Mr. Rochester

[bronte]

About Mister Rochester in Jane Erye. Is anybody else bothered by his behavior. I mean the part when he was going to have a "sham wedding" with Jane...of all the deceit! Jane would have really thought it was a true marriage and it would NOT be! If a man did that to me I would be wary of him in the future, but it does not bother Jane enough to not marry him later.

[Des Esseintes]

Yes, that's exactly the flaw which has been raised on this book again and again, and it applies to many other gothic novels as well (Richardson's Pamela had the same trick). However, that sort of bad manners was rather required in gothic novels because the suspense was often hinged on the heroine's relationship to a powerful man of questionable morals. In many romances and action tales the heroine faces a bad guy and has a romantic interest in a different guy and each of the 2 men are in clear cut roles. On the other hand, part of what made gothic creepy yet romantic was the fact that the dangerous and mysterious man was also attractive and the line between good and evil blurred. In order to introduce threat and menace into gothic romance the threat had to derive from within the relationship itself. Otherwise, it would have slipped into pure horror or adventure.

[random capitals]

I'll come out and admit that I've never liked Mr Rochester (and I'm not that fond of Jane either) and that's just one of the reasons.
Even though I agree with everything Des Esseintes says about the nature of the gothic novel, I just can't accept Rochester as hero material. His behaviour towards Jane throughout the entire story is just one step too close to plain ol' nasty.
I always thought that I was alone in not liking this classic. It seems to be to gothic readers what Pride and Prejudice is to historical romance, and I can't understand the attraction.

[MaMiller]

I was always such a fan of Wuthering Heights, and still feel to this day that there is no greater or more complex character than Heathcliff.

I remember picking up Jane Eyre with such anticipation and then afterwards, thinking, "oh, that was disappointing". Granted, I still love the atmosphere, but in all my years (and I'm a romantic suspense writer myself, so I'll definitely throw myself into this statement), NOTHING has ever touched Wuthering Heights.
And there is no movie that can do it justice, I'm afraid.

I wish Emily was still around. I think I would get along well with her!

[bronte]

I once read that Charlotte and Emily's brother Branwell claimed that he was the true author of the books and his sister's only put their name on it. I don't have a clue if that is a "legend" or what but it is an interesting thought. Or perhaps Branwell was jealous. Anyone ever heard this story before?

[Des Esseintes]

I heard a story that may account for that legend. I believe I read about it in "The Infernal World Of Branwell Bronte" by DuMaurier, but don't quote me. Supposedly, Branwell occasionally attended meetings of local writers and at one meeting he was supposed to bring something he had written. Having nothing written, he supposedly took a draft of Wuthering Heights instead and read several pages to the group. I'm not sure that he actually lied outright and said he wrote it but he allowed the group to be mislead. So, that would have created a small group of people who believed Branwell was the author of Wuthering Heights and the tale has snowballed from there.

I'm only citing this from memory but I still have that book if anyone wants me to double check it. Actually, with all of the scholarly work done on the Brontes the explanation to this legend has probably already been found, but I'm not an expert so I couldn't say or point anyone to the right source.

[Des Esseintes]

I guess we're getting off topic now but, speaking of Wuthering Heights has anyone heard the song "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"? It's supposedly a 17th century poem and it's been set to music several times. Here is one version and there's others on Youtube. Has anyone ever speculated that Emily Bronte had this poem in mind when she wrote Wuthering Heights? It's probably another one of those questions the experts answered long ago but I never read anything about it.

Then, for those who don't know it or are too young to remember, Kate Bush's first hit was called Wuthering Heights.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

Wuthering Heights is brilliant, but i don't understand why strong heroines like Jane Eyre and Catherine (whom i hate but never mind) keep falling for damaged men who treat them badly? I've met Heathcliff's equivalent in a high school boy (my ex boyfriend actually) and trust me, it's not all its crackd up to be.
Jane's relationship with Rochester worked becuase they came to respect each other, while still recognizing that neither of them was perfect.
Heathcliff may have been madly in love with Catheine, but their romance seemed doomed very early on because she never treated him as an equal, and he couldn't let her go.

Why are we so attracted to people who are ultimtely bad for us???????

[Monique Devereaux]

Why are we so attracted to people who are ultimtely bad for us???????

I don't have the answer but this question reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes, Epiphany (Lisa Bonet) in Angel Heart: "It's always a bad ass that makes a girl's heart beat faster"