In the madwoman in the attic they cast bertha as a passionate untrammelled woman who acts out jane s darkest most secret desires.
Rochesters mad women in the attic.
In the 1847 novel jane eyre charlotte bronte creates one of the most controversial characters in all of english literature.
The tragedy of the rochesters reignited the ancient storyline of a madwoman secretly confined influencing works such as wilkie collins s the woman in white and the chilling novella the yellow.
Rochester claims to have imprisoned her because she is mad but it is easy to imagine an opposite.
The woman writer and the nineteenth century literary imagination is a 1979 book by sandra gilbert and susan gubar in which they examine victorian literature from a feminist perspective.
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.
In this novel rochester s first wife bertha mason has gone mad and is kept locked in an attic.
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.
The incident of the madwoman in the attic is probably the most famous in jane eyre and it has given rise to innumerable interpretations and symbolic readings.
Her life turns upside down when she discovers right before her wedding that her lover has an ex wife a madwoman hidden in the attic and flees narrowly escaping from committing to a sinful relationship.
Bertha antoinetta mason edward rochester s clandestine first wife was an essential component to the plot and character development in jane eyre rochester discloses the identity of the woman locked in the attic of his thornfield hall as his wife after a thwarted attempt to marry jane eyre.
Jane hates rochester dolling her up like a princess so.
Eventually the madwoman bertha mason commits suicide and jane marries mr rochester.
The madwoman in the attic.
For example bertha mason could represent the horror of victorian marriage.
Gilbert and gubar draw their title from charlotte brontë s jane eyre in which rochester s wife née bertha mason is kept secretly locked in an attic apartment by her husband.
The madwoman in the attic takes its title from the iconic early victorian novel jane eyre.
Originally read as the novel s.
