Jane Eyre

Novel : Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a novel about an orphan girl's struggle in being raised by her wicked aunt and cousins and then moving to a strict boarding school. The story follows her
life as she goes to work as a governess and tutor for a wealthy household. It is at this place
where she falls in love with her master Mr Rochester. However, the love affair has complications. One of the problems with a potential marriage is that Mr Rochester has a dark secret in which he is already married to a demented woman Bertha Mason, who he keeps withheld in a room in the top floor of his mansion.
For the re-write I wish to delve into the personality of this secret wife Bertha and portray her views of the events which occur during this part of the novel. P25- 97.
I will keep all the events the same, however elaborate on the mysteries of the mad woman and her perspectives by introducing new information about this character and her motivations for the things that happen.


Re-write

It was an ordinary day for Bertha. She had got into a habit in the last year or so of her imprisoned life of waking to spend an hour of awkward dance steps and gestures which took her back to the days in which she had first met Mr Rochester before they were married. At the time, she had no knowledge that Mr Rochester's purpose of marrying her was for money so she was completely enthralled by the idea that he was deeply in love with her. Due to not being able to ever talk to her family members of love and all things pleasant, that time in her life, even though quite imaginary was very blissful. The dance steps would take her there.
Now that she spent her days in this dark moldy room mostly alone she put most of her effort into cultivating a pretend life. It had become ritualistic for her. She had truly lost it however seemed quite content.
A small window looked out over the fields towards Millcote After dance class she stared for a while soaking up the morning sun as it was her only chance to get daylight and to feel re-energized. Mrs Fairfax would be in the front garden, tending the herbs and vegetables which she found most enjoyable Bertha thought. She would do this until Grace Poole came with her morning meal. The knock would signal the next phase which was to have a gourmet meal, sumptuous and filling. In reality it was just …...................
This was to be no ordinary day for Bertha. Little did she know that a new governess was coming and this would upset the balance that Bertha had regulated in her mind about the supposed normality of the situation. In Bertha's mind, her and Mr Rochester were still together and a normal couple. The fact of being locked in a secret room was just based on a minor quarrel and was necessary and only temporary even though it had been going on for more that a few years.
The first signal of alert came from Rochester's daughter Adele who was speaking french with such enthusiasm. This was out of place. Curiosity made Bertha listen very carefully and put her ear to the ground whilst grinning with great distrust for this potential threat. Someone had arrived and was moving in to the mansion. That changed her habits dramatically. She soon discovered it was a young woman and her rage increased.

