How Does Bertha Mason Present The Character Of Bertha As A Monster

Bertha Mason officially enters the novel with the power of ruining Jane and Mr. Rochester’s attempt at marriage given Bertha’s existence as Rochester’s hidden wife in the attic. Bertha loses her power as Jane builds Bertha’s character as a monster of Victorian society due to her appearance as an unfit wife for Rochester. Jane’s introduction to Bertha can be read as one of great jealousy and hostile judgment as she looks towards Bertha as the monster to come in the way of her desired union with Rochester. The construction of a monstrous character requires the portrayal of the said character in a way that removes the qualities which make them human and replaces them with characteristics that deviate from the normal or expected behavior of a human.

In Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason appears as a monstrous character because she does not conform to the standards of an ideal Victorian woman. She appears in a state of madness and acts in a way that Victorian society would not accept. In this essay, I will argue how Jane Rochester constructs Bertha Mason as a monster through narrative control, the use of dehumanizing word choice, and by using animalistic imagery to portray herself as a more ideal Victorian wife for Rochester in contrast to Bertha.
To begin, Jane Rochester’s first-person narrative works to silence Bertha and establish Jane as the dominating voice in the scene. While Jane Rochester looks back on the scene, she is an unreliable narrator because she chooses what to include in her retelling of the scene, and her choice of details are made in her favor. Therefore what Jane includes to share of Bertha cannot read as the complete truth because her construction of Bertha in the narrative will exist to make herself appear better. Although Jane Rochester has already achieved marrying Mr. Rochester at the time of narrating this scene, she still looks towards Bertha as a character who also achieved marrying Mr. Rochester before her. Jane, looking back, wishes to set herself apart from Bertha as being the more suitable wife for Rochester. Jane’s construction of Bertha’s character comes from Jane’s bias perspective as she works towards dissolving the power Bertha once had as Rochester’s wife and in turn, making Bertha a monster and demonstrating her inability to serve as an ideal Victorian wife.
An important note to make is what makes an ideal Victorian wife. Jane Rochester looks back on this scene with the knowledge and experience of such a role because she has married Rochester and assumed the role of a wife. From the context of Victorian society and the depiction of Bertha in this scene, we learn of a few key qualities that make up an ideal Victorian wife: desirable, feminine, gentle, proper, and submissive. Each of these qualities will be further looked into as the analysis of the scene progresses.
Jane’s first step at taking away Bertha’s power and constructing her as a monster is through the use of dehumanizing pronouns, such as “it.” Jane refers to Bertha by “it” many times in the scene which takes away Bertha’s power and provides an obscure or general identity (380-381). The use of “it” to refer to Bertha removes Bertha’s power by portraying her as something less than worthy of a proper name. Jane Rochester looks back on this scene knowing fully who Bertha was but still chooses to refer as though she is something other. By other I mean, that Jane observes Bertha in a way that makes Bertha seem other than human. Also the use of “it” takes away from Bertha’s gender and what femininity she might have when identifying with the female pronoun “she.” It should be noted that Jane does later refer to Bertha with the pronoun “she” but Jane accompanies the use of this pronoun with the masculine descriptors “corpulent” and “virile force” which remove the femininity added with the use of the pronoun (381). The feminine qualities of a Victorian woman were important in correlation with being a wife because men wanted a woman with strong female characteristics - both physical and mental. These feminine attributes would include having a small physical stature and a gentle nature. Bertha does not have the privilege of establishing her own identity. Instead, through the use of “it,” Jane takes away Bertha’s human qualities or humanity and limits her identity to a general pronoun that connotes nothing more than a being of existence. Jane assumes power over Bertha by claiming how Bertha shall be identified. Jane’s establishment of Bertha’s identity allows her to place Bertha below her in terms of how the reader looks at both character’s identity.
In continuation with Jane controlling Bertha’s identifiers, Jane moves on to construct Bertha’s identity as a monster with the use of dehumanizing terms. Jane calls Bertha by the names “figure,” “beast,” and “wild animal,” which associates Bertha with a monster; someone acting against human behaviors (380). The way Jane does this is by connecting Bertha’s physical appearance and actions with a reference to non-human beings. Jane’s first observation of Bertha reveals her appearing like a “figure” and something which Jane could not tell to be human (380). The use of the term “figure” allows Jane to confidently dehumanize Bertha because, through her observations, Bertha’s physicality does not undoubtedly resemble that of a human. When comparing Bertha to a “beast” and “wild animal”, Jane adds a concrete element of Bertha’s distinction as something other than human through more animalistic and monstrous identifiers (380). Bertha likens Bertha to non-human beings, which in establishes Bertha’s identity as something monstrous and other than human. As Jane relates Bertha as someone more similar to a “beast” over a human being, Bertha’s character as a monster becomes easier to believe. Referring to Bertha with such dehumanizing terms allows Jane to construct Bertha as a monster and thus eliminate Bertha’s credibility as an ideal Victorian wife through her lack of femininity and gentle physicality.
Jane’s construction of Bertha as a monster continues through the word choice used to establish Mr. Rochester as a master over the wild animal that is his wife, Bertha. First Mr. Rochester leads “the gentlemen to follow him” as he unlocks the room he keeps Bertha captive in with a “master key” which establishes him as the controller of the situation because he dominates where the group goes and whether they enter (380). Also, Mr. Rochester’s having a master key to Bertha’s room, draws a comparison to a zookeeper having the key to a wild animal’s cage. In a Victorian context, society considered the wife as a husband’s property, much like an animal is a piece of property. Yet, in the context of Bertha’s character, her so-called madness and monstrous identity as described by Jane make her appear as an object that needs more extensive control and requires captivity to control. Mr. Rochester’s dominance over Bertha extends beyond his entrapment of her, as he also asserts physical dominance over her by “[mastering] her arms” and “[binding] her to a chair” (381). The physical violence Mr. Rochester inflicts on Bertha is alarming, but not out of the expectation for a Victorian husband to do to his wife. What is more alarming is Jane’s nonchalant recounting of the violent tussle occurring in front of her. Jane even mentions “he could have settled her with a well-planted blow; but he would not strike” as though calling for us to sympathize or even respect Mr. Rochester for his supposed kindness for not hitting his wife but only wrestling with her (381). This example of domestic abuse can be looked at as a type of physical reprimanding of a master towards his misbehaving animal. Bertha has acted out, so it is in Mr. Rochester’s duty as Bertha’s master to control her temper and outbursts. While they are technically husband and wife, Jane has created Mr. Rochester and Bertha’s relationship as one of a master and his wild animal. This further perpetuates the construction of Bertha as a monster and separates her from the image as an ideal Victorian wife as she is not submissive without physical force.
The use of animalistic imagery to describe Bertha’s character aides in Jane’s construction of Bertha as a monster because Jane further separates her from human characteristics and likens her with animal characteristics.

