Edward Rochester and the Margins of Masculinity in 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wide Sargasso Sea.'

Though Edward Rochester is neither the central figure of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre nor of Jean Rhys's complement text Wide Sargasso Sea, he nevertheless occupies a crucial position in each text - in Jane Eyre, he is the desired object of Jane's romantic quest (Friedman 119), while in Wide Sargasso Sea he is the immediate manifestation and enforcer of the network of patriarchal codes (sexism, colonialism, the English Law, and the law which...