In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the author juxtaposes the representations of femininity of Bertha Mason and the title character to champion Bronte’s ideal conceptualization of independent women.
Coventry Patmore, a 19th century English poet, in his collection of poems entitled The Angel in the House, propounds his abstraction of a supposedly idealized relationship between men and women, with a specific focus on women’s responsibilities associated with romantic bonds. In “The Wife’s Tragedy,” Patmore asserts that “Man must be pleased; but him to please / Is woman’s pleasure” (1-2). During the first lines of the poem, Patmore establishes his argument that women are obligated to fulfill the whims of men and that all women so deeply dedicate
When Rochester informs Jane of the circumstances surrounding his marriage to Bertha, he inadvertently reveals that Bertha’s family so desperately wanted to marry her to a man of suitable status and wealth that Bertha was not necessarily given much choice in her future spouse. Bertha’s family allotted scant time for Rochester and Bertha to spend alone and the audience learns that Bertha showed symptoms of insanity gradually during the course of the first four years of her marriage to Rochester, suggesting that these characteristics emerged only after their union. This lack of time for the couple to interact privately may have been a result of the Masons’ indifference to Bertha’s attachment to her husband, rather than Rochester’s assumption of this being a manipulative measure of concealing any defects. When Rochester restricts Bertha to a hidden room on the third floor of Thornfield, she only gains short moments of freedom when Grace Poole, Bertha’s keeper, falls into a drunken stupor. Rochester locks Bertha as tightly in her secluded room as Jane is continuously locked into her subordinate life, and even in the literal prison of the red room. In this way, Bronte may intend the manic Bertha as an exaggerated distortion of Jane, should she continue to face similar
In lieu of the married Bertha fulfilling the feminine standards of an “angel of the house,” Bertha’s circumstances alter her into a “demon of the house” in her violent attacks and physical appearance. As Rochester approaches Bertha during his admittance of his first marriage, “the lunatic [Bertha] sprang and grappled his throat viciously, and laid her teeth to his cheek” (Bronte 381). Shortly after, Rochester explains to his audience that “Such is the sole conjugal embrace [he is] to know — such are the endearments which are to solace [his] leisure hours” (Bronte 381). In the second quotation, Rochester admits to desiring a wife that would perform some of the duties that Patmore outlines as a woman’s responsibility. By vocalizing his desire for a wife to hold and to amuse him with sentiments during his free time, readers can then deduce that Rochester expected Bertha to fulfill many of the same restrictive expectations that Patmore championed. In Patmore’s opinion, this type of relationship would result in “passionate duty love flames higher, / As grass grows taller round a stone” (Patmore 23-24). According to this depiction, the duty a woman faces in her relationship stokes the flames of her love for her husband. However, Bronte’s characterization of Bertha as beastly along with her many
Tremendous spirit. The enviable trait that Jane Eyre from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre possesses is what stimulates her to achieve self-actualization despite the fact that she is a woman. True feminism isn’t as violent as a handful of vicious extremists claim it to be. The accurate definition of feminism is “the doctrine advocating women’s social, political, civil, educational and all other rights as equal to those of men.” Women of Charlotte Bronte’s era did not have basic rights such as the aforementioned. The feminist movement in the Victorian Era had only just begun and Jane Eyre was far ahead of her peers. Published in 1847, the bildungsroman novel of Jane Eyre was an intricate one, with subtle feminism carefully woven in it, particularly through the actions and thoughts of Jane Eyre, the protagonist. Her quest for self-worth and identity lead her to overcome the various stigmas that women in that era were faced with. These ambiguities reflect the tensions real Victorian women of faith experienced in trying to meet multiple often conflicting demands in their lives. Such challenges were complicated further by the fact that 19th century Evangelical Christianity- attentive to the realities of sin, sorrow, sacrifice, and loss- was no easy creed for women and men. (Lamonaca) Jane Eyre’s battles for authentic love, good reputation and indifferent attitude towards social classes dominated English women’s lives. The heroine tackles gender roles and breaks all the mannerisms of the time to inject an early dose of feminism in the English audience. Jane’s transformation from naïve child to independent woman stunned the public and gave women the inspiration to make their own decisions and defy the norms of their era.
