Rochester: The Father Figure in Jane Eyre.
The immortal love Jane feels for Rochester is a substitution for the lack of fatherly love in her life. Jane has been deprived of parental affection from the beginning of her childhood. The only "motherly" association she has had was a negative experience with her bitter Aunt Reed. Jane strives throughout the novel to receive the loving touch she has yearned for since her days of innocence. However, Jane's effort to find the love she is seeking remains fruitless until she meets Rochester. He is a man twenty years her senior whom gives her the attention she has long desired. Jane's passion for Rochester is a result of the Oedipus complex she failed to overcome as a child due to the absence of a father figure.
Jane's first impression of Rochester is neither romantic nor sentimental. He is the first male figure she meets while at Thornfield and is thrilled by the fact that her help had been "needed and claimed" when he had fallen off his horse. She describes Rochester, as "dark, strong, and stern" yet never mentions any kind of physical attraction towards him. Jane's perception of him is as an older man whom seems intriguing. She does however mention that the image of his face is with her for the rest of the day. Jane is not used to being around males and made a special connection with Rochester because his masculinity is something new to her and aroused her curiosity. She realizes that their acquaintance is significant and "marked with change one single hour of a monotonous life" (122).
Rochester tends to refer to Jane as he does Adele, a child. Upon the night of his arrival he asks Jane if she is as "unsophisticated as Adele: she demands a "cadeau" the moment she sees me" (127). Rochester has automatically assumed the role of a father figure. He treats Jane as a schoolgirl and even questions her knowledge. He quizzes her about books she has read, her family, and her time at Lowood.