Jane describing and connecting her observations of Bertha to a violent and wild animal limits the reader’s chance to manifest an image of Bertha ourselves. By associating Bertha’s actions with that of an animal, we as the reader have no choice but to see a vision of Bertha as a monster. Whereas Bertha’s situation and her actions might garner sympathy from the reader, Jane’s bias perspective and descriptors prevent us from viewing Bertha with complete sympathy. Looking at the scene through Jane’s perspective, we see Bertha as a “figure [running] backwards and forwards” that “snatched and growled like some strange wild animal” which constructs Bertha as a monster with animalistic imagery (380). Having Bertha run backward and forward seems unnatural as it is almost like a frantic pacing but the hurried tone of running makes Bertha’s action appear more manic and monstrous. The snatching and growling in connection to a wild animal give the connotation of Bertha as a threatening or violent being with wild tendencies. The animalistic vocalizations of Bertha continue as Jane later describes “a fierce cry” emitting from Bertha, and Jane then describing her as a “clothed hyena” standing on “its hind feet” (381). The fierce cry could have read as a human cry for help or out of pain, but when it precedes the imagery of Bertha as a “clothed hyena” the reader cannot disassociate from the animalistic imagery. The clothing aspect of Jane’s description of Bertha is interesting because even though Jane might recognize Bertha as a human due to her clothing, Jane continues to follow with the construction of Bertha as a monster by persisting with the image of a hyena. To Jane, no covering of Bertha with a human element, such as clothing, will make Bertha any less of a

monster because Jane has seen what she determined to be inhuman behaviors acted through Bertha’s outbursts. Jane portraying Bertha as a wild animal helps to further construct Bertha as a monster through the violent and animalistic imagery that contrasts the proper appearance of an ideal Victorian wife.
Our final look at how Jane constructs Bertha as a monstrous character comes through Mr. Rochester’s comparison of both women and his reveal of what he truly desires in a Victorian wife. Rochester comparing Bertha to Jane as a “demon” to a “young girl, who stands so grave and quiet”, demonstrates the stark difference between both characters, placing Jane above Bertha in Mr. Rochester’s eyes (381). We see Rochester’s desire for a silent and submissive wife through his praise of Jane being quiet in the midst of chaos. Then we see what physical qualities he desires as he shares a comparison between Jane’s “clear eyes” and Bertha’s “red balls,” and Jane’s “face” and “form” with Bertha’s “mask” and “bulk” (381-382). The contrast between the women’s features highlights the lack of humanity viewed towards Bertha. Unlike Jane, Bertha’s physical features contain more demonic and monstrous descriptors, which further separates Bertha from the image of an ideal Victorian wife.
Jane Rochester constructs Bertha Mason as a monster in an attempt to confirm herself as a better Victorian wife for Rochester. In her attempts, she discredits Bertha’s ability to act in a way fit for Victorian society; such as maintaining a feminine and proper appearance. Jane creates an image of Bertha that relates her actions and appearance to a wild animal, and by taking away Bertha’s human identity through the use of dehumanizing identifiers. Despite all this, I want to reiterate that we only receive Jane Rochester’s perspective throughout this scene. This perspective contains flaws due to the bias Jane has towards wanting to be the best option for Rochester as his wife and thus working to dismantle Bertha’s credibility as Rochester’s first wife.