Bertha Mason is a complex presence in Jane Eyre. She impedes Jane’s happiness, but she also catalyses the growth of Jane’s self-understanding. The mystery surrounding Bertha establishes suspense and terror to the plot and the atmosphere. Further, Bertha serves as a reminder of Rochester’s youthful libertinism (=the behavior of a libertine, a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality, one leading a dissolute life).
Yet Bertha can be
interpreted as a symbol. Some critics have read her as a statement about the
way Britain feared and psychologically “locked away” the other cultures it encountered
at the height of its imperialism. Others have seen her as a symbolic representation
of the “trapped” Victorian wife, who is expected never to travel or work
outside the house and becomes ever more frenzied as she finds no outlet for her
frustration and anxiety. Within the story, then, Bertha’s insanity could serve
as a warning to Jane of what complete surrender to Rochester could bring about.
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