Bertha Mason - Volume 2

[Mrs. Asti]

Reread Rochester’s tale of his marriage to Bertha Mason in Jamaica, noting particularly the terms he uses. How does he characterize his wife? Does his description of his ill luck in marrying Bertha—“a nature the most gross, impure, depraved I ever saw, was associated with mine, and called by the law and by society a part of me” (Volume 2: Chapter 27, pg. 381)—provoke sympathy? Who is responsible for the monstrous person Bertha has become—heredity, her own vice and depravity, fate, or perhaps Rochester himself? Be sure to include your first and last name in the subject line.

[Ashley]

Ashley Lavina
From Rochester’s point of view, before he was tricked into marrying a mad woman, Bertha Mason was the girl of his dreams. He married her for her wealth and beauty, with the brutal encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Bertha Mason is portrayed as a fine woman, she was “the boast of Spanish Town” for her beauty (Chapter 27, Page 301). Rochester never had a mental connection with her, he was allured by her looks, like the many men that admired her. After their marriage, he realized she had no refinement in her mind or manners, he was blinded by her charms and accomplishments. Rochester shows no sympathy towards Bertha Mason, he tries to induce his sympathy towards Jane by reflecting on the time in which he was captivated and blinded by Bertha’s persona. He provides all the details that he actually did not have the opportunity to get to know her before their marriage, they were very flirtatious towards one another and only had little private conversations. I believe that due to class prejudices against Bertha’s west indies origins and mixed-racial background, she is characterized negatively in the Victorian era. She is a victim of oppression and a woman, who like Jane, has needs, dreams and desires. She is rejected by Rochester and treated as an animal locked up in the attic. She is made out to be animalistic and a violent maniac by Rochester, all of her violence is directed against those who took away her freedom. Before finding out about Bertha Mason’s existence, the readers of Jane Eyre were aware of the troubled and even threatening presence. She is the source of the mysterious, mocking laugh that Jane hears in Thornfield Hall. Rochester is responsible for the monstrous person Bertha has become, why should her husband lock her in an attic, while he flirts with other women right in her own house? She’s an avenging fury, Rochester’s heart is completely closed against her. He even blames her for her insanity, saying her mother was “a mad woman and a drunkard” and she “copied her parent in both points” (Chapter 26, Page 289). She has no choice who her parents are, being locked away and abandoned by Rochester along with her family certainly shaped her into the “maniac” she was depicted as in the novel.

[Yareliz]

While Mr.Rochester told of his marriage to Bertha Mason his connotation and description of his life with her was negative. Jane stood by and listened closely to his tale of his horrid marriage with Miss Mason. At first he describes Miss Mason with such admiration. "I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram, tall, dark, and majestic...I was dazzled-stimulated; my senses were excited.." After that his description of Miss Mason begins to darken and become rough and cruel, "her tastes obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher.." While continually discussing his unlucky marriage, Jane did "pity him." It's hard not to feel sympathy for him since he was tricked into this marriage and also young and unexperienced. Miss Mason most likely became insane through heredity from her mother and possibly something triggered it. Maybe her life seemed perfect but maybe she was dealing with more than she could handle and she snapped. It's possible Rochester could have played a factor in her insanity but there isn't much information to accept that accusation. Overall, even though Rochester hated his marriage with Miss Mason and got Jane to understand slightly, Jane still refused to be with him. -Yareliz Ferreira

[Larry]

When talking about Mr.Rochester and Miss Mason’s relationship, there was no love, it was lead by fortune. Their marriage was arranged, but Mr. Rochester was tricked into it. He never really got to know her until after they got married, the reason he fell for her was for her beauty. After he got to know her, he saw that she was insane. “When I perceived that should never have a quite or settled household, because no servant would bear the continued outbreaks of her violent and unreasonable temper, or the vexations of her absurd, contradictory, exacting order”. The way Mr. Rochester was tricked into his marriage does provoke sympathy, when he explains his story about his “wife” to Jane she does feel “pity” for what has happened to him. Mr. Rochester is some what responsible for the monstrous person Miss Mason has become because according to him she is crazy, but his definition of insane is unknown to the audience. Maybe she was very clingy, stubborn and to him it drove him crazy. The Miss Mason everyone sees now is definitely considered insane. This was possibly caused by Mr. Rochester locking her up in a room for so many years. -Larry Haya-Cuan

[Mariaura]

Mariaura Morocho
Without a doubt, Rochester's perspective towards his "wife," Bertha Mason, is definitely a negative one. Before their marriage, Rochester barely knew who Bertha Mason was, but he claimed to have "loved" her. "Being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her,"(pg354) later on realizing how his feelings towards Mason was pure lust. Rochester characterizes Mason as a mad-women, with no manners, one who is cruel, and just insane. In this case, sympathy can be provoked, but not entirely. It is true that Rochester was practically deceived into his marriage, as his father sent him out to Jamaica to, "espouse a bride already courted for me," (Pg.354) wealth was the main factor, and according to the Mason family, Rochester was of a good race, well suited for their daughter. The obvious outcome was their marriage, Rochester married a woman he barely knew, practically for wealth, her aesthetics, and to keep his high social class, if he would have been more precautionary or have had other intentions for marrying Bertha Mason I would have felt more sympathy towards him. Of course, the era of the time in which this all occurred is an important factor to consider, but I still believe that if his intentions would have been purer he would not be in this situation, which restricts me from feeling much sympathy towards him. Another, detail presented in Jane Eyre is how Rochester is the main component of Mason's insanity. Bertha Mason could have indeed not been insane, just because of her family heritage, as people claimed madness ran in her family she is characterized as a mad-women. Being locked up in an attic for 10 years, with NO freedom is absurd. Who wouldn't go crazy? Mason was deprived of her freedom like a slave and held hostage in an attic. Also, Rochester has proven to not be the most patient sympathetic man, as he once threatened Jane to use violence if she refused to listen to him, "because, if you won't, ill try violence," (Pg.351). If Rochester acted that way with Jane, the women he claims to truly love, imagine how he would act with Bertha Mason, the women whom he had no connection with and only found admiration towards her beauty.

