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she attended with her father and brother
Richard, where he was entranced by her loveliness. Despite never being alone with her (although this was not unusual, as at the time it was considered inappropriate for a young, unmarried woman to be left unchaperoned with a man), and supposedly having had scarcely any interaction or conversation with her, he married her for her wealth and beauty, and with fierce encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Rochester and Bertha began their lives as husband and wife in Jamaica. In recounting the history of their relationship, Rochester claims,
137:, who is unaware of Bertha's existence and whom he truly loves. (He later admits to Jane that he once thought he loved Bertha). As Bertha is insane he cannot divorce her, due to her actions being uncontrollable and thus not legitimate grounds for divorce. Years of violence, insanity, and confinement in an attic destroy Bertha's looks: when she sees Bertha in the middle of the night, Jane describes Bertha as looking "savage", even going so far as to compare her with a "
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heritage on her mother's side. According to
Rochester, Bertha was famous for her beauty: she was the pride of the town and sought after by many suitors. Upon leaving college, Rochester was persuaded by his father to visit the Mason family and court Bertha. As he tells it, he first meets her at a ball
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mother remarries the wealthy
Englishman, Mr. Mason, vengeful former slaves burn down the family estate, angry that their oppressors' fortunes are restored. The fire kills Pierre, Antoinette's younger brother, and drives her mother's mental state over the brink. Mr. Mason exiles his wife, and forgets
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younger brother. Rochester's father knew of this but did not bother to tell his son, caring only about the vast fortune the marriage would bring him, and the Mason family clearly wanted Bertha off their hands as quickly as possible. Rochester asserts that Bertha's mental health deteriorated quickly,
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Rochester returns with her to
England and has her imprisoned in a third-floor room off the gallery of his house for ten years with Grace Poole, a hired nurse who keeps her under control. Rochester travels abroad to forget his horrible marriage. However, Grace drinks sometimes, and Bertha manages to
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Though her race is never mentioned, it is sometimes conjectured that she was of mixed race. Rochester suggests that Bertha's father wanted her to marry him, because he was of "good race", implying that she was not pure white, while he was. There are also references to her "dark" hair, and
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I thought I loved her. ... Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me: a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was. Oh, I have no respect for myself when I think of that act! ... I never loved, I never esteemed, I did not even know
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Rochester explains that he was not warned that violent insanity and intellectual disability ran in the Mason family and that the past three generations succumbed to it. He assumed Bertha's mother to be dead and was never told otherwise, but she was locked away in an
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though it is unclear which form of mental illness she has. Her insane, violent behaviour becomes frightening to behold. Her laughter is described as "demonic", she crawls on all fours, snarling, and behaving in a bestial manner.
191:, "Bertha Mason" is portrayed as being a false name for Antoinette Cosway. The book purports to tell Antoinette's side of the story, as well as Rochester's, and to account for how she ended up alone and raving in the attic of
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marriage). Despite not loving her, Rochester attempts to save Bertha from a fire she starts in the house when she again escapes. Bertha dies after throwing herself off the roof, leaving her husband free to marry Jane.
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The characters of Jane Eyre and
Antoinette are portrayed as being very similar; independent, vivacious, imaginative young women with troubled childhoods, educated in religious establishments and looked down on by the
195:. According to the book, Antoinette's insanity and drunkenness are the result of Rochester's misguided belief that madness is in her blood and that she was part of the scheme to have him married blindly.
150:"discoloured" and "black" face. A number of Victorian writers at the time suggested that madness could result from a racially "impure" lineage, compounded by growing up in a tropical West Indian climate.
215:—and, of course, they both marry Mr Rochester. However, Antoinette is more rebellious than Jane and less mentally stable. She displays a deep vein of morbidity verging on a
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141:". Bertha destroys Jane's wedding veil (an action that hints that Bertha is at least sane enough to be aware that her husband is planning to enter a
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178:) from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish
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escape, causing havoc in the house: starting a fire in Mr
Rochester's bed and biting and stabbing her visiting brother.
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about her. Mason then arranges for
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Bertha Mason is the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in
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serves as a prequel to Brontë's novel. It is the story of Bertha (there called
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https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-figure-of-bertha-mason
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Bertha Mason smashed on the pavement after throwing herself off the roof when
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Rochester's marriage to Bertha eventually stands in the way of his marrying
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Contextualizing
Racialized Interpretations of Bertha Mason's Character
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This article is about the fictional character. For the person, see
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75:. She is described as the violently insane first wife of
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32:Bertha Mason in the foreground, an illustration by
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352:("Of the foul German spectre—the Vampyre.") at
301:. New York, New York: Bantam Dell. p. 167.
227:viewpoint of both God and religion in general.
202:in Jamaica. After her widowed, mentally frail,
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83:and locked her in a room on the third floor.
402:The Madwoman in the Attic after Thirty Years
16:Fictional character from the novel Jane Eyre
861:Fictional characters with mental disorders
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338:. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
334:("To England, then...") at
320:. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
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59:Bertha Antoinetta Rochester
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367:The figure of Bertha Mason
297:Brontë, Charlotte (1848).
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36:for the second edition of
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21:Bertha Mason (suffragist)
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433:Analysis of Bertha Mason
369:(2014), British Library
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590:I Walked with a Zombie
435:at the British Library
390:Retrieved 30 May 2020.
373:Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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