Still, she thanks God for guiding her decision not to become Rochester's mistress.
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Chapter 32
...community. She enjoys her new life, but is unsettled by persistent and stirring dreams of Rochester.
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Chapter 35
Yet just as she's about to give in, Jane hears Rochester's voice calling for help as if from a great distance: "Jane! Jane! Jane!" She rushes...
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Chapter 36
...local inn. Bertha escaped and set Jane's old bedroom on fire. As the inferno spread, Rochester helped all the servants get out safely. But he could not save Bertha, who stood...
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Chapter 37
Jane knocks and talks with the servants at the door. Jane then takes to Rochester a tray with a glass of water that he had asked a servant to bring...
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Jane updates Rochester about her new wealth and leads him on about St. John, jokingly using jealousy to...
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Rochester tells Jane about his new repentant relationship with God. He feels punished for his pride...
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Chapter 38
...chapter begins with the famous line: "Reader, I married him." Remaining at Ferndean, Jane and Rochester have a small, quiet wedding and live in perfect harmony. Jane never tires of guiding...
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Two years into their marriage, Rochester partially regains sight in one eye in time to see the birth of their first...
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