Jane Eyre
discussion
If you've read both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights - Rochester or Heathcliff?
Heathcliff, was a victim- beaten, abandoned by the one person he loved, isolated and tortured. Whereas Rochester had a privileged life, and simply as his first wife was ill, imprisoned her deciding then to fall in love with a girl half of his age. Heathcliff hands down.
Rochester wins, no contest.
Heathcliff...always Heathcliff...
ROCHESTER without a doubt.
Gilbert Markham from "Tenant of Wildfell Hall." No secret wife, no homicidal tendencies, just a gentleman farmer.
Rochester! Although, based on the movies: Give me Heathcliff (those eyes!). But then again, the very young Orson Wells was very romantic-looking!
Rochester, although Heathcliff´s enigmatical personality can be quite appealing to some women...
O.K., This is an old discussion, but the books are older, so I guess I can still comment. : ) Heathcliff is very dark, romantic, and if you believe the movie with Laurence Olivier, is wildly passionate, and full of undying, romantic love.
The novel, however, tells a different story, and Heathcliff is not only cruel to Isabella, but to Cathy, herself. He marries to get revenge on Cathy, he is brutal to Cathy's brother, unbecoming of his true nature, or, is it is real nature, revealed, and Cathy his redemption? I think not. As a boy , Heathcliff was as full and kind-hearted a boy as any, who grew cruel because the world was cruel to him. He succumbed to the dark side of passion.
Rochester, on the other hand, appears at first, stand-offsh, rude, and larger than life; however, he is full of quiet passion that grows into a deep love. It is passionate as well, but also domestic, fit for a country estate; whereas, Heathcliff is as wild as the moors, and the emotion cannot be contained.
I once met Orson Welles at the TV network where I worked. He was older, famous for so much more, but I couldn't help thinking that he portrayed Rochester in the black and white film, and feeling honored by his presence.
I love both books dearly. I like jane better, and I love Rochester. Heathcliff doesn't appeal to me I don't care about his wealth! He's obsessive and abusive. And for me,that does not equal love.
Rochester, I didn't really like Wuthering Heights.
Jennifer wrote: "Rochester, without a doubt. Heathcliff is psychotic, and he'll kill your dog. By contrast, Rochester's dog, Pilot, is very attached to his master. It's a tell-tale sign of each character's inner na..."Yes. I always trust my dogs judgment of ppl. If he doesn't like the person, I doubt I will either. Dogs know good people!
Rochester without a doubt. Healthcliff was obsessed.
Ha! Ladies, I think there should be a similar chain: Cathy or Jane. :)
Anntonette wrote: "Ha! Ladies, I think there should be a similar chain: Cathy or Jane. :)"Jane!
Kressel wrote: "Rochester, hands down. But if you bring in Villette, then Dr. Graham wins."Agreed!
Erin wrote: "Caz wrote: "Rochester, without a doubt. Heathcliff always struck me as unbalanced and cruel, whereas Rochester did what he did to Jane because he was so much in love. Not that that makes it alrig..."Indeed, but Rochester searched for a way to redeem himself and Heathcliff did not.
Brooke wrote: "God, am I the ONLY one who likes Heathcliff?For me, comparing JE to WH is like comparing cardboard to a thunderstorm. I felt nothing for Rochester, whereas my heart just broke for Heathcliff, over..."
I understand your point of view. Compared to Heathcliff's passionate deeds, other heroes are quite 'stoic'.
Both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights make my top 10 list of favourite novels. Heathcliff is a more interesting character, but as love interests, both are repugnant. Heathcliff is a psychopath, and I'm not sure what exactly Rochester's problem is, but I agree with the literary critic and professor John Sutherland that Rochester would have murdered Jane Eyre within 10 years of their marriage (See "Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?")
Without a doubt Heathcliff - he was driven to madness with love after being discriminated against by the one he loved, being unjustly turned into a stable boy.
Rochester. I've been through too many Heathcliffs.
Heathcliff the wild gypsy changeling! His wildness is fascinating. My first gothic love.
Heathcliff fore sure, he takes love to a level of obsession-scary but interesting. After all there is only a very slim line between love, obsession and hatred...
Heathcliff ! Cuz he wasn't cruel without a reason . he just paid back what he owed to other ppl . he wasn't cruel . and He did everything and was always loyal to Catherine . He was sweet and I loved him . My Sweet Heathcliff
Christy wrote: "Without a doubt Heathcliff - he was driven to madness with love after being discriminated against by the one he loved, being unjustly turned into a stable boy."Agreed. Heathcliff was loyal to her to death. He wasnt going to allow class to separate them.
Heathcliff is an insane evil man, and his "love" feels much more like an obssesion. Jane and Rochester though, THAT'S true love!
Can I opt for spinsterhood?
Rochester. Heathcliff was a little too vengeful for my taste. When he didn't get his way he just set out to destroy those who he "loved." Not exactly winning the "Ex-of-the-Year" Award in my mind.