[Adriana]

Adriana Gil
As Mr. Rochester's secret wife, Bertha Mason, was revealed to Jane and readers, everyone was looking for answers as to how this could be. Rochester explains to Jane that long ago, he was sent by his father to Jamaica to meet a woman who was meant to be his wife. Upon his arrival, he immediately claimed to have fallen in love with her, "I was dazzled- stimulated; my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her", (page 356). After the marriage ceremony, he came to the conclusion that he did not love her because he did not really know her, he only wished to be her groom because of the grand impression she gave him, " She flattered me, and lavishly displayed for my pleasure her charms and accomplishments," (page 356). He describes his new wife to be a maniac and having a violent temper; his life was described as being "hell", (page 359). As he was telling his story to Jane, she begins to have a tremendous amount of sympathy for him because of his tricked marriage. Although it is revealed that Bertha's mother had a mental illness, the possibility of Bertha inheriting the illness from her parent was rare. I still believe that Rochester was in fact responsible for the monstrous person that Bertha has now become due to the fact of dehumanization, depriving positive human qualities from her, and his performed inhumane acts, which included shutting her up in a room away from humanity for years.

[Alicia]

Alicia Fernandez-Lopez
Mr.Rochester's first impression and characterization of Bertha Mason were positive. When he first arrived at the Spanish Town in Jamaica, he saw first hand the accounts of his father stating that she was the most beautiful woman in the whole town. Due to her flattering, Mr. Rochester was amazed and fascinated by the beauty named Bertha Mason. Mr. Rochester's perception and characterization of Bertha Mason took a turn for the worse when they got married. He felt deceived by his own family and the family of Bertha Mason because Bertha did not act the way he expected her to. Mr. Rochester said, "I seldom saw her alone, and had very little private conversation with her"(Bronte 301). Mr. Rochester barely had any connections with Bertha Mason beside the physical attraction. Due to the lack of personal engagement with one another before they got married, both of them were blind to the others' true personality. While being married to Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester quickly realized various traits of hers that displeased him very much. Mr. Rochester said,"... my wife: even when I found her nature wholly alien to mine; her tastes obnoxious to me; her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher, expanded to anything larger... that kindly conversation could not be sustained between us, because, whatever topic I started, immediately received from her a turn at once coarse and trite, perverse and imbecile...no servant would bear the continued outbreaks of her violent and unreasonable temper"(Bronte 302). Mr. Rochester characterized Bertha as an inferior woman that was unable to sustain a proper conversation. Also, he perceived her temper to be barbaric and very un-ladylike. Mr. Rochester's unfortunate situation does provoke sympathy because he was unaware actions that were done behind his back. The Mason family had motivations of status and wealth which led them to encourage the marriage, and The Rochester family were in pursuit of the thirty thousand pounds which was the token of this marriage. The catalyst that turned Bertha insane was Mr. Rochester himself. One must put themselves in the shoes of Bertha Mason and imagine that your family arranged a marriage with a white English man that you have never met before. She too would have felt betrayed by her family because they sold her to this man and shipped her away. Of course, she had a right to be angry due to the decisions of her family. Most people in those types of situations feel very defensive because it is an unknown area. It is hard to understand why Mr. Rochester had held such a high standard in terms of knowledge for Bertha Mason. One can not expect the same level of education between a privileged white male from England and a middle to lower class woman from Jamaica. The event that sealed Bertha's insanity was when Mr. Rochester locked her up in the attic of Thornfield Hall. Also, this was the moment where Mr. Rochester began to dehumanize Bertha Mason. When one locks you away and treats you unlike a human should be treated, one will lose control of their faculties. Bertha lost control of her faculties because she was cast away from society and trapped in four walls.

[Natalie]

Natalie Aziza

While Mr. Rochester may characterize his lawfully wedded wife as a grotesque monster only worthy of his scorn and animosity, still, he refrains from inflicting any physical harm to her person. Granted, however, that the manner in which he treats her and the accommodations he had forcibly placed her in are by no means justifiable, as both factors in combination heavily contributed to her insanity. Moreover, Mr. Rochester’s description of Bertha Mason’s situation do not inspire the sympathy he aims to receive. How could one derive an ounce of sympathy from a man depicting his wife as having “a pigmy intellect” and a mind “incapable of being led to anything higher” (Bronte, 302)? or reduce her character “to the lunatic [who] is both cunning and malignant” (Bronte, 305)? Surely a task even Jane herself finds difficult to get her head around. Furthermore, the ironic aspect of Mr. Mason’s marriage to Bertha Mason was that they both fell victim to their families. One would think that in sharing a similar fate with another individual, he/she would express some degree of empathy toward the other. However, this was not the case between Mr. Rochester and his wife: he had little to no consideration of her welfare and thought her below him in intellect. This is exactly what warranted his mistreatment of her and his carelessness in her well-being, immediately putting him at fault for her insanity. She herself did nothing of her own accord to be shunned by a society foreign to her own, incapable of looking beyond the norms of its own culture, and declare those who do not assimilate the appearances nor display the mannerisms belonging to said culture, such as this poor woman, Bertha Mason, ultimately insane.

[Malbis]

When Rochester starts to explain to Jane about becoming married to Bertha he describes how his father wanted him “to be provided for by a healthy marriage” (Chapter 27, pg. 355) due to the fact that Rochester’s father left his entire property in the hands of his other son, Rowland, and left Rochester to go to Jamaica to marry Bertha who was to inherit thirty thousand pounds. Rochester portrays Bertha Mason as this fine woman that is loved by all in her Spanish Town because of her beauty. He then describes how, “They showed her to me in parties, splendidly dressed. I seldom saw her alone and had very little private conversations with her.” (Chapter 27, pg. 356) Rochester is trying to evoke sympathy in Jane by expressing to her that when he first met Bertha he never had the opportunity to be with her alone and whenever he would see her, even for a slight moment, it would be a façade. Thus, Rochester is trying to convey to Jane that his image of Bertha that he had in his mind was being illuminated by “relatives…competitors…” (Chapter 27, pg. 356), and Bertha herself than what it truly was. And that the true image of Bertha Mason, to Rochester was someone that had a low education, was incapable of holding a conversation, and could never amount to anything higher. He also explains that Bertha soon revealed herself to be harsh, unreasonable, and prone to violent outbreaks of temper and unhealthy indulgences.
Looking it from Rochester’s point of view I see how it could be that Bertha was born a maniac, but when he states “Place her in safety and comfort; shelter her degradation with secrecy, and leave her.” (Chapter 27, pg. 360) All I see is a heartless man exerting his dominance over a helpless woman that has even less freedom than she originally did due to the fact that she is now married and considered “mentally insane”. In my opinion, Bertha Mason was born way ahead of her time because of how independent and careless she was, and that in her society was considered a disgrace amongst women. So, when Rochester discovered her true identity he became fearful and thought that the only way to be freed from her was to lock her in Thornfield Hall away from society; which ultimately led Bertha becoming more vicious because she is being held against her will.

