The Madwoman In The Attic And Jane Eyre

Gilbert and susan gubar s the madwoman in the attic it took about a century for the angel in the house to join forces with the madwoman in the attic.

The madwoman in the attic and jane eyre.

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. Townsend taken from the second edition of jane eyre 1847 bertha mason s life finally ended tragically. If you ve read jane eyre before you are no doubt familiar. 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.

Jane eyre is a progressive book in many senses far ahead of its time it is even deemed feminist. Culture books news attic that inspired jane eyre s madwoman in the attic bertha open for public tours. Charlotte brontë s fictional character the mentally ill bertha mason is locked in. The madwoman in the attic from jane eyre is actually based on real history.

Rochester into a stereotypical byronic hero. The 1966 parallel novel wide sargasso sea by jean rhys serves as a prequel to brontë s novel. The madwoman emerges in the second part after rochester cashes her dowry and especially after her husband inherits thornfield decides to return to england and locks her away in his cold damp attic. 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. 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. But think about this for a second. This novel like most novels named.

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. As we can see in engraving by t.