Introduction
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte has representations of trauma woven within its narrative. Hailed as a manifestation of Bronte’s life, almost an autobiographical work, Jane Eyre is a story of a young woman who’s dealing with the ghosts of the childhood while she endeavours to shape her life as an adult.
Jane Eyre in the eponymous classic tries to negotiate through the different stages of her adult life on the basis of her impressions and learnings as a kid. Beneath her simple person lies a childhood and adolescence of isolation marked by bouts of traumatic experiences. She had been trying to break free, and live her life on her own terms since a long time. However, every time she finds herself in a situation where she has little control over what happens to her.
Traumatic as might her predicament, this helplessness over the events of her life may sound, these seem little when compared to the tribulations of Bertha Mason, the first Mrs. Rochester. Caught in a bad marriage in a country not her own, Bertha is living the life of a lunatic, housed on the third floor of stately Thornfield Hall. She is invisible to everyone, and not allowed to meet anybody. Her appearance later in the story, and vivid descriptions of her mannerisms bring home the extent of her condition.
When their lives cross, the interplay between Jane and Bertha’s tryst with trauma provides a captivating insight into the psyche and condition of women in 19th century England. At the same time, this interplay of apocalyptic events and expressions from each other’s life (Bertha and Jane) fulfils stylistic functions within the narrative, supported by visual vocabulary of the text.
This essay begins with describing the main causes of Bertha and Jane’s trauma, and the effect on them. Thereafter, it will comment on the various ways trauma functions within the narrative of Jane Eyre, adding to its pace, mood, and style.
Bertha Mason never had a chance to introduce herself. Whatever is known of her is through people. The first and only formal introductions to her character were performed under uninviting circumstances. Richard Mason had challenged Edward Rochester’s marriage to Jane Eyre at the altar, claiming the presence of a first wife. In his foul mood, Rochester leads the party to the third storey of his house, where Mrs. Poole and “her charge” stayed behind multiple doors.
Rochester’s tone was not kind in introducing Bertha, nor was the author’s description of her behaviour,
What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it grovelled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face. (Bronte, 380)
Rochester was sarcastic, and bitter in his tone when he described the events leading to their marriage. Bertha was born of Creole parents, and was married to Rochester (as he claims deceitfully). By Rochester’s own admission, it was not a happy marriage, “with a defrauded wretch, already bound to a bad, mad, and embruted partner!” Though the line has been addressed to Jane, it nevertheless comes close to defining how Bertha was dealt with.
Her instable behaviour was termed as genetic lunacy, passed on from her mother. No attempt seemed to have been made to rehabilitate/cure her. Instead, Bertha was locked up permanently for 15 years (approximately), left to deal with life within her confines, with only Mrs Poole as her in-charge (maybe doctor?).
Though not exactly an antagonist in the book, the character of Bertha comes in sharp contrast to the Jane’s calm demeanour under all the circumstances. Perhaps, this is why Bertha is often seen as Jane’s alter-ego, hinting that with so much restrictions on her person, this is how Jane feels inwardly (Juplit, 1999) However, an encounter between the two, mediated by Mr. Rochester diminishes such a possibility, and accords Bertha the status of a real human being.
Jane Eyre
The protagonist of the story is a plain girl, who’s come to work as a governess as Thornfield Hall, and has caught the fancy of the owner of the house. The book unravels her lonely and unjust childhood, with emphasis on The Red Room where Jane’s aunt punished her when she was young. Jane dejected her punishment because she believed she did not do anything to be locked up inside that room for hours. She would wonder why is she “always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned.”
