What If Werewolves Were In Jane Eyre?

(SPOILERS for Jane Eyre)

What if instead of being mentally insane, Rochester’s secret wife was actually a werewolf?

Just imagine: Jane hears strange noises in the night that sound like a mix between human and beast (so far, so consistent with the actual novel).  But then it turns out the creature, Rochester’s wife, is a werewolf.  Would the story really change from the standpoint of plot??

It might change how we perceive Rochester’s character.  Hiding a mentally insane wife vs. hiding a werewolf might have different societal implications.  Of course, having never hid a werewolf or an insane significant other in an attic myself, I can only assume.

Ah! Here’s one thing that would definitely change, though: the wife’s brother would have turned into a werewolf himself when she bit him.  Maybe that would have stopped him from foiling Jane’s and Mr. Rochester’s wedding.  Maybe Jane would have only discovered her husband’s dark secret at some point after the honeymoon.  Maybe the story would transform into an even deeper mystery where those around Rochester are successively bitten and turned into werewolves as Rochester himself desperately continues to try to keep Jane in the dark, while knowing all along that they are coming for her and him both.

What do you think? How else might the story change if Mrs. Rochester was a werewolf?