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Lauren Younker

Dr. Kathleen Hohenleitner

ENG 3013-0M04

19 April 2016

The Womens Movement as Seen through Disability in Jane Eyre

Disability is frequently addressed in Victorian literature, though how it is interpreted

varies within the literary community. Typically, disability is seen as an allegory for punishment

and/or a sort of rebirth from that punishment. However, in Charlotte Bronts Jane Eyre there

is evidence to support the idea that the Womens Movement is represented through the various

disabilities seen in certain characters. Both Bertha Mason, described as mentally ill, and Edward

Rochester, who loses a hand and goes blind, represent different takes on disability in literature. I

believe that Bronts use of these two characters, and her diction and description in the novel,

allow for an allegorical interpretation of what these disabilities represent in a work of literature

by showing the drastic difference between representation in men and women.

Alex Tankard states that disability is common in nineteenth century writing and that

characters with disabilities are generally allegories for race, gender, economics, or sexuality

(1691). According to Tankard, disabilities are rarely just literal in Victorian literature. For

example, disability in Jane Eyre can be linked Biblical references which have many views on

disability and its meaning. Essaka Joshua discusses Bronts possible reasoning/intentions for

creating two characters with disabilities that add depth and intrigue to the novel (by being

characters with disabilities). Berthas madness and Rochesters blindness and hand injury can be

seen as punishments for previously immoral behavior, which in a stricter Victorian era was

probably a popular view. There is a part in Jane Eyre, right after the failed wedding of Jane and
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Rochester, when Jane first dabbles with the idea of leaving Thornfield hall, because thats the

best move to keep her morality intact (Bront 253-254). Joshua argues that we as readers can see

Janes choice to step out of the situation and not carry on as Rochesters mistress a way of

enacting Victorian values, thus sparing Jane from acquiring a figurative or literal disability, as

Rochester would later face (288). With this in mind, theres a compelling argument that Bronts

strategic placement of which characters are disabled and which are not represents a larger theme

of Victorian morality and expectations. Furthering on Rochesters disabilities, Joshua states that

Edwards blindness has been read in various ways, most of which have been negative,

solidifying that it was/is still a common idea to associate blindness with punishment (288).

Rochester himself states that his blindness was punishment for his behavior, but that this opened

him up spiritually, saying I began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom

(Bront 380). Only when he and Jane and reunited and married does Rochester begin to regain

some of his sight, being saved by Janes purity and good moralitya rebirth from his previous

life of sin (Bront 384).

Bertha is described, only towards the later part of the novel, as Rochesters mentally ill

wife. Elizabeth J. Donaldson explains that there is a general association with madwomen to the

rebellion against patriarchal England during the nineteenth century, and this appears to be

represented with the character of Bertha (99). Bertha Mason/the madwoman image can also be

seen as a compelling metaphor for the womens movement because of the way women were

depicted as mad in Victorian literature in order to keep the quintessential idea of English women

alive and well (Donaldson 100). While Bertha was dubbed mad by her husband and locked

away, theres no proof that she was actually mentally ill, but there is reference that she did not

behave like the ideal nineteenth century Englishwoman. Rochester describes Berthas madness
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in terms of acting out, specifically stating that his marriage consisted of being bound to a wife at

once intemperate and unchaste (Bront 261). Because theres no actual evidence that Bertha

was born a madwoman, though she may have very well gone mad from being locked away for

many years, her actions as a character and the response from society depict the womens

movement that was so anxiously trying to break free from Victorian behavioral expectations, and

the pushback from the patriarchy. So her mental condition means so much more to both her

character and to the story than simply just a plot device to cause Rochester and Jane their

relationship problems. Bertha occasionally escaped from the attic but was always locked back

up, until her death near the end of the novel. She shows the back-and-forth existence that

underrepresented people faced within the era. However, many readers may not see Bertha as

anything more than a plot device, perpetuating the popular idea that characters with disabilities

are nothing more than plot devices, sidekicks, or aids to the main characters. Audiences aware of

feminist criticism can see Bertha as a symbol for the oppression of women during the time, but if

one isnt looking at her character critically it would be possible to see her as just the crazy

woman in the attic who ruins everything for Jane and Rochester.

