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Post by harleen5 on Nov 17, 2015 22:51:55 GMT
Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s published paper The Madwoman in the Attic: the Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination shows how Bertha Rochester symbolizes the female voice that is often silenced in society and literature. By analyzing the novel Jane Eyre, one may conclude that Jane, and perhaps Charlotte Bronte herself, may have their own reasons for not wishing Bertha’s voice to be heard. One possibility is Bronte wished to demonstrate how it is difficult for women to overcome society’s preconceived labels. Bertha’s tragic story reveals that not all women are able to be successful in breaking social norms. It is also interesting that Bertha’s story is a double to Jane’s. Despite their similarities, Jane is able to develop into an independent, self-assured women who find her identity. Yet on the other hand, Bertha is so lost in her struggle to find love and security that she only desires death. Ultimately, it is their different viewpoints on life and ability to find control in their lives that separate the two women. Bronte may wish to show how rising above to find independence, love, and individuality is what gives a women a voice and her rightful place in society. Bertha’s hopelessness and defenselessness prove how she was so easily muffled by the patriarchal society she could not find a place in. The author in general might have been trying to hint at the fact that we all have a Bertha “hiding” in our attic; basically, we all have a bit of Bertha’s characteristics in us that we do our best to hide, and we pretend to be as “Jane-like” as possible. Bronte may also have known that society would reject her work if Bertha’s voice was heard because at the time, women were to be dainty, frail, pure, and angelic. Bertha would have caused too much of a backlash due to her characterization being on the other end of the spectrum.
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Post by Emily Werkheiser on Nov 18, 2015 23:07:26 GMT
Harleen, I completely agree with your reasons for why Bronte did not wish to give Bertha a voice. I thought that your comment about how "Bronte may wish to show how rising above to find independence, love, and individuality is what gives a women a voice and her rightful place in society" was especially insightful. To elaborate on this topic, I think that by depicting Bertha as a voiceless woman with no ability to think for herself greatly aided Bronte's attempt to make a statement that society's unjust expectations of women to stay in the home, be submissive, and forfeit their independence was wrong and could have extremely negative effects on a woman's mental state.
Do you think that the reader would see Jane's decision to return to Rochester differently if Bertha's voice was heard, and if so, how might it effect the meaning of the novel as a whole?
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amyyu
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Post by amyyu on Nov 18, 2015 23:40:00 GMT
Good point Harleen! I agree with what you said about how Bertha's silence represents the universal silence that women in nineteenth-century had to face. Bertha's personality, which deviated from the norms imposed by society, was also an important factor in why Bronte chose to "silence" Bertha in the novel and treat her as a secondary character. To expand on this idea, Bertha's mental illness could also explain why Bronte chose to not give the reader insight on Bertha. During that time period, it was seen as humiliating and strange to have a mental condition, and women were expected to simply rest in bed all day for months on end in order to recover. Because of society's perception on people who were insane, Rochester chose to keep Bertha locked up in the attic and imprisoned in one room. This shows how Rochester played the typical dominating male role and resorted to keeping Bertha confined in order to treat her illness. Bronte didn't make Bertha's voice heard in the novel because she wanted to highlight the negative connotations that society associated with mental conditions and insanity. Another reason is that she also wanted to bring light on the effects of confining women in a single room and show how this method will not only fail to make the patient better, but also drive them more towards insanity. Bertha's acts of stabbing Rochester and burning down Thornfield contribute to the effects of confinement and how imprisonment actually worsened her mental stability.
Emily, to respond to your question, the reader's perceptions of Jane might change and Jane would instead be seen as someone who is foolish enough to go back to a man who neglected his wife and even worsened her mental illness by keeping her confined in the attic. If Bertha's voice was heard, the meaning of the work would shift from a focus on Jane and her journey towards happiness and independence and instead mainly reflect the struggles towards equality that women had to face during that time period.
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Post by matthewzhang on Nov 20, 2015 1:34:51 GMT
Amy, I think I disagree with your point about Jane being foolish to return to Mr. Rochester is Bertha's voice was heard. I think this shows the amount of strength and perseverance Jane has against society's social norms. If Bertha's voice was heard and Jane went back towards Mr. Rochester, it might even be an act of vengeance to avenge the madness and pain Bertha went through. Jane wants to show the world that even under the power of a cruel and twisted man, women still have the will power and strength to live on and fight. Jane's acceptance of Rochester shows that she is not afraid of men's superiority, it shows that she is willing to confront and embrace those hardships head on.
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Post by oliviamccubbins on Nov 21, 2015 1:57:45 GMT
Harleen I thought your interpretation of us all wanting to be Jane- like was good but I have to disagree. I believe Bronte was making the point that all of us have part of us like Bertha and that and that we should strive to be like Jane finding a positive outlet for what upsets us. Furthermore I think that she was saying we to to find ourselves instead of keeping ourselves bottled up.
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Post by ndefilippis on Nov 21, 2015 6:30:31 GMT
Harleen, I thin kthat the reason Bertha is silenced is less about Bronte making her point less subtle and more about Bronte showing the oppression of women by Victorian English standards. I thin kBronte not giving Bertha a voice relates to her point about women being suppressed. We know that Bronte is trying to make this point because of Jane's speech about how women have the same desires as men, but are suppressed. I think Bertha not having a voice is just a symbol for a woman's oppressed side, rather than Bronte being subtle about her point. i.e. the fact that Bertha doesn't have a voice is because she represents women oppressed by society
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