Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre was published in 1847 and quickly became a success at the time. It tells the story of
Jane, a poor orphan girl raised up by her cruel aunt, which sent jane to an orphanage. She survived
the rigors of harsh discipline and then she becomes a teacher at the same school. Some time later
she becomes the governess of Adele, the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Rochester. Who falls in love
with her. The two plan to marry but on the day before the wedding jane discovers that Rochester
is already married. His mad Creole Wife, Bertha Mason, is held prisoner in a room at the top of the
house. Although Rochester’s confession and supplicating, Jane runs away from Rochester’s home.
She is cared for by the Reverend St John Rivers and his two sisters. Jane is about to marry him
when one night she hears Rochester’s voice calling her name. She decided to return to Thornfield
Hall, Rochester’s house but find out that the house has been burnt to the ground by Bertha
Mason, who died in the fire. Rochester is alive but remained blind trying to save Bertha’s live.
Finally at the end of the story Jane marries Mr. Rochester and after 10 years been’ married
together Mr. Rochester regained his sight.

Jane Eyre is partly autobiographical. The novel's protagonist tells her own story in the first person.
This allows the reader to follow the events from the perspective of a woman, which was relatively
new at the time. Events are reported in retrospect, which makes the narrator seem omniscient,
but suspense is not missing as facts are not revealed until the point when Jane herself becomes
aware of the information. Throughout the novel, Jane demands to be treated as an independent
human being, an individual with her own needs and talents who looks for self-realization. Brontë
shows how the Victorian spirit of self-reliance is not a male prerogative. Also focuses on aspects of
Jane's inner life which make her an unconventional woman who aspires to something different
from the Victorian fairy tale of happy marriage into a good social class.

The novel has many elements and themes that are typical of the Gothic genre, like the setting, an
old mansion that conceals the secrets of Rochester’s past and the description of Bertha Mason as
a scary and monstrous creature in the passage.

Rochester is a kind of Byronic hero, arrogant but intelligent and cultured, with a strong sense of
guilt caused by his mysterious past. We tend to trust him because he’s described from the point of
view of Jane, who is in love with him, however we can’t be sure of everything he says, especially
when it comes to Bertha.

Bertha’s character has an important role in the novel. She is everything that Jane’s fears:
portrayed as a monstrous, grotesque, bestial, obscene kind of figure, which is violently racist.
Before we find out about Bertha Mason’s existence, we are aware of her as an uneasy and even
threatening presence. She is the source of the mysterious, mocking laugh that Jane hears as she
stands on the battlements of Thornfield Hall, desperate for freedom from domestic routine: she is
responsible for setting fire to Mr. Rochester’s bed, attacking Mr. Mason, and tearing Jane’s veil on
the eve of her wedding. When we finally meet her, she is depicted in language that degrades and
dehumanizes: she is a ‘clothed hyena’, a ‘figure’, described using the neutral pronoun ‘it’. The
narrative strategies used by Charlotte Brontë clearly designate Bertha as ‘Other’. She is the
obstacle that stands in the way of Jane’s marriage to Rochester. One particularly troubling aspect
of Bertha is her psychological instability. Rochester clearly sees her as responsible for her own
situation.

Bertha’s complexity has inspired many writers, who gave birth to works like Wide Sargasso Sea ,a
prequel to Jane Eyre, and The Madwoman in the Attic.