blog




  • Essay / Understanding Jane Eyre through Bertha Mason

    One of the reasons Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre is a huge success is due to the intriguing narrator-reader dynamic. The narrator – Jane herself – develops a certain form of intimacy with the readers throughout the autobiography. Although readers may feel like they understand Jane well, there are ambiguous moments in the text that leave them questioning the entirety of Jane's character. While it is true that readers know a lot about his thoughts, they know very little about his subconscious desires. Using Freud and Bertha Mason's notion of the subconscious as a key to understanding the narrator's deepest desires, readers can develop a complete characterization of the narrator. Consequently, Jane Eyre is often acclaimed for its intimate characterization of its flagship character created through numerous asides with readers, thereby developing a seemingly sophisticated understanding of the narrator. However, it seems that readers are only intimate with Jane's conscious angelic self, and distant with her unconscious demonic half, thus making them wonder if they will ever be able to truly understand all aspects of the narrator. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Although, if readers analyze Bertha Mason to arrive at a complete understanding of Jane's character, they can then form a hypothesis as to why she marries poor Mr. Rochester at the end of the novel. The intimacy between the angelic side of the narrator and the reader comes from the fact that Jane addresses the reader throughout her autobiography. In one case, the narrator prays for the readers' happiness. After enduring trials, she said: “Gentle reader, may you never feel what I felt then! May your eyes never shed tears as stormy, burning and heartbreaking as mine. May you never appeal to Heaven in prayers so desperate and so agonizing that in that hour my lips left” (Bronte 370). The readers have become like friends to Jane because she recognizes them as more than just people following her story at this point in her story. She hopes that the readers will not feel what she felt that day, thus demonstrating her full awareness towards the readers, further developing the intimate relationship that has been built since the first time she addresses them . Subsequently, readers can perceive the angelic aspect of Jane's character. She embodies the qualities of the Victorian angel of the house: loving and moral. Jane is not seen full of hatred for the world and blaming others for her misfortunes and suffering. Instead, she channels her sadness into kind prayers for readers, making them see her as an honest and lovable character. Therefore, Jane addresses the reader to develop an intimate connection between herself and the reader. It would be incorrect to say that readers have a sophisticated understanding of Jane solely by analyzing her angelic personality, because there is also her demonic personality to consider. Many readers do not even consider her sinister side because the narrator does not deliberately build intimacy with readers through her antithetical character. Therefore, readers are left in the dark and lost when trying to understand his inner thoughts during ambiguous moments in the text. If, however, readers consider analyzing Bertha Mason alongside Jane Eyre, then they might gain a more complete understanding of the narrator's entirety. Berthacan be interpreted as Jane's double because she can embody all of Jane's subconscious desires and translate these desires into concrete actions. Thus, ambiguous moments in the text can be explained using Bertha as a key to understanding Jane's true inner thoughts. For example, when Jane slowly wakes from her dreams, she sees the ghost-like Bertha trying on Jane's wedding veil. She then removes it from his head and tears it in two, then trampling him (327). Bertha removing the wedding veil and tearing it reflects Jane's inner thoughts. His doubts about this sudden marriage materialize in the form of Bertha Mason. Jane is hesitant to marry Mr. Rochester at this point, because deep down she knows she hasn't matured enough yet in this coming-of-age story. She doesn't know "where yesterday's Jane Eyre was." . . [and] where his prospects were” (341). She later tells Mr. Rochester that "[she] must change too" and there "is no doubt" (346). As she has not yet reached her full maturity and does not know her life prospects, her subconscious manifests in the form of Bertha to destroy the wedding veil – thus metamorphically interrupting the marriage. Her departure from Thornfield further supports the assertion that Jane is not yet ready to settle down and marry, but rather must continue to mature. Only when she discovers herself will her subconscious allow her to marry Mr. Rochester. Thus, by using Bertha Mason as an outlet for Jane's subconscious thoughts, readers can better grasp the entirety of the narrator's character to decipher ambiguous moments in the text. Additionally, Bertha can also be used to explain Jane's strange dreams, providing readers with a way to interpret her subconscious desires. For example, Jane has a nightmare about Thornfield Hall in ruins the day before her wedding. She describes it as a “dreary ruin” where all that remained was “a shell-shaped wall [which is] very high and very fragile in appearance” (325). Jane wakes from her dreams after losing her balance while climbing the ruined wall while trying to look for Mr. Rochester (326). Jane provides no possible reason why she had a horrible dream of Thornfield Hall in ruins, and she never goes back to offer an explanation. So, it turns out that readers are not intimate enough with Jane to understand all aspects of her character. However, Bertha's analysis may provide a possible interpretation of her dream. Upon Jane's return to Thornfield, readers can see that Jane's dreams are coming true. She discovers that a large fire has destroyed Thornfield Hall. Bertha had snuck out of her prison while Grace Poole was sleeping and set fire to the hangings in the room next to hers, and then into the room in which Jane was sleeping (492). During that unfortunate night, the house burns with "an immense quantity of valuable possessions destroyed [and] practically no furniture [being] saved", leaving Mr. Rochester poor (491). On the other hand, Jane is rich. due to the fact that his uncle left him a fortune of “five thousand pounds” (501). She even suggests “building her own house near that of [Mr. Rochester's]” so that he “can come and sit in [his] parlor when [he] needs company [in the] evening” (501). In addition to the destruction of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester becomes "blind and crippled" as he injures both eyes and loses a hand in the house fire, leaving him dependent on those around him (494). Due to Bertha's embodiment of Jane's subconscious desires, she intentionally destroys all of Mr. Rochester's possessions and paralyzes him. His actions can be interpreted..