[Valeria]

Valeria Batlle
In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the character Bertha Mason is misunderstood essentially because the reader never gets to know her point of view on her present situation. Mr. Rochester expresses himself with a severely unpleasant tone when talking about his wife. When Jane and Rochester's wedding got interrupted because of the existence of a living Mrs. Rochester he states, " No, by God! I took care that none should hear of it-or of her under that name." ( Chapter 26, pg.314) Mr. Rochester is on denial, he does not want to accept the fact that he has certain obligations towards his wife and that he cannot marry Jane. He is ashamed to be Bertha Mason's husband as he says he did not want anyone to hear about her, or as he also said "it". Why did Mr. Rochester express himself with such hate towards this woman? As he explained to Jane, Bertha Mason was a madwoman. A few reasons for saying so were that she was: "coarse", "trite", "intemperate", and "unchaste". Mr. Rochester further explains that, "[He] never loved, [he] never esteemed, [he] did not even know her." (Chapter 27, pg. 329) and that "[His] father and [his] brother Rowland knew all this; but they thought only of the thirty thousand pounds and joined the plot against [him].” (Chapter 27, pg. 330) Sympathy is a controversial subject in this matter. As a Victorian era reader, one could feel pity at this moment like Jane herself felt it. In those times one rarelly talked to the person they were about to marry, consequently they married someone they did not entirely know. Victorian era readers may connect with Mr. Rochester in this sense because it was true in daily life. On top of that Bertha did not behave like a lady should have behaved in those times, thus getting the label of being mad. However, a contemporary reader may find that Bertha’s qualities are very common in the present, and are certainly not a reason to call someone crazy. This group of readers may not feel sympathy at all and categorize Rochester’s actions as unjust. For this reason one may say that Bertha’s present state of having a “purple face” and an appearance of a “clothed hyena” as Jane describes, is Mr. Rochester’s own fault because he locked her up in a room, made everyone believe she was crazy, and left her no choice but to really become the label that was enforced upon her.

[Fernando]

Fernando Murillo P.2

In volume 2 of Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason is introduced. She was Rochester's ex married wife. He comes to say that the only reason why he married her was because of his fathers intentions of him marrying someone with fortune. He was instantly attracted to her the first time they met up all because of her beauty. During the marriage he comes to notice that he had been deceived and that he did not truly love her. His thought and others thought about Bertha came to be false. He began to dislike her even more due to their lack of connection and physical engagement. Soon after described her as “a nature the most gross, impure, depraved I ever saw, was associated with mine, and called by the law and by society a part of me” (Volume 2: Chapter 27, pg. 381). In other words described her as a non human being who was a "monster". Explaining everything to Jane made her feel sympathy for him just because he did not really know what he was getting himself into due to his lack of experience. The reason of Bertha being a monstrous person was because of Rochester. He had locked her up for a long time, all by herself with no one, had been stripped of everything including her human aspect and was treated less then one and everyone's views on her were negative. Obviously if someone were to go through something like this they would have faced a change in themselves in a negative way. Therefore making her into the person that she is now.

[Nataly]

When the audience meets Bertha Mason, it's not hard to believe Rochester's narration of Bertha, and how she had always been mad. We are led to believe that poor Rochester was forced and tricked into marrying her. We only see Bertha's character as negative because the point of view of the only character that discloses information about her and her background is extremely biased. Rochester considers Bertha to be the worst thing that ever happened to him, and he expressively states his hatred for her, " I found her nature wholly alien to mine, her tastes obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common....I tried to devour my repentance and disgust in secret; I repressed the deep antipathy i felt." (Bronte, 357). We first learn about the existence of Bertha Mason at the same time Jane does, right before she is about to get married to Rochester. Rochester's plans of marrying Jane and purifying himself of his past mistakes is foiled and so he tries to appeal to Jane by attempting to make her sympathize with him. He describes how he was tricked into the whole thing by his father and her family, how he barely knew her. With everything the reader has read about Bertha, how she tried to set Rochester's room on fire and how she attacked her own brother, we have no trouble believing Rochester when he states that she is insane. At first, one almost feels pity for his unfortunate situation and that is exactly what he wants from Jane. To extract her pity and sympathy, and therefore agree to his terms of her becoming his mistress. It is not until one dives further that we realize Rochester's incredibly manipulative nature. Once realized this, we also realize that Bertha may not be all that Rochester has painted her out to be. Her being branded as a mad woman was simply because she did not fit the era's standard of what an ideal woman should be, what Rochester wanted her to be. At first he was taken by her beauty and clearly had no objections to marrying her as quickly as he did. After their quick marriage, he is rudely awakened by the reality of Bertha's volatile and rude nature, "... I perceived that I should never have a quiet or settled household, because no servant would bear the continued outbreaks of violent and unreasonable temper..." (Bronte 357). Through all that he describes of her, there is nothing about Bertha Mason that would deem her mentally ill, insane, or mad. She was not meek or quiet, nor innocent and virtuous, and she certainly was not obedient or dutiful to her husband. She was the complete opposite of what a Victorian Lady was supposed to be, and it is for that reason that she is deemed mad. It is very much possible that by the time Bertha is formally introduced in the book, she may very well be mad. She has been locked up for years, with no human contact other than Grace Poole. Bertha was harshly oppressed because of her flaws and one can conclude that the way she has ended up was caused by the crushing hand of the one who claims to be the victim, Mr. Rochester.