Mr. Rochester is irresistibly driven by his feelings. He carries a long history of ignoring sound judgment, including his hasty and unwise marriage to Bertha Mason because he "was dazzled, stimulated...[he] thought [he] loved her"(310), and his ensuing licentious, wandering life in search of pleasure. He has grown so accustomed to burying good sense, that he is able to completely disregard the fact that he still has a living wife with a clear conscience. Swept away by his feelings, he ignores the law, and tries to justify marriage to Jane. His passion often exceeds his control, like when Jane tells him she must leave Thornfield. "‘Jane! Will you hear reason? Because, if you won't, I'll try violence'" (307), he tells Jane desperately. Mr. Rochester deludes himself into the belief that he listens to sound judgment, but in reality, what he calls reason is simply folly born from his uncontrolled passions.
After discovering that they both love each other so very dearly, Mr. Rochester and Jane were getting married. When they get to the church and are beyond ready to tie the knot, they can’t. Jane gets slapped in the face with the fact that Mr. Rochester is already married to a woman who is still alive, and her name is Bertha Mason. This is Bertha’s formal introduction into the story, in the 26th chapter. She was introduced previously, however, as “the madwoman in the attic”. It was said that Bertha was downright insane, and she was in the care of Grace Poole. Her previous introduction was back in chapter 20 as “Grace Poole’s own goblin” (ch 20 pg 219). That was when she attacked Mason, her brother. As more of the truth behind the goblin unfolds, certain details become easier to understand. Once Bertha is introduced in the church as Mason’s sister, it can be understood why he came to Thornfield in the first place: to check on his sister. Mr. Rochester seems to loathe this woman beast that he calls “that fierce ragout”. “Compare these clear eyes with t...
Bertha and Mr. Rochester were set up and pressured into marrying each other. Mr. Rochester claims that isolating Bertha in a secret room is a justifiable act because of her mental instability. However, The Bertha that the reader gets to see exhibits an accumulated maniacal rage as a result of her imprisonment. Jane describes her as a savage woman. The very sight of her when she attacked her brother or when she ripped the wedding veil traumatized Jane. However, Bertha impacted more than her safety. When Bertha is revealed to be Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane finds out that despite the love she and Mr. Rochester have for each other; Jane can be nothing more than a mistress because it is illegal to divorce an insane women who is not in control of her actions.
While isolation may help some with different processes of healing, or finding one’s self, it can also be quite maddening to be solitary for long periods of time. Since humans are social creatures it is imperative that we have some form of positive interaction with other humans. Bronte again examines her theme of solitude but from a darker perspective as she creates her character the estranged Bertha Rochester, wife of Jane’s love interest Mr. Rochester. Bertha is described rather negatively physiologically and behaviorally throughout the novel: “The maniac bellowed: she parted her shaggy locks from her visage, and gazed wildly at her visitors. I recognized well that purple face, --those bloated features…the lunatic sprang and grappled his throat violently, and laid her teeth to his neck: they struggled” (Bronte 71). Bertha was supposed to have lost her mind shortly after Mr. Rochester and she married, yet the fact that Mr. Rochester locked her in a room (while understandable since mental institutes at the time were nothing but torture chambers) did not aid in her health or betterment. Solitude can drive people to extremes, and while she is locked in that room she is described in a more monstrous and animalistic way than she is when out of the room as she “removed [Jane’s] veil from [her] gaunt head, rent it in two parts, and flinging both on
Within Jane Eyre lies an explicit reference to the tale of Bluebeard. When first exploring the dark hall of Thornfield’s third floor Jane tells us, "I lingered in the long passage to which this led [. . .] with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle" (114; ch. 11). This allusion is not a casual one, for the plot of Jane Eyre has much in common with the tale of Bluebeard. Bronte uses Bluebeard to foreshadow Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, being locked away from society in a hidden room on the third floor. This reference also in part alludes to ideas of women’s obedience and how not following the patriarchal rules of society can lead to punishment. Bertha is isolated from society and held captive in a secret room because she is not the model wife and acts out despite her husband. This relates to Bluebeard because he murders his wives once they become disobedient. Bertha does die in the end of Bronte’s novel, though not at the hands of her husband. But even being isolated from society and held captive can be viewed as a symbolic death. Also Jane herself is often punished for not following the rules of patriarchal society. Bronte brings this poor treatment of women by society to light in the novel and shows her rejection of it through the characters of Jane and Bertha.
