Bronte Wife In Attic

Bertha mason full name bertha antoinetta mason is a fictional character in charlotte brontë s 1847 novel jane eyre she is described as the violently insane first wife of edward rochester who moved her to thornfield hall and locked her in a room on the third floor.

Bronte wife in attic. The real life attic that was the inspiration for a section of jane eyre where mentally ill character bertha mason is confined before she commits suicide is now open to the public. In the 700 page text gilbert and gubar use the figure of bertha mason as the so called madwoman in the attic to make an argument about perceptions toward female literary characters during the time period. Though it has been considered a feminist work it also fits into the genre of the gothic novel due to that pesky little detail of rochester s mad wife locked away in an attic. But astonishingly this may not have all been fiction.

Through the concise plot summary of jane eyre that follows the reader will get an overview of the book that made charlotte brontë famous. The 1966 parallel novel wide sargasso sea by jean rhys serves as a prequel to brontë s novel.