Nataly Ruiz

[Leonel]

Leonel Martinez
According to Mr. Rochester, Bertha Mason is a madwoman; from a family of maniacs through three generations. Yet this was not always so. When Rochester originally met Bertha Mason in Jamaica, she was the "boast of the Spanish Town for her beauty" (Bronte 582), which brought to Rochester feelings of accomplishment and glory, when he knew of the envious men after the beauty of Miss Mason. Although Rochester was originally tricked into marriage by his own father and brother, and by Bertha's relatives, he was the one that continued on with the proposal and sought-after Bertha's hand. This, while sympathetic from the point of view of Rochester, does not arouse sympathy to the reader due to the biased telling of Bertha's condition even as Rochester states that Bertha was the worst thing that happened to him. Later on, in the story Rochester expresses to Jane that Bertha drove him to the verge of suicide provoking the slightest bit of sympathy in the reader, as Rochester was essentially tricked and conned into a marriage that he deemed insufficient. With Rochester's dream of the perfect wife, portrayed by Jane, Bertha was seen as the opposite, as Rochester states "I found her nature wholly alien to mine, her tastes obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher, expanded to anything larger" (Bronte 584). Rochester viewed Bertha as a disgrace, as she was not to his liking. The transformation of Bertha from the boast of Spanish Town to the monster hidden in Thornfield's attic, can be blamed on both Rochester and heredity. While it was originally Bertha's mother that passed down the manicness, Rochester added on and slowly worsened her behavior by locking her up and forgetting about her existence. While the marriage to Bertha Mason was originally a trick by Rochester's family, he himself added on and continued with the marriage and slowly drove his wife to insanity, by locking her up in the attic of his manor.

[Sophia]

Sophia Robison
At first glance, it would be easy for the audience to be swayed by Rochester’s harsh description of his wife and believe all the cruel words he says against her. He clearly paints a negative view of bertha when the reader is finally introduced to her and jane reinforces this view by saying bertha resembles “…some strange wild animal…” (chapter 26, pg. 423) and referring to her as “…The maniac…” (chapter 26, 423). Even when Rochester is explaining to jane the relationship he has between his wife, he justifies the reason for her imprisonment was that “Bertha Mason is mad; and she came of a mad family; idiots and maniacs through three generations!”( chapter 27) and that she “Dragged me through all the hideous and degrading agonies”(chapter 27, 442). After hearing this description of bertha, it might cause the readers to feel sympathetic towards Rochester and pity him for getting tricked into marrying bertha. But the only explanation Rochester gives the reader for the cause of Bertha’s madness is that “…her excess had prematurely developed the germs of insanity” (chapter 27, page 443) and that it was hereditary in her family. There is no way for the readers to know for sure if Bertha Mason had a mental illness or if her wild, untamed personality disturbed Rochester to the point where he had hide her away. It is safe to say though that Rochester played a major role in bertha’s insanity and ultimate demise.

[Violet]

In chapter 27, the readers get a glimpse of a new character that is very crucial to Mr. Rochester's life, her name is Bertha Mason. Bertha Mason was always a charter that was present in the novel, but never mentioned. It all goes back to when Mr. Rochester first heard of her. Mr. Rochester was sent to Jamaica when he was fresh out of college, His father had already planned out his marriage for him without knowing anything, as he states "my father said nothing about her money, but he told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty"(Pg. 329). His father and the Mason family gave Mr. Rochester a vague image of Bertha Mason, he states that "they showed her to me in parties splendidly dressed. I seldom saw her alone, and had very little private conversation with her"(Pg. 329). Without much knowledge of what Bertha Mason truly is and only knowing her visually and physically, Mr. Rochester ended up marrying her. The newly wedded couple didn't seem to meet eye-to-eye, he explained how " her taste obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being lead to anything higher....whatever topic I started, immediately received from her a turn at once coarse and trite..."(Pg. 330). Mr. Rochester characterizes her as someone that isn't of authority, she isn't very lady like and can't speak properly, not really his ideal type. Then after Mr. Rochester lived with her for four years she becomes more mad, he stated that "her character ripened and developed with frightful rapidity: her vices sprang up fast and rank"(Pg. 330). In the end Mr. Rochester couldn't divorce her because he states that "the doctors now discovered that my wife was mad-her excesses had prematurely developed the germs of insanity"(Pg. 330). At this point people would have some type of sympathy towards Rochester as he is explaining that he was tricked into the marriage, deceived from her appearance, and that his wife is a madwomen, but is she really a madwomen. In the Victorian era a women like Bertha Mason would be seen as obscured as she doesn't meet their requirement of being a proper lady. Bertha was born and raised in Jamaica, she was brought up in a different environment where women probably had more freedom than women from England. The one responsible for the monstrous person Bertha Mason has become is Rochester. Bertha Mason was someone that was free to being locked up in an attic for ten years, Bertha was deprived from everything once she got married, hence as to why she becomes that madwomen that we see for the very first time in the novel.
Jacqueline Nambo

[Alex]

Rochester's marriage to Bertha Mason and how he portrays this complex relationship is both interesting and compelling. Rochester's marriage was planned, although Rochester noting her astounding beauty still continued out with the proposal without truly knowing the internal aspects of Bertha. Rochester's point of view in this affair may indeed evoke a sense of sympathy from the reader with phrases such as “Dragged me through all the hideous and degrading agonies”(chapter 27, 442) Rochester characterizes Bertha as a wild and maniacal person, comparing her to a beast whose behavior was unacceptable in Victorian society. There is truly no way to know of Rochester's claim of Bertha being insane holds any merit as the Bertha Mason the reader is introduced to has suffered from severe isolation and has been kept in a singular room resembling a caged animal, such conditions would play a mental toll on any individual. These conditions were brought upon by Rochester, therefore he plays a vital component in the mental degradation of Bertha. Because of this, the reader cannot truly feel fully sympathetic for Rochester as in the end the reader does not truly comprehend who Bertha was before these 10 years of isolation. It is reasonable to assume that she may not have been classified as mentally ill by today's standards, but displayed erratic behavior that would not be approved of. In my eyes I cannot feel much sympathy for Rochester as he was solely focused on the physical aspects of Bertha; After he could not control her in the manner he desired, he opted to keep her isolated for years to come.

