Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre Essay Example
Bertha As The Feminist Heroine of Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, chronicles the journey of the title character as she faces hardships and adversity along her journey into adulthood. Orphaned as a young child and given up by her caregiver and Aunt, Jane perseveres and appears to have found happiness when she becomes engaged to her employer, Edward Rochester. A critical moment in the novel occurs when Jane comes to the shocking realization that her fiancé already has a wife, Bertha, whom he keeps locked away in the attic at his home. Ultimately Jane and Rochester wed and have children, but only after he is severely disabled in a fire and Bertha has committed suicide by jumping to her death. Although Bertha never utters a single word throughout the novel, she remains a pivotal figure, and her presence is strong. She may be seen both as Jane’s alter-ego and the physical manifestation of her repressed feelings (Beattie 5-9). Furthermore, Bronte uses Bertha as a tool to speak to the nature of gender inequality in nineteenth-century England.
The manner in which Bertha is introduced sets the stage for the picture of her as subhuman. She is presented through her monstrous laughs that Jane hears echoing from the third floor. The tone of the scene is chilling and uneasy, as Bertha is portrayed similar to a ghostly being.
“While I paced softly on, the last sound I expected to hear in so still a region, a laugh, struck my ear. It was a curious laugh; distinct, formal, mirthless. I stopped: the sound ceased, only for an instant; it began again, louder: for at first, though distinct, it was very low. It passed off in a clamorous peal that seemed to wake an echo in every lonely chamber; though it originated in one…” (Bronte 114)
Bertha’s eerie laughs foreshadow the dark events to come at Thornfield. Soon, her presence will be known, and with it the implications of the truth: that Rochester is a married man, and he and Jane
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, chronicles the journey of the title character as she faces hardships and adversity along her journey into adulthood. Orphaned as a young child and given up by her caregiver and Aunt, Jane perseveres and appears to have found happiness when she becomes engaged to her employer, Edward Rochester. A critical moment in the novel occurs when Jane comes to the shocking realization that her fiancé already has a wife, Bertha, whom he keeps locked away in the attic at his home. Ultimately Jane and Rochester wed and have children, but only after he is severely disabled in a fire and Bertha has committed suicide by jumping to her death. Although Bertha never utters a single word throughout the novel, she remains a pivotal figure, and her presence is strong. She may be seen both as Jane’s alter-ego and the physical manifestation of her repressed feelings (Beattie 5-9). Furthermore, Bronte uses Bertha as a tool to speak to the nature of gender inequality in nineteenth-century England.
The manner in which Bertha is introduced sets the stage for the picture of her as subhuman. She is presented through her monstrous laughs that Jane hears echoing from the third floor. The tone of the scene is chilling and uneasy, as Bertha is portrayed similar to a ghostly being.
“While I paced softly on, the last sound I expected to hear in so still a region, a laugh, struck my ear. It was a curious laugh; distinct, formal, mirthless. I stopped: the sound ceased, only for an instant; it began again, louder: for at first, though distinct, it was very low. It passed off in a clamorous peal that seemed to wake an echo in every lonely chamber; though it originated in one…” (Bronte 114)
Bertha’s eerie laughs foreshadow the dark events to come at Thornfield. Soon, her presence will be known, and with it the implications of the truth: that Rochester is a married man, and he and Jane