As a child, she could never express how she felt inside that Red Room; however, with age, she would often explore her feelings and try to express them as vividly as she could. The need to be morally correct, and resist domination (especially by men in her life) remained perennial sites for struggle in Jane’s life as the story progressed (Grudin, 147)
The various encounters between Bertha and Jane reflect how the lives of the two of them are intertwined beyond the common link (Edward Rochester). Intertwined not as dependents on each other, but drawn to each other. Initially, it was Jane who would take walks along the corridor of third floor, or tried to seek the mystery lurking behind the closed doors (Juplit)
Later, Bertha would pay her visitations in her dreams/nightmare. Jane had again spotted Bertha a couple of night before her wedding, when the ‘madwoman’ had split her wedding veil into two. Few authors opine that Bertha was a figment of Jane’s imagination, in that she would see herself in Bertha. As a child, Jane was declared “a mad cat” with her “nerves not in good state.” Could she be imagining a grown up image of herself who’s turned vile with passion? (Juplit)
Trauma and the Narrative
Jane Eyre has dominant Gothic style elements. The fascination with exotic or supernatural is one of the prime characteristics of Gothic style. The way trauma and its lunatic effects have been built into the narrative, it adds to the writer’s and readers’ love for everything exotic. Until the point of Bertha’s introduction as Mrs. Rochester, one could only sense her presence. Jane was more than willing to do believe in and encounter the “tale my imagination created, and narrated continuously; quickened with incident, life, fire, feeling, that I desired and had not in my actual existence.” (Bronte)
The story started with a usual setting: a new, young, governess arrives at a manor, expected to catch the eye of the man of the house, which she does. However, the twists to the regular tale are supplied by Jane’s recounting of her own childhood experiences of The Red Room, and later by the presence-absence of Bertha. The encounters between Jane and Bertha are fantastical in narrative as well as description. They also supply symbolic thought and pet the reader’s appetite for supernatural. Bertha ripping Jane’s veil was a bad omen because the wedding was subsequently called off two days later (Grudin, 148)
Similarly, the series of events surrounding Bertha, Rochester, and Jane add pace to the narrative. One moment, Rochester and Jane are on the way for their hurried yet intimate wedding at the Church, another moment they are climbing the stairs of the manor to meet the mysterious Mrs. Rochester (or ex-Mrs. Rochester), who was there “in the deep shade, at the farther end of the room, a figure ran backwards and forwards” (Bronte, 379)
The negotiations with the past events of life in the present time also set the course for future happenings. While the Red Room belongs to Jane’s earlier life, Bertha is also Rochester’s ghost from the past, which is haunting his future bride. Jane dreamt of a child for seven consecutive nights, only to learn that her cousin John Reed had committed suicide seven days ago. Bessie had hinted at the ominous effect of dreaming a child. Reed’s death added to the fictional world of superstitions, and their effects on the people’s life.
Coming of Age Style of Narrative
The events from the main characters’ past lives woven intricately into the narrative helps understand how and why have they come to be like what they are. For example, despite her affections for Rochester, and her sympathies for his predicament (being trapped in a bad marriage with a lunatic), Jane decides to call off the marriage on moral grounds.
This insistence on moral uprightness and fairness could stem from her experiences as a kid in the Red Room where she was punished for no fault of her own. She hated it when people and life were unjust to her. So she wouldn’t do anything that was generally considered immoral.
Similarly, even though Rochester resembles high-bearing and dominating male heroes of Victorian romances, Jane and the readers develop sympathies and extra affinity for him when his marriage with Bertha is revealed, along with the accompanying emotional trauma.
Last but not the least, when Jane decides to marry Mr. Rochester towards the end of the story, it is on her own terms. With the death of Bertha, the question of morality of their marriage has been resolved. At the same time, she has been able to convince Rochester and herself of their being equal individuals, and equal partners in the wedlock.
While Jane was devoid of, and always yearning for a father figure in her life, the men she came across sought to dominate her, control her ways. However calm and pliant Jane appeared on surface, inwardly she yearned for equality, and grip on her own life and fortunes. Towards the end of the story, Rochester was amiable to Jane as his wife, and at the same time, Jane had become malleable to the idea of a slightly superior husband, superior in age, and wisdom.
Resolving the Trauma
The book achieves closure on all the fronts, the frayed ends, and the raw nerves. Talking primarily about the protagonists, we begin with Bertha who committed suicide, thus putting an end to her own agony, as well as those of Mr. Rochester and Jane. Her end was not a calm one, but as dramatic as the rest of her tale and appearances.
Jane had been able to come to terms with her dilemmas, and yearned to go back to Mr. Rochester. As per him, Edward Rochester was a much different man now. He was not sure of his reception by Jane once she discovered his blindness. But she was more forthcoming than he was with Bertha, and accepted him wholeheartedly.
Conclusion
The essay outlined the functions played by trauma as it was woven into the narrative of Jane Eyre. Rather than focus on the protagonists Jane and Mr. Rochester, the role of trauma has been explored with emphasis placed on Bertha Mason. Her appearances, descriptions, tragic tale, lunacy, encounters with Jane, and the tragic end provide a Gothic setting to the entire story, in addition to the architectural and locational settings. It sets pace, and the mood for the story. The characters continuously negotiate with the past experiences of their life, and come to terms with their bad memories and relationships. Towards the end of the book, Bertha, Jane, and Rochester achieve freedom from their traumatic memories once they express, and deal with that they had merely registered as an event of their life.
Works Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. "Jane Eyre. 1847." Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York: WW Norton & Company (2001): 1995-2000.
Grudin, Peter. "Jane and the Other Mrs. Rochester: Excess and Restraint in" Jane Eyre"." Novel: A Forum on Fiction. Vol. 10. No. 2. Duke University Press, 1977.
Juplit, Richard. “The Personification of Oppression Through a Doppelgänger Double.” 1999. Accessed from < http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/eyre.doppelganger.html>
