Madwoman In The Attic Jane Eyre

Charlotte brontë s fictional character the mentally ill bertha mason is locked in the attic for ten years.

Madwoman in the attic jane eyre. 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 full name bertha antoinetta mason is a fictional character in charlotte brontë s 1847 novel jane eyre 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. The woman writer and the nineteenth century literary imagination is a 1979 book by sandra gilbert and susan gubar in which they examine victorian literature from a feminist perspective. In the madwoman in the attic they cast bertha as a passionate untrammelled woman who acts out jane s darkest most secret desires.

Jane hates rochester dolling her up like a princess so. Yes she comes from the 1800s and at first glance may seem completely incomprehensible in her actions but i believe her portrayal in jane eyre can be a lesson to us all in dealing with the. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. If you ve read jane eyre before you are no doubt familiar.

As she lived in a time when women were not encouraged to write charlotte bronte wrote under the pseudonym currer bell to avoid being ostracized by society and to avoid being badly received by the audience because the book was written by a woman. The 1966 parallel novel wide sargasso sea by jean rhys serves as a prequel to brontë s novel. Jane eyre is a progressive book in many senses far ahead of its time it is even deemed feminist. Rochester into a stereotypical byronic hero.

The madwoman in the attic from jane eyre is actually based on real history. The madwoman in the attic. Gilbert and gubar draw their title from charlotte brontë s jane eyre in which rochester s wife née bertha mason is kept secretly locked in an attic apartment by her husband. 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.

In jane eyre the character of bertha mason serves as an ominous representation of uncontrollable passion and madness.