Jane Eyre Novel Analysis

The text which we will study is an extract from chapter 26 of the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Brontë in 1847. The story is that of Jane Eyre, an orphan, and her trials and tribulations trough life. In chapter 26, Jane Eyre is ready to get married with Edward Rochester, a rich, mysterious man. However, the ceremony is interrupted by the accusation that the husband-to-be is already married to a Creole woman named Bertha, which is something Rochester does not deny in the slightest. The wedding is thus put on hold; the bridegroom goes to see his wife along with Jane, in a secret room. This text’s main theme is the transformation of a woman into a monster, but this apparent madness coming from Bertha could be explained by looking further into the text. We will thus first have a look at how the Creole woman is seen as a monster and how her act can be explained, we will then focus on Rochester, his thoughts, and the future he might have in store for Jane.

In this extract, Bertha’s personification into a beast is quite clear: she attacks Rochester on sight, struggles with him and tries to bite him. All this can be explained by the social context in which the novel is built, as well as a few hints that show Bertha’s motives in attacking Rochester.

The first clear reason for Bertha’s apparent madness comes from her origins: she is a Creole woman, a foreigner. At the time of the writing of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, the scare of foreigners among the British was still a