Jane searches for independence, but gender hinders her in every stage of her journey. Troy faces similar complications. Jane’s gender ties her to specific roles in her work as a teacher or governess. She only watches children; she can only aspire to be an educator. Jane is smart enough and works hard enough to be an architect or scientist, but cannot due to her time. Such roles were not suitable for female occupation, and society decreases Jane’s chances to become financially independent. Gender also inhibits her ability to travel to India, since she cannot “be forever together-- sometimes in solitudes, sometimes amid savage tribes” with St. John (Brontë, 474). Jane’s outcry at this statement matches perfectly with her denunciation of dependence-
Rochester and becoming his caretaker. However, Jane figure out that by taking care of Mr. Rochester she would be able to find the freedom that she has been looking for and finally feel satisfied with her life. Because of Mr. Rochester’s inability to care for himself, Jane learns that if she has to care for him, he is no longer capable of making orders meaning that they are now similar when it comes to equality. “To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company….all my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character – perfect concord is the result” (Bronte, 688). This proves that Jane and Mr. Rochester can now belong together since they had find a balance between being equal. Now that Jane married her true love, she also found happiness because she is now with the man that she felt in love with. Also with her marriage, Jane has learn how to balance her emotions between finding freedom for happiness and finding independence through marriage and caring for her disable husband. Also through her journey she was able to find self-fulfillment and the affection she has always been looking
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
When assessing Jane, it is important to understand the “normal” and accepted role of Victorian women—to be married, or accept low paying chore-like jobs (such as housekeeping, service work, or factory jobs) (NEH). Unmarried women had little means or influence in society, and were considered lowly and unwanted. The ideal situation for a Victorian woman was therefore to be married, as little other options existed. Jane, having grown up in this time, is fully aware of this—however, she refuses to compromise any part of herself for a man or marriage. Rochester’s first marriage proposal may have been accepted, but as soon as Jane feels her integrity is threatened—when Bertha Mason, Rochester’s first wife is revealed—she leaves him with a certainty and nerve that downplays exactly what she is giving up – the option of a comfortable, wealthy life. Unperturbed, Jane would rather face the world head on, experiencing truly what society has to offer a woman with no husband or family—starvation and near death, “Oh, this spectre of death! Oh, this last hour, approaching in such horror! Alas, this isolation—this banishment from my kind!” (Bronte, 356). Jane feels rejected from society after her refusal to marry because of the intense pressures on women in that time, and while she could’ve chosen to return to Thornfield manner, where the devoted Rochester waited, Jane does not. She would prefer to die than give up
From the time Jane is held in the red-room and Bertha being detained as one of Rochester’s “prisoners” in the attic, Brontë creates a similarity between Jane and Bertha from their furies manifesting deep within themselves as being another token of oppression within a patriarchal society. Both females live within the same circumstances of a restriction-filled male-controlled time; their responses to these circumstances, however, make them adverse counterparts. While Bertha kindles a fiery wrath toward her oppressor, Jane must learn to contend with her anger so that she will ultimately be free to live a life of true equality and love with Rochester. In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë draws distinct similarities between the red-room and
Rochester’s father and brother. Leading up to this point in the novel, Bertha is discovered and Mr. Rochester explains to Jane why he doesn’t consider himself married. He tells Jane that when he found out that his wife was mentally ill, he went to his family but, “My father and brother Rowland knew all this; but they thought only of the thirty thousand pounds, and joined in the plot against me” (p. 306). In other words, Mr. Rochester asserts that his father and brother were conspiring against him to gain access to Bertha’s dowry proving they’re blinded by “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”; which they believe is only achievable with money.
In the outstanding novel of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the story is told of a romantic heroine named Jane Eyre who pursued independence during an era in which women were inferior to men. Jane proved her independence by demanding self-respect, becoming socially independent, and pursuing true love based on equality.
Edward Rochester, the owner of the Thornfield estate and the later romantic interest of Jane, also has dynamic emotional relationships throughout this Bildungsroman novel. Rochester, a powerful but unusual man, uses his authority to assert his position through his relationship with both Bertha and Jane Eyre. Bertha, his first wife, with whom he has an arranged marriage, involves an association that primarily revolves around preserving
Rochester specifically mentions that Bertha's family wished for him to marry Bertha because of his "racial" superiority. "Her family wished to secure me because I was of good race, and so did she" (ch 27).