Betha Mason (Character from Jane Eyre)
Bertha Mason, though a minor character in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, played a pivotal role in the love story between Jane and Rochester. Bertha remains mysterious throughout the first half of the novel and, the times that she appears, the cryptic actions reveal her state of mind. She is the impediment to Jane and Rochester's impending marriage and her actions later lead the two to reconcile. Bertha was a mentally impaired woman. Her motives and the causes for her behavior are unclear, besides the obvious jealousy towards Jane and the betrayal she must have felt by Rochester. Without the nuisance of her character, Jane Eyre would have been a flawless love story, but in life everything is not always perfect and neither is Bertha Mason. Bertha's character only appears once Jane moves to Thornfield. She is never seen, only heard. One night, as Jane lay awake, she heard "a demoniac laugh"(168) and as she rose to investigate she found Rochester's bedroom on fire. Jane thinks it is Grace Poole, the woman that appears to be crazy, who is the culprit of such an insane act; but in reality it is the woman whom is under her secret care, Bertha Mason to blame. What motivates a person to do such a terrible act? Betrayal. Bertha
Through this passage it is evident that Bertha was covetous of Jane because she was marrying her estranged husband. No woman in her right mind would burst into someone else's bedroom in the middle of the night and try on their wedding veil and then proceed to tear it in half and step on it. The tearing of the veil symbolized how Bertha's existence tears apart Jane and Rochester on their wedding day. Due to the outcome of Bertha Mason's attempt to kill Rochester, he and Jane were now on an equal playing field. He was no longer above her so to speak because he lived a life of solitude and interacted with no one. Jane over the interval, which of course was caused by Bertha Mason's being, Jane became a stronger person so she and Rochester were able to become equals in a way, allowing them to reconcile and live happily ever after. Bertha Mason thought she could prevent the love affair. She did everything in her power to discourage Jane and make it physically impossible for Rochester to be happy. She was retaliating for what she felt was an unjust way of life, locked up in an attic apartment. In the end however, love won out and Bertha received to the justice that her criminal and insane behavior deserved. Although it can be said that Bertha was given a bad rap and that she could not control her actions because she was mentally impaired, it is obvious that she deserved everything she was dealt. That Bertha was violent is evident when she attacked her brother Richard Mason who had come to visit her late one night. He recalled to Doctor Carter, "She bit me, worried me like a tigress, when Rochester got the knife from her"(239). She was enraged that her own flesh and blood had allowed her to be kept up in an attic unde
Some common words found in the essay are:
Christian Jane, Richard Rochester, Bertha Mason, Grace Poole, Doctor Carter, Jane Rochester's, Mason Bertha's, Jane Eyre, Rochester Jane, Rochester Bertha, bertha mason, bertha mason's, grace poole, jane eyre, wedding jane, richard mason, love story, jane rochester, estranged husband, rochester jane,
Approximate Word count = 1171
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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