Eamon Barkhordarian Ms.

Blackburn 2/15/11 Period E

Jane Eyre Reading Log #2 Another Viewpoint I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majesticI was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her (329). I found out I could not pass a single evening, nor even a single hour of the day with her in comfortI immediately received from her a turn at once coarse and trite, perverse and imbecile (330). In this scene Rochester explains his past with his previous lover Bertha. At first, his story begins like a typical love fantasy would, but by the end, takes a turn for the worst. According to Rochester, Berthas constant uprisings and rebellions force him to lock her away. Yet, he tries to convince Jane that he wanted to shelter Bertha from society. Yet, the reader is only provided one angle and is forced to believe Rochesters side of the story. Bertha may in fact, be the sane character and Rochester is the crazy one. I will focus on Berthas possible viewpoint. Bertha could in fact be the epitome of a typical marriage at the time. An eccentric women that believed in equality between man and women, Bertha was locked away for her ridiculous views of the time. Rochester assures Jane that he locked Bertha away because she was crazy, but it in fact was the opposite. Rochester has been the one that was wild. He may have not initially locked her away in any physical form, but the traditions of women submission to men acted as a prison of its own for Bertha. Years of this form of isolation and inequality had increased her madness. As a result, Bertha being locked away on the third floor could represent the oppression on Victorian wives and women. In the quote above, Rochester described Berthas initial beauty and

Eamon Barkhordarian Ms. Blackburn 2/15/11 Period E

cheerfulness. Yet over time, as she was treated more and like an object and less valued as a human being, even she changed. The lack of freedom can sometimes push even the kindest of women overboard, a threat to their emotional well being.