Rochester, the Byronic Hero

585 Words3 Pages
Rochester, the Byronic Hero The Byronic hero is a protagonist modeled after the works of Lord Byron, and perhaps after Byron himself; he was known to repeatedly use a similar formula when creating the heroes of his tales. Generally these characters were darker in nature than typical heroes, more tormented and melancholy than the average protagonist. They are often times marked by mysteriousness, brooding, immorality, an air of supernaturalism, and other qualities of an anti-hero. In this regard, Edward Rochester meets the criteria of a Byronic hero. From the introduction of Rochester we can glean a mental image of how he appears; he is described by Jane Eyre as having a grim appearance and being attractive in a mysterious way, as his features are not beautiful. He acts in a spontaneous, mercurial, and brooding manner, all traits that are typical of a Byronic hero. We can see in his conversations with Jane that these traits become apparent. At one point he says, “…I am not a villain; you are not to suppose that—not to attribute to me any such bad eminence; but, owing, I verily believe, rather to circumstances than to my natural bent, I am a trite, common-place sinner, hackneyed in all the poor, petty dissipations, with which the rich and worthless try to put on life.”(Chapt. XIV) This is almost a definition of a Byronic hero, in that he does not see himself as a villain, but that he acknowledges that he is immoral and imperfect. We can compare Rochester’s brooding, unpredictable behavior to that of Manfred, Byron’s quintessential Byronic hero. In Act 3 of Manfred, he says in response to an abbot asking why he doesn’t mingle with other humans, “Because my nature was averse from life; And yet not cruel; for I would not make, but find a desolation…”(Act 3, lines 125-127) Both Rochester and Manfred don’t see themselves as evil or cruel, but at the same
Open Document