[Jade]

Jade Berisso
In the novel, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the character Mr.Rochester, who is Jane’s boss/lover, has been secretly hiding the fact that he has a wife. When Jane finds this out Mr.Rochester explains his side of the story of him and Bertha Mason. He explains how his marriage was already arranged for him by saying, “When I left college, I was sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for me”(chapter 27 page 195). Mr. Rochester doesn’t really get to know Bertha during his time their, but he “found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic”(chapter 27 page 195). He was enchanted by her beauty and he says ,“I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her” (chapter 27 page 195). Now he was starting to regret marrying her and said “her tastes obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher,...” he then says that she is “coarse and trite, perverse and imbecile... her violent and unreasonable temper” (chapter 27 page 195). Mr. Rochester doesn’t seem to be very fond of Bertha especially after learning that mental illness runs in her family and she has been diagnosed with it. While telling his story he refers to Bertha as “intemperate and unchaste“(chapter 27 page 196), meaning she was a drunk and promiscuous. Also he mentions that she was “a nature the most gross, impure, depraved I ever saw,...” and he was embarrassed and a shamed to know that by law and society she was his wife. He calls her “mad”, “insane”, “lunatic”,and “maniac” explaining to Jane that he never truly loved Bertha and only showing how Bertha was crazy. But Mr. Rochester locked her away for years and because he felt like he couldn’t control Bertha and since she wasn’t like most females during that time and expressed her opinions he felt like their was something wrong with her. The mental illness did run in her family and eventually she would have also been affected by it, but she wasn’t completely insane when she first met Mr. Rochester. She was young and messed around a bit and wasn’t controlled by anyone. Rochester married her out of lust and then quickly realized that he made a mistake and then explains Bertha to be basically a burden in which he is stuck with. Locking her away was his idea to get her away from him and so he can venture out and find “ a good and intelligent woman”, who he could love. So from Bertha being “unchaste” and him judging her for it he goes on and does something similar by going out to find a mistress since they can’t be his wife. By leaving Bertha their in the attic it didn’t help her, but made her condition worse. She hardly had human interaction she only saw Grace Poole and Mr. Carter and she wasn’t allowed to be seen by anyone else or be out of the room. She was trapped their in the attic while he was out and about. Even though he did make sure she was cared for maybe things would have been different if he would of tried reasoning with Bertha and not always being embarrassed and disgusted by her. She might have been a little more sane compared to her state now or maybe not, but he could have found that out by not keeping her secret from society.

[Laura]

In volume 2 of the novel we learn about the infamous Bertha Mason and suddenly everything makes sense. All the creepy noises and fire was all done by Bertha Mason, Rochesters wife. Through Rochester we as readers learn about her complex family heritage, she’s half creole and half English, raised Jamaica among the British aristocrat half of her family. Their marriage was arranged by their family and they really didn’t know each other to begin with, which may have led to the situation they are in. Rochester says madness runs in her family and she was drunken and promiscuous which led to her madness when she was young, however he was not an objective witness. Mr. Rochester said,"... my wife: even when I found her nature wholly alien to mine; her tastes obnoxious to me; her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher, expanded to anything larger... that kindly conversation could not be sustained between us, because, whatever topic I started, immediately received from her a turn at once coarse and trite, perverse and imbecile...no servant would bear the continued outbreaks of her violent and unreasonable temper"(Bronte 302). The way he characterized his wife shows he does not love her and thinks less of her. It is evident that he and Bertha did not get along because she had a different mentality and he was not used to being talked back. He declared her insane and couldn’t divorce her after, his description of his marriage, “a nature the most gross, impure, depraved I ever saw, was associated with mine, and called by the law and by society a part of me” (Bronte 381) does not provoke sympathy for me. At first reading this I did feel bad and understood him but now I realize he’s the reasons she has become insane and monstrous. Imagine being locked up in the attack by your husband for speaking out for yourself and not being obedient, I would hate that person too. Her actions prove that she has knowledge of whats going around her, when she breaks Jane’s wedding veil, she’s trying to warn Jane to leave Rochester and not marry him. Bertha Mason is such an important character in the novel and it foreshadowed what could of being Jane’s life if she had not left Rochester.

[Daniel]

Daniel Alvarez (pages based on PDF of novel; http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pd...)

Rochester's real wife is revealed as Bertha Mason, whom he has
kept her a secret from anyone else and therefore locked up and boxed in the attic of Thornfield Hall. Jane finds this out, and Rochester describes Bertha to her and their history. He explains how the marriage was already set in stone for him; all he had to do was go to Jamaica. He was told he would marry an insanely beautiful woman; she would go above and beyond in meeting his standards. When he saw her physically, he was in absolute awe: "All the men in her circle seemed to admire her and envy me. I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited..." (Bronte 582). However, Rochester would be in for a rude awakening. He was deceived by her attractive appearance; Bertha Mason was nothing that he wished for at the end of the day, due to her nature, her attitudes, her character. "I found her nature wholly alien to mine, her tastes obnoxious to me, her cast of mind common, low, narrow, and singularly incapable of being led to anything higher, expanded to anything larger." (Bronte 584) Of course, his sorrowful descriptions most definitely evoke a sense of sympathy and feel for Rochester and his bad luck. At first, we, the readers, accept his testimony and abide by it as there is no other different perspective, and are disgusted by his wife. Later, however, we then start to ponder about the history of Bertha Mason; what was she like before Rochester met her? How was she treated? Was she raised well? Was she living a happy life? These questions have no answers in the novel. Because of this, there are numerous interpretations on how and why exactly Bertha was how she was; rude, one-dimensional, unintelligent, etc. Rochester did not know the answers to those questions either; possibly, his descriptions were exaggerated and biased. He could go on forever about how she was unfit to be his wife: "Bertha Mason, the true daughter of an infamous mother, dragged me through all the hideous and degrading agonies which must attend a man bound to a wife at once intemperate and unchaste." (Bronte 585). In terms of what is responsible for Bertha's monstrous character, it cannot solely be one variable. It cannot be solely Rochester, it cannot be solely heredity, it cannot be solely her own vice and depravity. It is a combination of multiple factors, each playing their own role. Her parents may have had similar traits of Bertha, so it was passed on to her. However, this argument is deemed weak by the "blank slate" theory, where traits are learned by the environment; "nurture vs. nature." It can be most reasonably inferred that she was raised in a way that made her who she was. She could've been abused, neglected, or just raised by people characterized as simply terrible and ill-willed. Something happened in her childhood that made her that way. That would then lead to her characterization of her depravity. When Rochester decided to put her in total isolation, it only contributed to her "monstrousness." She wasn't exactly "monstrous" when Rochester met her; she was just a poorly minded person. She would be deemed "monstrous" with Rochester imprisoning her with her tendencies of wanting to bite and scratch and stab people along with walking on all fours. In conclusion, Bertha Mason was made Bertha Mason due to her environment and how she was raised, and then made a monster because of Rochester. There is no doubt that Rochester is at some fault here, no matter how much he denies it, or argues against it.

