The Different Mr. Rochesters of Jane Eyre

Sammanfattning: The famous novel by Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, will be the subject of this thesis. I will seek to research the character of Mr. Rochester and his use and display in four film adaptations. All the adaptations will be compared to the source as well as to each other to determine how the character of Mr. Rochester is circumstantial each time. The adaptation theories from theorists such as Robert Stam will be used as guidelines. The film adaptations that will be used in this thesis are Jane Eyre (1943) and Jane Eyre (1996), both theatrical versions, Jane Eyre (1997), a TV version, and lastly Jane Eyre from 2006, a BBC mini-series. At first we will look at the major themes in the novel regarding Mr. Rochester and how they are displayed in the film adaptations of Jane Eyre. That is done so we can know Mr. Rochester’s background a little better before doing a close reading of Mr. Rochester in each film version to see how his character develops through each adaptation. Mr. Rochester will then be characterized in each film by love, violence and the motifs of a Byronic hero. Detailed differences in scenes between the adaptations and the novel will also be examined. Voice-over will be researched to see if and how it is displayed in the film adaptations and a closer look at focalization will be investigated. In the conclusion, Mr. Rochester from the novel and the film adaptations will be compared and discussed in regards to Charlotte Brontë’s own words about Mr. Rochester.