The Marriage Plot, or Why Jane’s Thesis Represents Rafael, and not Michael

I’ve rewatched my favorite episodes (aka all the ones with Michael) of season 2 of Jane the Virgin now that it’s finally up on Netflix, and rewatching the final episodes of the season, which explore Jane’s dedication to her thesis and playfully refers to the Jane/Michael arc as the ‘marriage plot’, I realized that, unlike what Rafael and many Jane/Rafael shippers believe, Jane’s thesis represents her relationship with Rafael, and not with Michael.

Robert = Rafael

Now, this could very well mean nothing, but for her ex-boyfriend’s name to be similar to the name of her novel’s protagonist’s love interest isn’t an accident, as nothing on this show is.

Salsa dancing

The protagonist of her first thesis was a salsa dancer, and as a child, she romanticized salsa dancing. Even though her grandmother cautioned her to be careful, her mother let her pursue it. After trying it out for a while, she decided that although she liked watching it, she hated dancing it. This is similar to her romance with Rafael, although in that the roles were reversed, with her grandma being more accepting of Rafael since he’s the father of her child, and her mother cautioning her to be careful since the romance happened far too quickly. Which brings me to my next point…

Whirlwind romance

In season 1, Jane had romanticized her relationship with Rafael, which backfired on her severely. She realized she and Rafael were incompatible, especially after she rejected Rafael’s proposal. The romance plot in her novel is the very definition of a whirlwind romance, which her advisor, Marlene, complains about, so she adjusts the plot accordingly. 

Michael’s reaction to her story

I saw a lot of claims that Michael’s reaction to Jane’s novel was supposed to be a reaction to Jane and Michael’s romance, which is “boring”. Given the evidence that the story actually represents Jane/Rafael, and not Jane/Michael, it’s a little more obvious that Michael was in fact falling asleep at the symbolism of Jane/Rafael. We all know he didn’t care much for that arc.

Marriage plot

In the finale, when she decides her thesis just isn’t working for her anymore, she trades out a story of whirlwind romance for her grandmother’s story, the story of the love between her grandparents, the story of her family. She goes with something she knows, something solid and real, rather than the fantastical romance she had been writing.

So, there you have it. Just like Rafael read a little too much into Jane wanting to change her thesis, so did Jane/Rafael shippers. Jane deciding to change her thesis at the last minute was the narrative putting Jane/Rafael to rest for the last time.