Jane Eyre Bertha In The Attic

The descriptions form a bestial image of bertha in the reader s mind even though there is no concrete proof.

Jane eyre bertha in the attic.

Bertha mason s madness. The madwoman in the attic. She is described as the violently insane first wife of edward rochester who moved her to thornfield hall and locked her in a room on the third floor. Her dark sensuality and violent nature contrast sharply with jane s calm morality and it is no surprise that bertha s presence at thornfield is a key factor in transforming mr.

Bertha mason rochester s first wife was a beautiful creole woman from jamaica who rochester married years ago before she had a mental breakdown and naturally had to be locked in the attic. It is the story of mason from the time of her youth in the caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to england. Originally read as the novel s. The real life attic that was the inspiration for a section of jane eyre where mentally ill character bertha mason is confined before she commits suicide is now open to the public.

Bertha mason is a fictional character in charlotte brontë s 1847 novel jane eyre. Jane hates rochester dolling her up like a princess so bertha. The 1966 parallel novel wide sargasso sea by jean rhys serves as a prequel to brontë s novel. In the madwoman in the attic they cast bertha as a passionate untrammelled woman who acts out jane s darkest most secret desires.

How mad was bertha mason in jane eyre. The first and most important point to make about her is that within the time span of the novel she is unable to give an account of herself. The madwoman in the attic bertha mason. Rhys s novel re imagines brontë s devilish.

In the 1847 novel jane eyre charlotte bronte creates one of the most controversial characters in all of english literature. The madwoman in the attic the most well known and problematic character in jane eyre is rochester s first wife who is almost always referred to by her maiden name of bertha mason. Bertha through her suicide rejects the confinement that she had been subjected to. Rochester into a stereotypical byronic hero.

For example bertha mason could represent the horror of victorian marriage. The incident of the madwoman in the attic is probably the most famous in jane eyre and it has given rise to innumerable interpretations and symbolic readings.