[Ryan]

Ryan Smoorenburg
In Rochester's tale of his marriage to Bertha Mason in Jamaica, he uses specific words and figurative language to describe her actions, devotions, and incentives. This tale, however, does not show any sympathy for her current state mentally and physically, as he describes her as crazy, insane, and impure. What is so significant about this tale in particular is the fact that some would argue that the point of view of Rochester as a privileged male in the Victorian Era played a vital role in her description of mentally insane, and so on. Some would argue that this point of view would give Bertha Mason no voice or privilege to say her point of view in this tale of describing her characteristics and the marriage. I would however tend to disagree with this argument and i would say that a mixture of both heredity as well as Bertha Mason's own vice and depravity played the roles that influenced the downfall of their marriage and her physical and mental state of mind. Heredity plays a factor as her mother, as described my Rochester in his tale, was also insane and impure. Rochester himself describes her mother as "only mad, and shut up in a lunatic asylum.." (pg. 330) Rochester also describes Birtha's brother as "a complete dumb idiot." (pg. 330) The other factor that played a role in her character was her own vice and depravity, as Rochester chose to marry her because she was supposedly beautiful and the one for him. However, heredity took her mind and her own actions of unfamiliar manners as well as crazy acts led up to her state of being locked up in an attic.

[Lizbeth]

Lizbeth Aparicio
While, at last, at the altar, and happily eager to proclaim their vows to one another, Jane and Mr. Rochester are interrupted by a voice in the crowd - that of Mr Briggs - claiming that the wedding must not go on because "Mr. Rochester has a wife now living". Mr. Rochester, in his defense, proceeds to guide the group to meet this said wife of his, saying "You shall see what sort of a being I was cheated into espousing" (pg. 289), already placing himself in a sympathy-garnering position. Already half-expecting to see an almost non-human creature, Rochester's audience is met by a "maniac" with "shaggy locks", a "purple face", and "bloated features". They are met face-to-face with a mentally unstable woman, referred to as a "lunatic" by Rochester, who "sprang and grappled" the throats of the three gentlemen viciously. Jane, being in this audience, is later, in a more personal encounter with Mr. Rochester, told the tale of Bertha Mason. In his endeavor to tell the story and to ensure that Jane was following along attentively and sympathizing with him, rather than Bertha, Rochester strategically tells it so that he is left seeming the victim. He tells the tale of how he and Bertha met: In his father's quest to get Rochester married into a wealthy family, he learned of the Mason's, who were set to acquire a fortune of "thirty thousand pounds". Upon hearing news of this, Rochester was, in his own words, "sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for [him]" (pg. 301). In other words, he knew nothing of the woman he was to marry, but he did, upon meeting her, convince himself that he loved her. However, upon later learning of her mother's mental state (she was "shut up in a lunatic asylum"), and getting to know Bertha quite a bit better - less for who she was in public and more for who she truly was as a person - Rochester was dissatisfied. He claims that "whatever topic [he] started, immediately received from her a turn at once course and trite, perverse and imbecile" (pg. 302) and mentions her to have a "pigmy intellect" and "giant propensities" (pg. 302). He mentions wanting to divorce her, but that "a nature the most gross, impure, depraved [he] ever saw, was associated with [him], and called by the law and by society a part of [him]" (pg.302). He could not "rid [himself] of the legal proceedings: for the doctors now discovered that [his] wife was mad" (pg. 302). Mr. Rochester realizes to have gotten the reaction he hoped for when Jane encourages him to continue his narrative, stating "no, sir, finish it now: I pity you - I do earnestly pity you" (pg .303). However, is Rochester actually worthy of pity? After all, it is discovered that in an effort to not have to personally deal with his wife, who he sees as a tremendous burden, Rochester has locked Bertha away to be watched by Mrs. Poole, instead. Is it possible that Bertha might not have always been insane, as Mr. Rochester claims, and that she was simply a woman ahead of her times? Is it possible that Mr. Rochester, himself, is at fault for Bertha's current mental state; leading her to actually fall into a realm between reality and her own, broken world? It is valid to claim all these questions as true. It is valid to infer that, upon marrying her, Rochester realized that Bertha was not a submissive woman. She was not willing to numb her own voice in order for her husband's to be exalted; she had a voice and she wanted to use it, regardless of whether or not Rochester liked it (hence, all of the arguments that he describes). She also was not very smart, as implied by Rochester's allusion to her "pigmy intellect". She was not very loyal to her husband either, as he states, she had "giant propensities", or in other words, was highly sexually inclined - a quality that was not deemed acceptable throughout the Victorian age in which Jane Eyre was written. It is easy to conclude that Bertha Mason was simply "too much" for Rochester. He would have liked a more proper lady, one who would remain submissive to her husband and follow his commands, one who would not speak up at the dinner table when her beliefs were questioned, one who would not practice promiscuity. Yet, that is not what he got. So, in the midst of his self-proclaimed "despair", Rochester tells of Hope reaching out to him and encouraging him to "let her identity, her connection with [him]self, be buried in oblivion" and to "place her in safety and comfort: shelter her degradation with secrecy, and leave her" (pg. 305). That being exactly what Rochester was so eager to do upon returning to England, he locked her away and placed her in a state of imprisonment, leading her to truly transition into a state of, what appears to be, psychosis. All in all, Bertha Mason is the tale of a woman who was not what a man envisioned for himself, and so, as a form of punishment, was cast away from society, left to bear the repercussions of being herself and eventually becoming somebody beside herself, all the while leaving the man to be pitied for being "tricked".

