Isolation In Jane Eyre

To set the stage in “Jane Eyre” our Protagonist, Jane Eyre is deceived by Mr.Rochester, one of the antagonists in order to “protect” his love, Jane. Mr. Rochester’s deception begins

Jane and Rochester officially meet at Thornfield, the day after his arrival, Rochester invites Jane for tea. His attitude towards Jane is abrupt and quite cold, although he is charmed by Jane's drawings. Jane feels unusually comfortable around

The powerful male roles, such as Edward Rochester, seen throughout the novel represent Great Britain, while the weaker female roles, such as Bertha Mason, represent the imperialized countries. In chapter 14 of Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester demonstrates his assertive dominance to Jane when he asks, “Do you agree with me that I have a right to be a little masterful, abrupt, perhaps exacting, sometimes, on the grounds I stated, namely, that I am old enough to be your father, and that I have battled through a varied experience with many men of many nations, and roamed over half the globe” (Brontë 152). Rochester demonstrates the power of Great Britain here by claiming that he has the given right to take control and be the ruling figure just like Great Britain did to weaker countries. Bertha Mason parallels the countries being colonized because she is depicted as weak and someone who needs to be isolated and controlled. In "'Reader, I Buried Him': Apocalypse and Empire in Jane Eyre.", Tracy agrees that “many critics rightly place Bertha at the centre of the novel’s signifying systems, since social, cultural, imperial, and religious concerns are encoded in her relationship with Rochester”. This becomes evident in chapter 26 of Jane Eyre when Rochester is explaining Bertha’s character to Jane. Rochester states that “Bertha Mason is mad; she came of a mad family; - idiots and maniacs through three

So, Rochester showed the brother (Richard), the priest, and Jane his wife. He explained how Bertha had lit his bed on fire, stabbed Richard, and destroyed Jane’s wedding veil's; she was more a monster than a wife. Heartbroken by learning of this marriage, Jane fled to her room where she stayed for hours upon hours. "Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent expectant woman - almost a bride - was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale; her prospects were desolate (341)." When she finally emerged, Rochester tried to convince her to stay with him. “I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment (363).” This was not something she could not do; as Rochester said, "...[It would] strip you of honour and rob you of self-respect (346)..." The next morning, Jane left Thornfield Hall with some money and few possessions. She did not say goodbye to

The novel in which Jane Eyre stars in can be seen criticizing many aspects of those times such as the role and nature of women, child negligence and social hardships for those in a lesser class. Jane Eyre’s alienation from society allows for a greater reveal of the story’s culture, values, and assumptions. It’s presented through the use of gender, class and character conflicts throughout the story. On multiple occasions, Jane is judged for the presented factors reflecting the type of society Jane lives in and what the times were like at that time.

Through a close reading of the selected passage of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, a reader can see that Jane attempts to separate herself from her decisions by personifying her emotions and giving them a specific voice, which strongly reflects the societal views of the time. At this point in the story, Jane has discovered, on her wedding day, that Mr. Rochester is still married to a woman named Bertha, and that woman still lives in his house. Distraught, Jane locks herself in her room and tries to decide what she should do. When she wakes up the next day, she is again confronted with what she needs to do in the wake of her discovery.

Though Jane is well educated and possesses the etiquette and training of a person in upper class society, social prejudices limit her because she is simply a paid servant, in their eyes. While at Thornfield, Jane falls desperately in love with the owner of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Jane is Mr. Rochester’s intellectual contemporary, but her social status prevents her from being his true equal. In the novel, Jane proclaims, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart!” (Bronte 637). After Mr. Rochester finally proposes, Jane is hesitant to marry him because she feels as if he would be lowering himself to marry her. This feeling greatly increases after Jane discovers he is married to Bertha Mason, and that he keeps her locked away in Thornfield’s attic due to her insanity. Mr. Rochester proposes that Jane becomes his mistress, which, according to Victorian society, would be more fitting since Jane is a plain governess. Jane realizes that she can never compromise her morals that way and leaves Thornfield. While on her own, Jane still strives to gain independence, discovers new kin, and learns she has a wealthy uncle who has left her a large inheritance. After her loneliness and longing for Mr. Rochester becomes too great, she returns to Thornfield. Jane is

Rochester’s wife, who has gone mentally insane and develops an obsession with trying to kill him. Bertha has been locked away for years, being kept a secret that only a few knew about. Bronte uses this character to show how Mr. Rochester is not the flawless, rich, and powerful man Jane sees him to be. Bronte introduces this idea that insanity leads to death when it is stated, “the mad lady… let herself out of her chamber, and go roaming around the house, doing any wild mischief that came into her head…she was on the roof… she yelled, and gave a spring, and the next minute she lay smashed on the pavement” (Bronte 940-41). The story of how Bertha died as told by Saint John is an example of how insanity can completely cultivate a person into hysteria and lead to an inevitable dead.

