Post by rcb1008 on Nov 18, 2015 22:16:30 GMT
Between Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea Jane and Bertha both exhibit many similarities and differences. I hate two part questions so let’s just talk about the differences in regard to how each chooses to live her life. Jane in the simplest form is strong willed. I found it most interesting while reading Jane Eyre that Jane is able to emerge as the heroine that she is amongst all the struggles she faces. This is directly foiled by Bertha’s inability to cope with her own misfortunes. The major difference between the two characters is Jane’s ability to defy expectations and Bertha’s acceptance of her predestined place in society. The “Women’s Sphere” article speaks of the “model woman,” or what society (at the time) deemed to be the description of the perfect female. Such characteristics include being delicate, frail, pure, and passionless. Jane’s persistence to defy expectations is an explicit foil of the above characteristics and is highlighted in her speech on pages 111-112 where she claims: “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex” (Bronte 111). In this quotation Jane pleads that man’s sufferings are no different than women’s, and therefore both should equally be free to resolve his/her conflicts with an independent will. I definitely agree with this point, which is why Bertha’s troubles bothered me so much. In Wide Sargasso Sea it is evident that Bertha is deeply affected by being neglected by Mr. Rochester, but doesn’t do anything about it. This is obviously due in part to the stereotype or “status quo’ that women should remain passive. Along with her segregation, this unwillingness to improve her situation leads to Bertha going mad.