[JoMari]

Upon rereading Rochester's tale of his marriage to Bertha Mason in Jamaica the particular terms that he uses to characterize his wife and to demonstrate endearment and any form of affection, towards his still living (though mentally insane diagnosed) wife- For a marriage that has lasted 15 years it had long been over for Mr. Rochester since the beginning of the arrangement, for it was not one that would have been the ideal pairing for him as he believed. Thus, creating him to use such terms as, "mad," "defrauded wretch," and "brooded partner." (page 289) The demeaning way he says " this" instead of she when referring to Bertha Mason in page 290 demonstrates how he doesn't view Bertha a human at this point. How he originally thought it was a "Charming partner[ship] - pure, wise, modest," to then later in his eyes proved to be otherwise. Thus because of his strong negative connotation towards Bertha Mason one cannot feel sympathy towards Mr. Rochester as a reader. For when explaining how Bertha Mason ended up in the room locked up where she is; he only brings to light the very fact that aside from being the one who put her in there he is also the reason she is in there. For she was just a very bold - and maybe not so sophisticated as he would have liked - of a woman. Thus, the insults and cold behavior that one could only expect from the cold man that is Mr. Rochester, at first, begin instantly post marriage. The reader is left to infer that he is what caused doctors to diagnose Bertha as insane. The ability to say my wife as Rochester does with such distaste in his mouth leaves the reader with distaste towards his approach to a woman he married. If at one point he viewed her as a Charming partner as he said he did then upon discovering new things about her shouldn't have led to the harsh reaction that he had. Furthermore, the elements of sympathy for a man who refers to a bold Woman as a Mania is lost to contemporary readers and gives the speaker of such words an effect in shaping the character of the person they have chosen to refer to in that manner.

JoMari

[Angelyn]

Angelyn Perez
Mr. Rochester recounts his tales of his former life hoping to persuade Jane that his actions were completely reasonable. During his explanation, Rochester seeks pity and rationale saying, “I was dazzled- stimulated; my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw and inexperienced, I thought I loved her.” (Bronte, 356) Overall, Rochester believes that he was deceived into marrying a madwoman for a fortune of thirty thousand pounds. At first glance Bertha was an extraordinary, attractive lady. Bertha was put on display, as she was splendidly dressed in every party. This led Mr. Rochester to immediately agree to the marriage. After all, in this era, nothing else matters but a beautiful wife on your arm, right? Shortly after the consummation, the curtains were drawn, and the truth stepped into the spotlight. Bertha Mason had soon become everything Rochester despised. “I lived with that woman up stairs four years, and before that time she had tried me indeed; her character ripened and developed with frightful rapidity; her vices sprung up fast and rank; they were so strong, only cruelty could check them; and I would not use cruelty. What a pigmy intellect she had, and what giant propensities!” (Bronte, 357) Mr. Rochester was so caught up with Bertha’s beauty that he had no knowledge of who she really was. And he knew this. Now that he was faced with reality, he had to do something to contain her. The only explanation that Rochester could conjure as an explanation of her behavior was madness. Surely, a woman who stood up for herself, who spoke her mind, who took pride in who she was HAD to be insane. His resolution was to lock her away from the rest of the world. Rochester is responsible for the monstrous person Bertha Mason had become. Before Rochester, Bertha was unrestrained and free. Mr. Rochester stripped away her rights in the blink of an eye. He may deserve some sympathy for being forced into a marriage. Bertha may have the genes, but the probability of her inheriting it is rare. Any sane person would lose their mind if they were locked in an attic, away from human civilization. Rochester characterizes her as a burden without recognizing his fault in her downfall.

[Elizabeth]

Elizabeth Polonio
Rochester’s tale of his marriage to Bertha Mason in Jamaica, makes it seem as if he was truly forced into a downward spiral of a marriage. Describing it as a marriage he never saw coming, being deceived by not truly knowing who she is. The marriage was not based off of love but by the fortune that he believed was promised to be him once he was to marry Bertha Mason. Once into the marriage, that is when Rochester finally began to discover Bertha, and to his unliking she was not the woman he wanted as a wife characterizing her as insane. He describes it as if he was trapped allowing for Jane to feel sympathy for him falling in love with a woman only for her physical appearance and then once discovering who she truly was, locking her up and claiming her insane. When Rochester states, “Place her in safety and comfort; shelter her degradation with secrecy, and leave her.”(Chapter 27, pg. 360) It shows the deeper meaning behind how insane Bertha Mason was and how she came to be. Knowing the Bertha was not the submissive, calm, religious woman he wanted as an ideal wife he locked her up due to him believing she was a danger and had to be kept in secrecy. Not able to live a normal life, living in a marriage that actually had her trapped, being stripped of her freedom eventually truly led her to insanity. Rochester stripped her of her freedom and of sanity.

[Christy]

Christine Diaz
When describing the tale of his seemingly arranged marriage, Rochester does his best to invoke sympathy and pity. He tried justifying his marriage by saying "Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me; a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was." (Chapter 27, page 356) Rochester attempted to make it seem like everyone pushed him to marry Bertha but in reality he was just young, foolish, and reckless. He also tried to make Bertha seem much more vulgar and violent than she really was in the beginning of the relationship by describing her relationship with others by saying "... no servant would bear the continues outbreaks of her violent and unreasonable temper, or the vexations of her absurd, contradictory, exacting orders..." (Chapter 27, pg 357) Rochester is a very traditional, quiet, and private man. Perhaps he believed Bertha did not have the 'right' personality and believed all others shared that opinion. Rochester misinterpreted other people's actions, most likely on purpose, to justify his dislike for his 'wife'. There are many moments where it is seen that Rochester is a violent man such as when the truth about Bertha came out and he told Jane, "Jane! Will you hear reason?... because, if you don't, I'll try violence." (Chapter 27, pg 353) and even after that, Jane described his eyes as 'blazed'. Rochester had threatened Jane with violence before even being married; This shows that he was capable of doing anything to Bertha and there was a possibility of him driving Bertha to insanity by either keeping her isolated in a room, away from all human contact except him, perhaps being violent to the point where Bertha hurt her head and that could have possibly triggered something to make her lose her mind, or anything really. Rochester doesn't seem to have any boundaries. He was very passionate when it came to describing Bertha or anything about her, such as her nature which he described as "...the most gross, impure, depraved I ever saw..." (Chapter 27, pg 357) When responding to Jane's pity for him, he still tried to make her feel worse by explaining everything he went through after finding out his wife was 'mad' by saying "... I was doubtless covered with grimy dishonor; but I resolved to be clean in my own sight and to the last I repudiated the contamination of her crimes, and wrenched myself from connection with her mental defects." (Chapter 27, pg 358) Instead of speaking about how he felt about his wife being mad and the ways that he wanted or tried to help her, Rochester just continued to speak about how society saw and treated him and how it affected him as a person but never one word about how he felt about Bertha 'going mad'.

