Bertha Mason, the insane wife of Rochester and the mad woman in the attic is the fictional character of Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. Bertha is presented to the readers only after the completion of half of the narration, ie; at the time when the marriage between Rochester and Jane Eyre is called off. Bertha is portrayed as:
'In the deep shade, at the further end of the room, a figure ran backward and forward. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not,
at first sight , tell: it groveled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange animal: but it was covered with clothing;
and quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as mane, hid its head and face' (chptr XI, pg: 367).
This is the description made by Jane Eyre, when she and the readers see Bertha for the first time. We, the readers got to know about the life of Bertha only through the narration of the unhappy husband, Rochester. He says, Bertha is born to a well to do family of Jamaica as a heir of Creole. And he was persuaded by his father to marry her, in terms of her wealth. And his father has hidden the fact of her madness from him. He adds that after their marriage Bertha becomes completely insane hence he locks her up in the attic for ten years. Almost at the end of the novel Bertha perishes by throwing herself from the roof and freeing her husband from the bond of marriage.
No comments:
Post a Comment