Quote: “‘I [Mr. Rochester] was walking late one evening…when something came up the path. I looked at it. It was a little thing with a veil of gossamer on its head…It was a fairy, come from Elf-land…”Put [this ring],” she said, “on the fourth finger of my left hand, and I am yours, and you are mine; and we shall leave earth, and make our own heaven yonder…” ‘[Jane] is a fairy.'” (p. 407-408)

Comment/Connection: This anecdote by Mr. Rochester illustrates his apparent obsession with marrying Jane. He has consistently viewed her as something otherworldly, from when he referred to her as some strange fairy the night Jane witnessed his horse fall. The gossamer veil may symbolize this mysterious air he believes she has, as well as a bridal veil, and the ring clearly signifies marriage. He views being with her as an escape from his current unsatisfactory life, which though he has spent in material comfort, has been lonely and tainted with the pain of betrayal by his former love Celine Varens.

Notably, Rochester is describing this so-called fairy in such a way that is different from how we think of fairies now with their minuscule bodies and delicate wings. The figure he speaks of is short but not the size of an insect and looks more human, and belongs to its own world rather than being a unique part of ours. This closer resembles the figure of fairies described by Tolkien in his essay “On Fairy Stories,” in which he defines not only what fairy-tales are, but what fairies are: beings that come from the land of Faerie, which arises from our imaginations. I have also read about such creatures in the fantasy novel “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” which is about the return of sorcerers in England in the early 19th century and their struggle with faeries. In that story, faeries were often tricksters and enjoyed making deals with humans at a price, such as when the faerie king heals a sick girl but as payment took her to be his bride for “half her life” and bringing her to his palace to dance with him all night, every night, ultimately making her tired and bitter during the day. Rochester seems to feel he is under a spell of sorts too, and often refers to “being conquered by” Jane later.

Question: Why does Rochester view women so differently than the other men in the story, and possibly real men of this era, seem to? Is it due to his romantic experiences solely or did his parents have something to do with his view of Jane as someone of interest, despite lacking beauty and charisma?