[Alexandra]

In Rochester’s intricate tale of his marriage to Bertha Mason we see how Rochester believes himself to be misfortunate and hardly to blame for the horrific failure of the marriage. Bertha was beautiful and rich, "Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty...I was dazzled—stimulated." (pg. 356) Rochester was tricked—not by Bertha Mason—but rather by the two of their families. He describes Bertha in the most appalling way a woman could possibly be characterized in Victorian times. Rochester explains that she had quite a temperament and her intelligence/ education was not up to the standards. He calls her, “intemperate and unchaste.” These were propensities that men tended to have, but since she was a woman it was abhorrent and frowned upon. Throughout the story, Rochester continuously puts himself in a valiant light. Saying things like, “I restrained myself,” “I curtailed remonstrance” and “I would not use cruelty”. So of course, this utterly one-sided story drew sympathy from Rochester’s intended audience. But I don’t believe Bertha Mason was mad, I think she became mad over time. Her family betrayed her and put her in a sham of a marriage; she was stuck with a man whom she conflicted with. Rochester recalls, "...that kindly conversation could not be sustained between us, because whatever topic I started, immediately received from her a turn at once coarse and trite, perverse and imbecile. (pg. 357) Her fiery temperament and unconventional persona was her own demise. Rochester drew her to insanity by locking her away. The circumstance she was put in made her go maniacal, but she was not always that way.

[Angelina]

Angelina Navarro
When the reader, as well as Jane, comes into contact with the story of Rochester and his wife Bertha Mason, it is safe to say that both audiences are in for not only a sudden and rude awakening, but also an instance in which makes them truly question Rochester's feelings, motives (if any), and character. Whether Rochester is the same man as he was with Bertha Mason when he married her to who he was when explaining to Jane the situation also comes to mind and is duly noted along with if the notion of sympathy could very well be granted towards him even just a little, if at all, regarding how he dealt with this "madwoman" of a wife to how he now treats her. The inquisition of whether Rochester is solely to blame for Bertha's madness is also brought to the table, and so both Jane and the reader embark on the path down memory lane provided by Mr. Rochester himself as he dives into his past and recalls how he was under the impression that Bertha Mason was claimed to be "the boast of Spanish town". Initially he associates her with words such as "tall, dark, and majestic", making it clear that he was, indeed, intrigued by the flesh of this woman. He knew not of her money or why he was already espoused to her, for it was the grander scheme kept from him from his brother and father, as it was plotted with Bertha Mason's family as well. Already, the sympathy may occur here upon finding out that both soon-to-be-wedded individuals were oblivious to the real task at hand, with the manipulation coming from both families unto their children. They both were limited of talk from each other, however Rochester being indulgent of the flesh saw Bertha as this sort of prize or trophy to be won, to be obtained, as much as to wield such a beautiful creature wanted by so many other men. In this sense, it sort of reflects Rochester's status and role within the Victorian Era. However as the recollection continues, Rochester realizes that Bertha Mason happens to be something that he wished he was never affiliated with as she was much less refined, so to speak, as that of an able, respectable woman in those times. Rochester, it is seen, feels appalled at such a woman as she, realizing that she is not a woman whom of which he could subdue or contain--and so he goes on to believing the notion that she is mad because of her "incredulous" behavior. It could be confirmed that Bertha could very well have felt stifled or suffocated due to Rochester's controlling nature, thus her retaliation. However, Rochester could have very well contributed to her growing 'madness' by locking her up after having a doctor claim her as mad. And if such a woman with bite and fire were to be locked up in a room and never to see the light of day, by all means she would only suffocate even more and try to escape desperately. Anyone would want out if they were to be forcibly detained to solitude. So not only is Rochester to blame for Bertha's madness, but her family as well, and even her own personality--unfortunately-- seems to become what really pushes her to cross over the edge to insanity.

[Valeria]

Valeria Londono
In the novel the reader can see the way Bertha Mason and the vents with her is described from Rochester's point of view. At the beginning Rochester's starts off the conversation nicely by saying things about her such as "I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram, tall, dark, and majestic.." but as he continues to have the conversation he gets colder and colder about her. Rochester blames her family and makes himself be the victim of the situation because the family apparently had kept the fact that she was insane from him, so he came to find that out later on. It's very clear that the two characters, Ms.Mason and Rochester did not really get along all that well nor gave each other the full chance to know each other correctly in order to get married when they were younger and met, but Rochester still continues to blame her family saying that they might've just convinced her to marry him. No matter what and as much as Rochester tries to make it seem like he is the victim in all this he does not provoke sympathy whatsoever because at the end of the day he also locked Bertha for a very long time in the attic of Thornfield without a valid excuse of and that is very inhumane. As a matter of fact, everyone around Bertha that knew of her existence by their own experience is very much responsible of the horrible person she became, as much as Rochester is so is her family and anybody else involved.

[Arshdeep]

Christy wrote: "Christine Diaz
When describing the tale of his seemingly arranged marriage, Rochester does his best to invoke sympathy and pity. He tried justifying his marriage by saying "Her relatives encouraged..."

Really nice put through

https://ef95zone.com https://euwatchfree.com