Rumpelstiltskin and Jane Eyre

Though most wouldn't deny that Jane Eyre (a nineteenth-century novel by Romantic author, Charlotte Bronte) shares themes of Beauty and the Beast just as many stories based on redemptive love do, the Once version of Beauty and the Beast, and in particular Rumpelstiltskin's story, has just as many interesting parallels to the Victorian novel as it does to the original fairytale.

Mr. Gold (Season One)

The writers of Once Upon a Time have cast Rumpelstiltskin in the role of the Beast and added Emilie de Ravin's Belle to that mix; however, unlike the traditional Beast protagonist, in this version the Beast is not only physically repulsive, but morally reprehensible as well. Also, unlike the traditional tale, the Beast has several lovers pre-Beauty, and throws Beauty out at the "end" of the story (Skin Deep). This deviance from the traditional Beauty and the Beast plot actually matches fairly well with Bronte's novel.

In the novel, the anti-hero, Rochester, slowly falls in love with a young woman named Jane (twenty years his junior) who is working for him at his estate, Thornfield.  Jane is the caretaker and governess of Rochester's ward, Adele. In the course of the story, we discover that Rochester has had two important women in his life before meeting Jane, and will have a dalliance with one more before he confesses his love for Jane. Though she feels the same and the two plan to marry, Jane finds out (on the wedding day, no less) that Rochester is already married, having hidden his insane wife in the upper rooms of his house. Jane leaves Rochester, traveling on her own across the countryside before being rescued by her cousins and forming a new life for herself (going through a slight bought of amnesia in the process). When a supernatural experience causes her to return to him, she finds his house burned to the ground, and discovers that his mad wife set it on fire, then killed herself. Rochester, though now blind in one eye and a cripple, reunites with Jane and the two marry and have a son.

Don't quite see the connections yet?

Pirate Milah

Well, for starters, there's Bertha Mason, the wife of Rochester's youth, whom his father and brother tricked him into marrying. Bertha is hinted at being a raucous, racy woman, possibly unfaithful to Rochester, who slowly goes insane until she has to be locked up for her own safety. While Milah, Rumpelstitlskin's wife, doesn't go insane, her carefree personality and thirst for a dangerous life (i.e. Hook and the pirates) is similar to Bertha's desire for pleasure and greater license. It is also worth noting that Bertha has an unmitigated wrath toward Rochester, similar to Milah's hatred for Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin spends a great deal of time tending Milah, just as Rochester ultimately becomes Bertha's caretaker.

Milah in bed (The Crocodile)

The main difference here, beside the point that, unlike Bertha, Milah does give Rumpelstiltskin a child, is that Rumpelstiltskin is responsible for Milah's death in a more direct way than Rochester is for Bertha's. Still, the effects of the first wife in both men's lives, whether symbolically or literally, is long lasting and in some ways impedes the last romance.

Young Cora (The Miller's Daughter)

Then there's Celine Varens, an opera dancer (read: glamorous courtesan) that Rochester takes up with after locking up (severing emotional ties with) his wife, Bertha. In an effort to forget about his sorrows, Rochester conducts an on going affair with Celine who is revealed to be more interested in social climbing and handsome soldiers than in Rochester. Sound familiar? Cora fits this bill fairly well, and though her love for Rumpelstiltskin seems more genuine than Celine's interest in Rochester's gold, ultimately Cora makes the same choice as the opera dance: she chooses her own interests over those of her wealthy lover. Interestingly, Celine leaves Rochester with a child, Adele, whom she claims is Rochester's. Rochester has every reason to doubt this, but agrees to raise the child as his own. This is actually subverted in Once, as Rumpelstiltskin initially wants Cora's child (admittedly for reasons of his own), but Cora refuses to give him his wish. It should be noted, however, that Rumpelstiltskin eventually ends up with Regina on his hands anyway in the form of his apprentice.

Belle

Skin Deep

Then we come to Jane herself. Jane is bookish, brainy, artistic, and cautious, but has a very strong sense of adventure and imagination. She often expresses a desire to burst the confines of society's views of what is acceptable for women to do, feel, or say. She is the product of a very controlling male authority figure (Brocklehurst) and a domineering family. She and Rochester have a conversation by the fire over tea, during which he begins to discover that there is much more to her than meets the eye. The rest of their unusual courtship consists of his revealing his life to her (but not all of his secrets, especially about his wife) and her dawning realization that she is in love with him and believes she can rescue him from his darkness. Thus far we have a neat parallel for Rumpelstiltskin and Belle (modifying the throwing her in a dungeon bit, of course).

