How Does Bronte Present Bertha In Jane Eyre

By reading both Jane and Bertha together, it is clear that Bertha is a vehicle through which Jane’s inner conflicts and desire for freedom are brought to life. Brontë successfully portrays this through her use of language, mirror imagery and constant proximity between the two characters.

Firstly, both Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason are perceived by Victorian society similarly – they are both unwanted, unnoticed and unfitting to their surroundings, with Bertha being locked away as a result of her supposed craziness and Jane finding herself in a constant battle of unacceptance, something that becomes apparent Jane’s proclaim ‘I was a discord at Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there.” (Brontë, 23) This highlights Jane’s unescapable oppression,
of which only alters its form when moving from place to place. This is similar to Bertha, whose life seemingly epitomizes oppression, being locked away and only granted freedom when a guard mistakenly falls into a drunken sleep. Both Bertha and Jane are also oppressed by patriarchal society. Jane presents a woman who yearns to escape entirely from drawing rooms and patriarchal mansions, evident in her first outburst at Mr Reed; in which she aims to remind her that she too, is surrounded by patriarchal limits: ‘What would Uncle Reed say if he were alive?’(Brontë, 36) However, this sudden outburst surprises Jane, where ‘it seemed as if my tongue pronounced words without my will consenting to their utterance’ (23) Jane’s shock of her outburst here, not only highlights female oppression in the patriarchal society in which both situate, it also is the first instance in which Jane is frightened by her dangerous double consciousness.

Another similarity which seemingly links the two character’s is the idea of enclosure; this may refer to the protagonists feelings of oppression, whether it be physical in the act of Jane being locked into the Red Room at Gateshead Hall, or mental oppression, in her constant suppression of anger and rage that she so strongly feels toward Mr Brocklehurst as a result of her maltreatment. These enclosures of both mind and body embody Jane’s desire for escapism from the patriarchal society in which she is silenced. This gives way to a plausible connection to the character of Bertha Mason, of whom is symbolic of Jane’s emotional and psychological self, and who is also ‘enclosed’ for the majority of the novel, and when finally released, gives way for Jane’s ultimate goal of achieving freedom.

Furthermore, Brontë continuously uses similar language and imagery when describing both Jane and Bertha throughout the novel. The two are repeatedly referred to as animals, evident when Jane likens herself to a ‘master less and stray dog’ (Brontë 378). Also, when Bertha is considered to be the personification of Jane’s extreme side, she is compared to numerous vicious animals such as a ‘dog quarrelling’ (235) or a ‘clothed hyena’ (328), as well as being described as moving ‘backwards and forwards’ on all fours of the attic floors. Brontë’s clever use of lexis thus supports that it was indeed her intent for both characters to be read together, by attributing animalistic tendencies to the characterisation of Bertha, she can be considered a tool used to convey Jane’s inner, repressed, darker soul.

Another interesting point in the novel where language draws parallels between the two is when Jane sees Bertha for the first time;

“What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight tell: it grovelled, seemingly on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal.” (Brontë 327)

The use of evil and superstitious nouns here are resemblant of Jane’s confrontation of her darker self, in which she recoils in disgust from.
Jane’s use of degrading language when describing the noises made by Bertha and through her equation of Bertha’s laugh to that of a goblin, expressed her fear of her proximity to Bertha, and the anxiety this idea brings when dealing with her inner, repressed self. These fears and anxieties could be strongly representative of the society in which the novel was written. Brontë would have been living under the gender-proscribed rules by which women were both emotionally and intellectually repressed, issues of which are clearly reflected through Brontë’s characterisations of Jane and Bertha, where emotional and mental instability are largely feared and problematic for both
characters.

The idea of the proximity and also the positioning of the two characters worrying Jane is also furthered later in the novel. Bertha is always situated above Jane in the attic; this positioning is symbolic as it is as if she is in Jane’s mind and thoughts, as though she is indeed her inner conscience and reflective of Jane’s craziness of which is driven for her desire for escapism. This proximity and positioning heightens that these characters are indeed one and work best when read in conjunction with each other. However, this proximity seemingly scares Jane, apparent when she describes Bertha as a ‘murderess hardly separated by a single door.'(Brontë 236) This worries Jane as she often hears and encounters Bertha when alone and deep in thought, the idea of her only being separated by a thin door shows the progressive dominance of her darker self and Jane’s acknowledgment of it. Thus, Bertha’s constant closeness to Jane heightens that the characters are different forms of each other and Bertha direct upward positioning is reflective of Jane’s dwelling in her darker thoughts and feelings.

A popular tool often used by Victorian writers to portray a character’s double was the use of mirrors. We are first introduced to the significance of the mirror during Jane’s encounter in the red room, where she stares into a ‘great looking glass’ and sees her own alien and somewhat disturbing image floating toward her. She begins to feel as if everything looked ‘colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality.”(Brontë 21) In some ways here, the mirror is acting as a chamber, where images of the self are trapped like ‘divers parchments’ and where Jane initially recognises that she is not only doubly imprisoned in herself, but also her current surroundings; where she struggles in the imprisonment of her childhood and ponders on her desires to an almost unthinkable goal of freedom, something that only come with great difficulties, and also something that is only truly achieved through the death of her own darker double; Bertha This links to another mirror image we are presented with toward the end of the novel, when Jane is seen glaring into a mirror on her wedding day:

“So I turned at the door: I saw a robed and veiled figure, so unlike my usual self that it seemed almost the image of a stranger.’(Brontë 321)

Here Jane sees Bertha glaring back at her, which is representative of Jane’s separation from self and her progress toward her acknowledgement and expression of her own darker self – Bertha. The fact that the reflection seemed ‘almost’ a stranger heightens this acknowledgement, as it suggests that she sees an almost complete image of a stranger, an image that is clearly familiar to Jane.

The consistent use of mirror imagery by Brontë also suggests that Bertha may have functioned as the double throughout Jane’s stay at Thornfield, as every one of Bertha’s appearances are seemingly associated with an experience of anger in Jane.
For example, Jane’s anxieties about her wedding and fears of her alien ‘robed and veiled’ bridal image became objectified by Bertha dressed in a ‘white and straight dress’. Another example is Jane’s desire to destroy Thornfield, something which is seemingly symbolic of Rochester’s mastery and superiority over her, was acted out by Bertha who burns it down at the end of the novel. Lastly, Jane’s claim that Rochester ‘shall, yourself pluck out your right eye; yourself cut off your right hand’ (Brontë 335) is also acted out by Bertha, whose death and actions causes the blinding of Rochester. Thus, it is clear that Bertha is indeed her double, she is a ‘virile force’ who becomes Janes truest and darkest self, as if she is the angry aspect of the maltreated orphan, something Jane has tried to repress on her pilgrimage. This idea is reflected in critic Claire Rosenfeld’s claim in which she highlights that the juxtaposition of these two characters are ‘the one representing the socially acceptable or conventional personality, whilst the other externalizing the free, uninhibited, often criminal
self.”

However, critics may suggest that Bertha was not intended to be Jane’s double as such. However, by acting on what Jane desires to do cannot due to her expectation to act in a socially acceptable way, she is simply a guide for Jane of how one, especially a powerless woman in the nineteenth century should not act. Thus, it is as though Bertha is a monitory image, which stands as a moral lesson to Jane, by providing a guide of how one should act and to ensure she progresses toward her desired freedom.

In conclusion, it is clear that the characterisation of both Bertha and Jane obtain many similarities, in which are successful in providing commentary of society at that time and also to heighten Jane’s