Jane Eyre Rebellion Research Paper

When an individual is kept locked away from society for an extended period of time, said individual will rebel against his or her authority. In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, it becomes evident that Bertha Mason and Jane Eyre share similar hardships and personality traits with one another. They have comparable pasts and the same extreme nature of passion which lead to each of their rebellion.

In the case of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, protagonist Jane is in the custody of her Aunt Reed for just under a decade, chastised by her cousins and beaten by her superior. During her painful years there, she develops a rebellious and passionate mentality. It wasn’t until Jane turns eighteen that she learns of her counterpart, Bertha, who represents

Lack of interaction with the world ultimately lead to their rebellion. Jane is isolated from the rest of the outside world, even as a child; Bertha, similarly, barely sees the light of day in her years in the attic. Bertha represents Jane’s more animalistic and unreasonable side, which often nullifies her other, more sound mentality of reason. Jane expresses this raging passion in quarrels with her aunt, speaking of her lack of freedom, starting at the age of nine: “I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up,” At such a young age, Jane recognizes how her aunt abuses her, and that one day she would have her own freedom, which is why she tells Mrs. Reed she would not see her again when she is older. Jane has a strong sense of independence early on and Bronte plays this up by having Jane speak of the future, and how she wants to be free from her family and not depend on them. There are only a few times in which Jane is so

Bertha involuntarily ruins Jane’s marriage and impedes her happiness. Both women are disregarded and overlooked: Bertha (due to her delegation to an attic for a long period of time) and Jane, as a result of her class as a governess and orphan. As a child, Jane was often sentenced to the red-room - the room in which her Uncle Reed died - just as Mr. Rochester confined Bertha to the attic of Thornfield. After Jane’s traumatizing experiences with being locked away, rather than being frightened for the rest of her life, she became angry at the discriminatory actions of her aunt: “No severe or prolonged bodily illness followed this incident of the red-room: it only gave my nerves a shock, of which I feel the reverberation to this day.” (Chapter 3). Jane’s time spent in the red-room symbolizes Jane overcoming her struggle to gain freedom and independence. Her experiences in the room show how she overcomes the initial fear of the dark and ghosts, just as she defeats the feeling of being deficient; becoming more independent and passionate about her decisions and feelings. Although there were never “severe or prolonged bodily illnesses”, Jane states that she was in fear for a good amount of time after the “incident”, which leave a long lasting impression on someone as passionate as