Eventually, Rochester uses several ploys to find out if she's really in love with him, but Jane plays her cards close to the vest, not really sure if Rochester loves her. They are in the same pickle in which Rumpelstiltskin and Belle find themselves, as Rumpelstiltskin determines to let Belle go (fairly sure she can't love him and will not return, yet still watching at the window to see if she'll come back) while Belle can't determine if she should leave or return either (thinking he sent her away because he has no interest in her, or, after Regina prompts her, realizing this might have the opposite meaning).

Jane leaves Thornfield for an extended visit to her dying, malevolent Aunt, again, paralleling, in some ways, Belle's brief sojourn to buy straw and her encounter with Regina on the road which leads to her realization. When Jane returns, Rochester and she enjoy a tete-a-tete in the garden during which she confesses that she loves him. Though he doesn't magically transform, lighting does strike a tree symbolizing that this moment will have terrible consequences later. Similarly, after Belle kisses Rumpelstiltskin, she mentions True Love breaking any curse, and Rumple immediately stops the transformation and locks her in the dungeon again. When Jane finds out during the wedding that Rochester's wife is still living, she determines to leave Rochester, though he threatens to keep her in the house by force. Jane decides to leave despite Rochester's threats, while Belle only decides to go after Rumpelstiltskin refuses to consider their relationship.

Belle (The Outsider)

But the parallels pick up once both heroines leave their love interests. Ostensibly, both relationships have an insurmountable obstacle that hinges on the past of the hero; for Rochester this is his wife, Bertha; for Rumpelstiltskin, it's his son, Bae (as well as the secrets of his wife's death, I would argue). Both of these problems have to be resolved before the hero and heroine can finally be together. But both heroines need to go on a journey as well. Jane travels for days, almost succumbing to starvation, before she finds the Rivers and lives with them as a school teacher. During her recovery she briefly forgets who she is, assuming a new identity once she does remember. Belle goes off to find the Yaoguai, and after a lot of hardship, is successful with the help of Mulan. In the process of rescuing or putting right another person (Phillip), Belle realizes the importance of her relationship with Rumple and decides to return to him. Similarly, Jane, after staying with the Rivers and finally setting her cousin, St. John, straight about their relationship - sending him off on his own journey - returns to find Rochester.

Mr. Gold and Belle

The ending of the novel unites Jane and Rochester, with Jane an "independent woman" who can help Rochester instead of depending on his power (he has lost all his power by the novel's close: his wealth, estate, influence, and physical strength). Rochester also has to learn to depend on and trust Jane instead of himself. We see these ideas in Rumpelstiltskin and Belle's relationship in Storybrooke, as Belle encourages Rumpelstiltskin to wean himself from magic and trust her considerable ability to help him (as evidenced in The Outsider). Like Rochester, Rumpelstiltskin also has to come clean about this wife's death and their relationship, though there is no vengeful lover (Hook) to deal with in Jane Eyre, only a concerned brother (Richard Mason) who spoils the wedding. Unlike Cora, Celine Varens doesn't show up again to hash out the past. And unlike Adele, Regina does not grow to love either Rumple or Belle, nor does she pursue a relationship with them, but this might have been the outcome of Jane Eyre, arguably, had Celine Varens decided to use Adele for her own purposes - training her to be an opera dancer, for example, something Adele actually wanted to do.

With Belle's memories of their relationship affected by crossing the line, it will be interesting to see if their story will have any more similarities to Jane Eyre. It is worth noting that, though Rochester is fairly thoroughly converted (or reformed) at the end of the novel, Rumpelstiltskin's self-preserving actions in The Miller's Daughter seem to suggest that he has much farther to go before he will be "acceptable" by the novel's terms of reformation and rehabilitation. It would be nice to see Belle and Rumpelstiltskin reunited and Rumple reformed enough to have normal relationships with those he loves...but then, he wouldn't be as much fun...