I'm sure many of ya'll have mixed opinions on Charlotte Bronte's magnum opus, but in my personal opinion, the love story between Jane and Rochester is the ultimate go-to romance for a radfem (just here me out I'm getting to the point).

A lot of people think that because Jane Eyre is a Victorian Gothic whose author was inspired by Lord Byron, it's a fairytale romance (sensational and unrealistic), but in my opinion, Rochester's courtship of Jane is exactly what I'd expect from a 38 year old in the midst of a midlife crisis, manipulating his eighteen year old babysitter into a relationship.

Everybody's always like 'the ending is so bull because he's blind and completely dependent on her' and proving in the process, that they're missing the whole point Charlotte was trying to make. Which is that with a power-imbalance as big as the one between an 18 year old girl and her boss 20 year senior, the only possible hope of a healthy relationship between the two is if the latter no longer has any power to abuse her (a power which Rochester didn't hesitate to exploit throughout their initial romance).

To quote Tumblr user @ravenkings ,

"i think my issue with the idea that in jane eyre, jane ends up as rochester’s “perfect little housewife” is that it’s a fundamental misread of the story, as in not only does it disregard the shift in power that’s happened between the two of them but it also denies jane her agency, both in a narrative and a material sense. it also disregards the pretty masterful narrative reversal that charlotte bronte executes.

like rochester has been almost literally gelded by narrative karma in the end. all the symbols of his power have been stripped from him. his ancestral family manor, a symbol of his wealth and class privilege, has been burned to the ground. he’s lost a hand (remind you of anything?) and his eyesight, while his looks, which were his “weak” point to begin with, have only been made worse. one can argue over whether or not he’s been sufficiently punished for his crimes, but the fact is that he has been utterly humiliated and significantly weakened.

enter jane who, since she left rochester, after a whole odyssey of her own, now has her own independent wealth, a family/community who she knows will support her, knowledge that she is at least somewhat desirable to others besides rochester, and, most importantly, a newfound confidence, self-possession, and contentment. whereas before rochester held all the cards in the relationship, now jane does. by the standards of the time, this woman has options.

one can speculate as to the reasons that she goes back to rochester (if, for whatever reason, you don’t buy the idea that she actually loves him,) but the fact is that by the end, she has about as much power over him as a woman could be expected to have over her husband at that time and place. she quite literally controls what he sees, where he goes, what he knows about the outside world, and she could absolutely leave him at any moment (and he knows that, as is evidenced by some of their conversations at the end of the book.)

like.....you can say whatever you want about jane’s taste in men etc. but the fact is that, by the end of the story, this woman is completely in control of her own fate. "

In short, my homegirl Charlotte really said "if you're really gonna tie your future to a man who doesn't deserve you, make sure he's at least physically hobbled first'. Valerie Solanas would be proud lol.

Also for someone written by a woman in the nineteenth century, Rochester's behavior towards Jane is eerily similar to scuzzy men who pursue younger women in this very day and age. From comments on how he'd 'never have been able to guess Jane was eighteen from looking at her' (you're so mature for your age, much?), to being waay too happy about her financial dependence on him and not having any close friends or family, to flat out threatening to rape her when she refuses to be his mistress.

Plus at one point, he kisses Jane when she still thinks he's engaged to Blanche Ingram (she refuses to return his advances until he reveals that he's not) and not only does he reveal that his entire courtship of Blanche was just a hoax to make her jealous, but you realize later in the book that the reason he didn't immediately tell Jane the truth before making a move was to pre-emptively warm her up to the prospect of enabling his adultery once she inevitably found out about his actual wife.

Come on, you gotta admit those are some quintessential f*ckboy moves.

Also throughout the novel, you're left wondering whether or not he genuinely loves 'his skylark/angel/fairy' or if he's just projecting his ideal dreamgirl onto her. Is it really Jane he loves, or is it her youth/naivete with men that blinds him to his various red flag, and/or the power he holds over her as her boss?

Like as a teenager, I always thought it strange that Rochester should fall for his hired governess and start planning to marry her as soon as their third interaction (it's heavily implied for those who haven't read the book). I also thought wondered why he kept acting like Jane was his soulmate when she was only responding to his wierd ass questions the way any servant would. For example, there's this scene during a party where Rochester asks Jane what she'd do if all his guests randomly decided to attack him, and she answers with 'try to turn them out if possible'.... how else is she supposed to respond to a question like that from her literal boss?

Then I realized that Rochester's not looking for a new wife. He's looking for someone he can control/mold into his ideal domestic servant. It's why he thinks that 'you seem to submit and I like the sense of pliancy you impart' as proof of Jane's compatibility with him'.

Idk maybe I've just been blackpilled, but fictional men in romance without even an ounce of misogyny who genuinely respect their love interests and see women as people', just don't strike me as realistic. They just come off as pitiful wish fullfilment on the author's part and it just makes me sad because I know men like that do not exist in a world where porn is a thing and incel culture is at a fever pitch.