Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 6, 2023 May 30, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Bertha Mason, also known as the madwoman in the attic, is Mr. Rochester’s first wife whom he keeps locked in a room on the third floor of Thornfield Hall. She is a woman from the West Indies of mixed racial ancestry and is, according to Mr. Rochester, a lunatic. In his narrative of events, he was allured by her beauty and her family’s wealth and only discovered her true, unhinged nature after they were married. Rochester claims in Chapter 27 that he “found her nature wholly alien” in comparison to his own and that she had “a violent and unreasonable temper.” These descriptors of the early years of their relationship play into the stereotype of the “other” as someone who is exotic, mysterious, and sensual. While Rochester may have initially been intrigued by the idea of Bertha as an “other,” her foreign, or “alien,” attitude ultimately becomes a perceived threat to him. Since Bertha lacks a voice in the novel, it is impossible to know for sure if she truly has a mental illness or if Rochester’s biased version of events distort her true character.
What the reader does see firsthand, however, is Bertha’s behavior. Jane describes her in very animalistic terms upon seeing her for the first time, crawling around on all-fours before lunging at Mr. Rochester. This dehumanizing language emphasizes the fact that Bertha is locked up like an animal, conditions which seem to drive her to lash out at her captors. During Jane’s time at Thornfield, Bertha is responsible for setting Rochester’s bed on fire, sneaking into Jane’s room and tearing her wedding veil, and attacking her brother with a knife. All of these behaviors reflect her anger toward her arranged marriage and its subsequent decline. Setting fire to the bed symbolizes the intimacy she and Rochester never had, destroying the veil highlights her jealousy of Jane’s relationship with Rochester, and attacking her brother emphasizes her resentment towards him for allowing the marriage in the first place. Bertha’s final and most significant act, however, is setting fire to Thornfield Hall and jumping off the roof to her death. While this behavior can be seen as the pinnacle of her madness, it can also represent an assertion of her agency and a defiant claiming of independence, albeit at the cost of her life. Regardless of what her motivations may be, Bertha’s presence in the novel is significant for its time as she shows that women can and do have deep and visceral emotions.
Please wait while we process your payment