In the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, Bertha and Jane seem as if they are foils of one another. However, upon careful consideration, they are actually very similar. Both are scorned by society: Jane for her independence, and Bertha for her mental illness, they each have a part of them that is wild and untamed, and finally they both need Mr. Rochester in their lives: Jane for wages and his love, and Bertha simply for survival in a world that does not know how to treat mental disabilities.

Just before the marriage between Mr. Rochester and Jane, it is revealed that Mr. Rochester is already married to an insane woman, Bertha Mason, who he keeps locked away on the third floor. This novel shows many prime examples of how ‘isolation and insanity go hand in hand’ in gothic literature. The first example is how ‘insane’ people were treated in the Victorian era. To a modern

Exile. Isolation. Solitude. Whether literal or not, exile from the familiar, while both traumatic and alienating to experience, can serve to ultimately be enriching. These descriptors summarize Jane Eyre’s isolation in the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. Her isolation manifests itself as emotional and physical, and Jane’s repeated inability to establish herself in a stable home becomes somewhat of an identifier for her, from her emotional isolation and abuse in her first “home” at Gateshead to her final dwelling at Ferndean.

Throughout the novel of ‘Jane Eyre’ a colonialism and isolation are reflected throughout the novel, mainly through the treatment of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre as she is cruelly locked in the attic due to her husband, Mr Rochester deeming her as insane. Bertha is described in a demon like manner whereas Jane represents a rebellious young woman who can be closely linked to a modern woman with the values and independence the contemporary readers possess. Jane does not represent any of the desired values by Victorians as Jane stands up to Rochester and acts as his equal rather than his lesser half. The presentation of Bertha being demonic was also highlighted by Solomon as she ‘represent[s] the flames of hell fire’¹ showing the devilish manner Bertha is presented in and the mistreatment of her as an individual, however, it also shows the historical views towards the mentally ill as Bertha isn’t seen to have a sickness but rather she is possessed. Fire is also associated with heat like Bertha as she is aligned with the ‘hot’ West Indies. Bertha is seen as villain as she constantly jeopardises Jane and Rochester’s future, however she can be seem to catalyse Janes personal development and self-awareness due to the positions Jane is left in due to Berthas presence.

Bertha Mason is indirectly meant to be view as a combination of both innocent and villain. Without knowing her existence until the very end of the novel, one has a tendency to pity her character. I mean, we have an individual who is married to Edward Rochester but finds herself imprisoned on the third-story of Thornfield, without any company to love her the way any human should be. Although it’s understandable that Rochester is upset that he got trick to marry her, yet he should’ve gotten a divorce and taken her to get the treatment she needed. Consequently, for these reasons, it’s undeniably to speculate that Bertha provides that innocent individual who didn’t necessarily have control for the actions she made. This is because when one suffers

Although Bertha’s seclusion is a result of her insanity and unacceptable behaviour, Jane’s isolation seems to be the cause of some mental illness, throwing her into a panic attack in the red room where she believes her Uncle Reed’s ghost dwells. It must be noted, though, that Jane is a child at this point in the novel, with an active imagination. Bronte may be making a point then, that children should not be shunned for their inventiveness and imagination, as was so common in her day. However, there is a fine line, and socially acceptable age, that separates a healthy imagination from madness. There is a clear lack of this knowledge in Bertha, whom does not appear to have a firm grip on reality. Madness, however, does not merely deal with concepts of reality in “Jane Eyre.” Jane has bouts of uncontrollable speech, in which she must say what comes to her mind. Jane first loses control of her tongue in chapter IV, in which she accuses Mrs. Reed of wishing her dead, and later exclaims “I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare, I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed,” and goes on to evaluate the terrible treatment Mrs. Reed has given her, and the lack of love and compassion she has been shown while at Gateshead. In this instance, madness works in Jane’s favour. This temporary bout of mania allows Jane to finally express the

“One is very crazy when in love” (Freud). Freud made this statement nearly one hundred years ago. As one of the founders of modern psychology what would he have to say about the mad woman in the attic? Was she mad, in love, suffering from hysteria, or simply a product of nature versus nurture? Neither of which were very kind to her. In Jane Eyre we as the readers are presented with a singular perspective in nearly true to form autobiographical narrative. From Jane’s viewpoint and from a mid 19th century depiction of mental illness, the original Mrs. Rochester is hardly a person to sympathize with. Yet there is much more to this tale that is desperately begging