A few days later, Mr Rochester arrived home. Bertha could hear him coming up the stairs and pause for a while to prepare to meet his mad wife. Bertha was pacing back and forth and full of rage and pity. The curtain was drawn back and the key put in and the door unlocked. Bang, Bertha tried to close the door on him. He was not willing to play this game and shunted the door aggressively open as she stumbled back and started crying and then cackling with a lonely hysteria. Mr Rochester could see that Bertha wanted answers and sat on the shaggy mattress and he patted his hand on the bed to show he wanted to sit with her. She suddenly flipped her mood and ran to sit next to him with a creepy smile whilst breathing heavily. Mr Rochester shuffled over a little and pulled out some carrot cake from his pocket. Bertha took it and placed it at her make shift shrine in the corner on the floor on top of a handkerchief. Her deranged thinking was obviously in high etiquette mode in that particular moment and desert was to be saved for the appropriate time, besides it was a special gift from her sweetheart.
Now that Mr Rochester had subdued her, he contemplated telling her about Jane. Although Grace Poole her caretaker treated her like an animal, Mr Rochester felt differently and looked on her with a kind pity and even though she didn't talk knew she could understand.
He told her a new servant was her for Adele and that was all. It was as though he had to report to her and was under her control. This feeling made him feel so weak and disgusted at himself. She tried to attack him with her claws and he wrestled her arms down until she was exhausted. He left Bertha, locked the door and walked down stairs to speak with Jane.
Bertha was furious and planned to get revenge as she didn't believe a word of it.
Bertha was a crafty woman. She had managed to fool Grace many times and had stolen things from her during her care-taking. Once she stole a key for the room however would not dare use it blatantly in the case of losing it. She really didn't want to leave anyway. She only went out in the dark of night when no one was awake. Sometimes to steal food or to play with items around the house.
Bertha would never really want to kill Mr Rochester, she just wanted him to suffer for her suffering. That night, she sneaked out once everyone was definitely asleep. She took a candle light and crept into Mr Rochester's room. She stood for a while entranced by the way he lay there so peacefully. She smiled as though mesmerized. Logic kicked in and fury starting to burn within her. She stared at the flame and spun in a circle gently watching the flame that represented beauty and immense pain. She cherished it at this moment. She set the sheets alight and quietly slipped away. Once safely back in her room she sat crossed legged in her room and listened for the inevitable screams.
Jane's voice was a not expected and Bertha stamped her fist that this woman had interrupted and even saved the day.
Time went by and a group of women come to stay at Thornfield. Many guests came. Mr Rochester made a special effort to come and talk to Bertha about it and to say he knew about the fire she had lit. He said he forgave her and hoped that she would be good while the guests stayed. He promised to reward her if she stayed in her room. Bertha was hesitant to agree however, she understood and was curious of the gift to come.
While the guests were staying, a shock visit by Mr Mason, Bertha's brother happened. Mr Rochester was worried and Bertha knew why. He was the only person outside the estate to know of Bertha. The door unlocked and Mr Mason addressed his sister. He was very sad to see how much she had lost it both physically and mentally and was a little reluctant to stay in the room with her. Mr Rochester assumed she wouldn't hurt her brother so left the two of them together and went off to entertain the guests before retiring for the evening.
It was a full moon that night. Bertha was unsettled and having her brother there didn't help. Maybe he had come to take her away, she thought. As he slept in the chair, she watched him with suspicion. She thought of their childhood days and how mean he was to her and all the times he told on her. She had fought to get away from her family to be with Mr Rochester. Mr Mason snored and this made her anger escalate. She took out a knife from under a floorboard where she kept the stolen items. She suddenly attacked. Mr Mason awoke and screamed help. Bertha had stabbed him in the arm and now was snapping teeth at him. She bit him in the neck as Mr Rochester busted in. At this time the guests were all disturbed and calling Mr Rochester. Mr Rochester pushed Bertha off and tied her up while scolding her for her attack. He quickly tended to Mr Mason, put Bertha back into the secret room and then rushed off the settle the guests convincing them that it was a bad dream of one of the servants.
Bertha sat tied alone with Grace minding her as her helpless brother leaked blood all down his side and off the chair onto the floor. Pretty soon Mr Rochester returned with Jane giving Jane instructions to tend to Mr Mason. Jane knew nothing of Bertha however sensed a strange presence nearby. Bertha growled from behind the wall and Jane was lead to believe in was Grace who had attacked Mr Mason.
As morning came around Mr Rochester came back with a doctor to have a look at Bertha's brother. He took him away quietly while all the other guests were asleep. Bertha was angry that Mr Rochester wasn't exposed by the event and how Jane was involved. Grace reprimanded her over and over and she violently shook in the chair and spat in Grace's face.
Bertha was now on the edge and ready to explode. She fell over sideways on the floor and smacked her head knocking her out. Grace was a little worried but mostly relieved thinking she would wake later as she did. Besides, Grace wouldn't mind if she had killed herself anyway. It wasn't much of a life looking after this creature day after day in secrecy however it had benefits as she could often persuade Mr Rochester to do things for her as payment for this terrible burden.

After the guests had left and time went by, Mr Rochester planned to marry one of the young women named Blanche Ingram. Mr Rochester had learned that she was only really interested in his money so was not very overjoyed. Yet, he traveled to London to buy a carriage for the formalities of the wedding. During this time, Jane was excused to go off to visit her dying Aunt in Gateshead where she lived as a child.
Bertha spent this time recuperating from the past events and now that the house was quiet she simply got back into her old habits as if nothing had happened it seemed.
On returning, Jane went for a walk with Mr Rochester and told him how she felt about him and her deep love for her. He felt the same way and they decided to get married.
One that evening, Bertha heard laughter outside her window so she rushed to see. It was Mr Rochester and Jane coming back towards the house
holding hands and smiling at each other. Something was going on. Bertha began to breath heavily and uncontrollably. She couldn't believe what she had seen. She thumped at the wall and yelled. Grace came in to settle here but it was no use. Grace had ways to subdue her. She pulled out a cloth coated in Chlorophyl and covered Bertha's mouth. Bertha passed out.
That night Jane had terrible dreams and was tossing and turning in her bed. Upstairs and wide awake, Bertha pressed her ear to the floorboards and listening with great interest. She decided to venture. She slipped down stairs and into Jane's room. She then saw the a beautiful wedding dress on the chair. She took it up and looked at herself in the mirror. Next she took the veil and placed it over her head. She feel into sweet-bitter memory and then tore the veil in two. Jane stirred and Bertha inspected her closely before retiring to her quarters.