Yes, Sarah-Hope and Jamie Lynn, spinsterhood FTW!I don't believe anyone has covered this literary question as well as Kate Beaton, in Hark! A Vagrant: Dude Watchin' with the Brontes. Her drawings of the Rochester and Heathcliff archetypes are perfect.
@Loupie LMAO! Perfect!
Loupie wrote: "Yes, Sarah-Hope and Jamie Lynn, spinsterhood FTW!I don't believe anyone has covered this literary question as well as Kate Beaton, in Hark! A Vagrant: Dude Watchin' with the Brontes. Her drawings..."
Love it!
Rochester. He definitely toys with Jane at times, but he's not sadistic and not at the mercy of his emotions.
Rochester, hands down. Rochester actually works to redeem himself in order to be worthy of Jane's love. Heathcliff, on the other hand, ruins the lives of others because of his obsession with Cathy.
I think they're both brilliant characters, but Rochester is the one who changes for the better and that takes a lot more strength than letting the woes in your life get to you the way Heathcliff did.
This is very hard.... But I think I'll go with Rochester.But heathcliff will always be my bae.
Both fascinating characters for sure, but Rochester is far more compelling to me. He is cruel and kind, strong and vulnerable all at once. It is both completely baffling and completely understandable to me why Jane falls in love with him.
This is a tough question to answer. If I use my good wisdom and sound common sense than hands down, I have to pick Rochester. However, like a few of the girls here, I found myself very attracted to Heathcliff while reading the book. I didn't feel that way about Mr. Rochester at all.
And when I read this, " If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years as I could in a day. And Catherine has a heart as deep as I have: the sea could be as readily contained in that horse-trough as her whole affection be monopolized by him." (Heathcliff) I just YEARNED for a man to feel that way about me...
SO: Real life common sense- Mr. Rochester, hands down.
Fantasy-Hot-Romance-No-Reprocussion: Heathcliff, in an instant.
The fly in that ointment is that, outside of fiction, people like Catherine and Heathcliff only love reflections of themselves.
I don't really know. I was never a fan of Mr.Rochester, but I liked Heathcliff as a character. Heathcliff was more of a real person than Mr.Rochester was. We see him feel love, hate, revange and compassion.
Like characters in literature, I love both Heathcliff and Mr. Rotchester equally. But if they were real people, I would without a doubt choose Mr. Rochester for obvious reasons.Some say Heathcliff is misunderstood. He isn't. I AM aware his pain is the reason of his actions. I just don't think that makes him innocent.
Now, I think the person who sees Mr. Rotchester as a psycho who would kill Jane after a few years, is, how could I say this more tactfully, highly disturbed.
As for the ones who are "overwhelmed" by us choosing Rochester: Sorry, girls. You can't convince me in a million years that the man who tortures and kills puppies, abuses physically and mentally children and young women, tricks a woman into marriage and then raping and beating her repeatedly, plotting to steal young Catherine's home by tricking her the way he tricked Isabella, playing the nice guy at first and when she's captured showing his true colors, is a better man than Mr. Rotchester.
About Bertha, you act like she was some normal, good woman, who lived a great life and he kidnapped her and locked her in the basement. Let's be honest. Bertha was dangerous psychopath and he had no other choice. The alternative was putting her in asylum, where she would be treated terribly. He even lost his sight and hand in the attempt to save her from the fire SHE started. Not only he wasn't mean to her, he actually treated her a lot better than she deserved. And don't give me this nonsense about what was in the other book. Taking something non written by Charlotte Bronte like an evidence about his evilness or whatever you want to call it is ridiculous for obvious reasons.
His only bad move was not telling the truth to Jane, but I think under the circumstances was forgivable.
And I can't really understand this whole "Had Catherine been like Jane, the story would be simple, plain and boring". Maybe for you WH is the better novel. So what? The novel being better doesn't prove that the man himself is better. It's absolutely irrelevant.
Yes, surly. Both Emily and Charlotte have their own unique style. I personally can't decide which of the novels I like better."Jane Eyre" gives me this warm feeling and I adore the mature, interesting characters, their passionate love, their development, the happy ending.
But the dark, tortured, impossible love, powerful to the point of obsession, is SO beautiful. Heathcliff was very far away from the good guy, but I still see him as a romantic hero as well. He is an abuser and a killer, he is a victim, he is man madly in love. He is all these things. That is why I find him so fascinating. He is multidimensional, deep, passionate character.
Rochester. Heathcliff hits women, kills pets, is greedy, vengeful and far too passionate to be considered healthy.
Rochester without a doubt! :)
I love Rochester and Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books! BUT i just realized that Rochester didn't run after Jane when she left. Heathcliff pretty much did for Cathy (if you count..fake seducing her sister in law to get close and cursing her to never leave). Oh wait, i just remember Rochester got into that accident right after..oh darn it..im getting stuck, trying to figure this out LOL lets just stick with BOTH!
Carolina wrote: "Rochester. Heathcliff hits women, kills pets, is greedy, vengeful and far too passionate to be considered healthy."Not to mention talking to himself and going fully dillisional in the end. I think he was seriously mentally ill. Rochester was manipulative but not certifiable.
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