Jane and Rochester Relationship

We first encounter this relationship between Jane and Rochester during their first dramatic meeting. She encounters him when he falls off his horse and she is required to give him assistance. Jane’s first impression of his face is that ‘He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow’. This may portray the dimness in his face awaiting to be enlightened by a woman which, in this case Jane. Further on in this chapter, unaware of who he is, on her return home, Jane is amazed to discover that the gentleman she assisted in the road was her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. Jane’s future relationship with Rochester is most clearly set out in their first meeting. Although without any money, reserved and socially dependent, Jane is not afraid of this rather stern-looking man and approaches him confidently to offer her help. Rochester is given physical assistance and support, which is a target for the relationship that they may hold. In spite of her noticeable poor standard, Jane maintains the strength and power in relation to Rochester, the refusal to be dominated, which shows that she will always be the most dominating participant in this relationship.
Jane and Rochester’s relationship develops from a small relationship such as employer and employee to a large and committed relationship such as love and eventually marriage. Although the reader only comes to acknowledgement of Jane’s love in Chapter 17 after Jane meets Rochester’s supposedly bride-to be, Miss Blanche Ingram. As readers recall, during their first meeting, Jane gave a vague and brief description of Rochester however, after a while of becoming acquainted with Rochester and falling in love with the unique man she had now met, Jane explains his appearance to be ‘colourless, olive face, square, massive brow, broad and jetty eyebrows, deep eyes, strong features, firm, grim mouth - all energy, decision, will - were not beautiful, according to rule; but they were more than beautiful to me.’ This shows that