It was the wedding day. Mr Rochester and Jane and a small congression gathered for the wedding. Little did they know that Mr Mason was there and was to interrupt. When the vowels were being said Mr Mason spoke out and told everyone that Mr Rochester was still married. Angrily, Mr Rochester admitted to it and the wedding was canceled. Mr Rochester led everyone to his Thornfield mansion to reveal Bertha to everyone.
Bertha looked out the window at the group approaching led by Mr Rochester. She was in a panic. She looked to Jane and saw that Jane was disappointed. Bertha thought that maybe they hadn't gotten married and maybe she was about to be no longer hidden from society.
Bertha could her Mr Rochester explain as they walked up the flights of stairs. He was giving everyone a warning about her.
Grace was already in with soup for the day. Bertha crawled up into the corner and was more aware than the old woman who was partially deaf. The door opened and Mr Rochester said, “This is my wife”. Bertha didn't look up. Her long black hair hung down over her face and she growled feeling threatened by such an intrusion.
Later once all had left, Jane sat alone in her room. Mr Rochester came in and tried to comfort her and get things back in order. It was a difficult day for Jane. She had pretty much given up on Mr Rochester now and he tried hard to convince her that they could still be together. He decided to tell her the whole story. Mr Rochester had married Bertha for money due to his older brother taking the family fortune. Little did he know that madness ran in the Mason's family. Bertha used to be beautiful and well dressed as a young woman but eventually Mr Rochester realized she was quite stupid and that they shared nothing in common.

Jane had slept on the undecided decision she was making about Mr Rochester. In the morning she left after having a dream of her mother expressing that she should leave while she could. Mr Rochester woke to find Jane gone. He felt so upset he went up to express his anger to Bertha. Bertha screamed with an intense rage until her breath was gone.

Weeks went by and depression had crept all over the estate. Even the servants could feel the strength of Mr Rochester's lost daily. Bertha was in a permanent grudge. She was planning again and this time it would be the end of her miserable life. Mr Rochester was becoming increasing odd. He started to spend more and more time in Jane's old room and often with a bottle of whiskey stuck in is clenched fist. He would skip meals and stay in clothes for days without changing. The servants were very upset at this behaviour.
Bertha despised the memories of Jane and the room below her's where Mr Rochester was increasingly spending time. It had to burn, she thought. She was ready to destroy this place.

That night Bertha took some chalk she had taken from Adele and drew pictures on the walls of the people and events from left to right. Firstly the wedding of her and Mr Rochester. Secondly, the tragic decline of her state and her secret room. Then, Jane coming to stay and bewitching Mr Rochester. Lastly the mansion on fire. The site of the completed picture gave her peace of mind. She felt relieved that the end was her and the seeing the stages drawn out solidified her idea of setting the building a light.

The fire had to be set in Jane's room. Bertha stared out at the moon and heard the distant hoot of an owl. It was the signal. She took one last walk around the house whilst the others slept. Mr Rochester was snoring heavily, deep in alcoholic slumber. Bertha proceeded to Jane's room. She entered and could smell the stench of sweat and whiskey that Mr Rochester had left behind from all his depression. She took the chalk and drew the pictures again. This time a little more refined. The ideas had gained stronger form.
The bed would be the place of intense fire where the sins of betrayal had happened. Bertha took a half bottle of whiskey left behind and poured it all over the sheets. She then stood at the door with a candle and looked upon the scene for the last time. Satisfied, she lobbed the candle and slowly walked back upstairs as if to have no real concern for own safety.

Mrs Fairfax woke and was manic. She woke the other servants and ran to wake Mr Rochester. By this stage, Jane's room was engulfed in flames and was the heart of a raging fire that was now the Thornfield bonfire. Mr Rochester rushed to save the other servants. Grace was last servant out and then Mr Rochester went back for Bertha.
Bertha's room was now full of smoke and the door was too hot to touch. Bertha now was aware that she would either burn alive or jump to her death. She decided on the latter. She climbed through the little window and jumping with a loud yelp. She plummeted to ground head first. It was over.

Mr Rochester fled Thornfield. The mansion was reduced to a pile of ruble and taunted memories.



References

Bronte, C. Jane Eyre. (2000). Oxford University Press.
Bronte, C. Jane Eyre. (1991). London: David Campbell Publishers Ltd.