Bertha is the antithesis of Victorian women. Her existence as a character helps create the

binary between what women should not be like and what women should be like. Jane

acknowledges the double standards for women and men in her society; Women are supposed to

be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel (Bront 93). Jane however does not see

the binary issue between able-bodied and not able-bodied. The stigma associated with mentally

ill (or perhaps not even mentally ill but just different than others) people works as validation for

the able-bodied. Berthas mental instability gives Rochester an example of the type of wife he

has and the type of wife he wants/believes he deserve: That is my wife, said he. And this
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is what I wish to have with Bertha being the referenced as the former and Jane being

referenced as the later (Bront 251). Rochester uses Bertha to explain to Richard Mason,

Berthas brother who helped arrange the marriage between her and Rochester, why he wants to

marry Jane and be with someone much more sane and calm. Rochester compares Janes clear

eyes with Berthas red balls, Janes face with Berthas mask, Janes form with Berthas

bulk (Bront 251). Rochester wants his audience, mainly Mason, to feel badly for him and

understand his wish to be with a more reserved wife, not with a wife who is wild and animal-

like. In this situation, both Berthas womanhood and her presence as someone with a mental

disability are used against her for the benefit of the able-bodied man, and on a macro-level the

able-bodied patriarchy. Rochester refers to both Bertha and Jane as that and this respectively

in the quote that compares the two women, objectifying both of them. But Berthas

objectification has another layer to it, a dehumanizing layer, with her animal references.

Dehumanizing her as the Other, the one who is different thus abnormal, creates for both

Rochester and society ammunition for ableist beliefs and actions.

With the depictions of Rochesters physical disabilities and Berthas mental illness, the

reader gets a sense of just how differently these characters behave in the text, or were allowed to

behave (via outside forces, such as Rochesters imprisonment). Pulling from Rochesters claim

that Berthas madness stemmed from her wild behaviors, it is curious why Rochester is not

seen as mad himself, considering the life he lived was anything but moral according to Victorian

standards. And while he does end up receiving his physical punishment, or punishment in

terms of the Biblical aspect, for these behaviors, he is still a man allowed to live as comfortable a

life as possible, residing in a manor-house at Ferndean (Bront 366). Madness appears to be used

only when describing women of the time. Men and women have a different set of moral
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expectations in this setting, and any woman who breaks this would be cast off as someone

unstable and unchaste. Rochester even states that Bertha is the true daughter of an infamous

mother when explaining to Jane how Bertha cant exactly help the way she is because her

mother was also mad, proving yet again that the women in this family have been cast down as

mentally unstable by their actions (Bront 261). Rochester describes Berthas own brother,

Mason, as not being mad but will probably be in the same state one day in regards to how his

mother and sister are both mad (Bront 261). But Mason is not mad, and Rochester only suspects

theres a chance he may go mad because hes displeased with the behavior of his family

members. The language matters here, for we see Rochester explicitly state that the male sibling

is not mad but probably will be one day, not definitely will be.

Rochesters blindness and loss of a hand symbolizes a setback in the patriarchy during

this time in mid-nineteenth century England. Jane did well to keep her autonomy by not

marrying Rochester earlier in the novel when she had little means of independence and he had

more financial power over her, as well as status. His wealth greatly outnumbered hers as did his

name and connections. By the end of the novel, when Jane has claimed her inheritance from her

uncle and Rochester has lost his money, possessions, and able body, Jane and Rochester are on a

more equal level as partners. While it was unfortunate that Rochester had go through physical

pain to become lesser, this event humbled him, and forced him to start reflecting on himself

and the life he had been living up to this point. Losing some of his power as an established,

wealthy man gave Jane a better chance at living in an actual partnership with Rochester, and not

just existing as a wife who has no say in any matters. A physical hindering in Rochesters power

as a notable man is needed in the story for Jane, a former orphan and governess, to be on a more

equal level to him as a marriage partner and as a person in society. English women would attain
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full enfranchisement in the twentieth century, but around this era of time is when we see women

become more vocal about their rights as citizens. The rise of Jane and the fall of Rochester can

be seen as the reach for political equality in the state. I am my husbands life as fully as he is

mine Jane states at the very end of the novel, proving equilibrium was reached only after the

events of the story unfolded and each character had changed (Bront 384).

In Jane Eyre, characters with disabilities show us as readers more than just physical or

mental ailment, particularly between Bertha and Rochester. When looking at how each of these

characters are given very different forms of disabilities, Rochesters being physical and Berthas

being mental, its noticeable that these ailments can show readers the strong dichotomy between

men and women, and the expectations they were held to in Victorian society. The dichotomy

between abled and disabled is also present, intertwining with the treatment of a person with

disabilities and their level of respect based on their gender. While the male may be physically

punished for his crimes but still able to have a level of autonomy, the woman is easily

considered mad when behaving outside of the ideal nineteenth century behavior for women in

England. Analyzing the characters of Jane Eyre show us examples of how language in literature

has both been affected by and perpetuated the stigma associated with disabilities and how other

factors, like sexism, can intersect and have an impact of the prejudice.
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Works Cited

Bront, Charlotte. Jane Eyre: A Norton Critical Edition. 1847. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York:

W.W. Norton, 2001.

Donaldson, Elizabeth J. The Corpus of the Madwoman: Toward a Feminist Studies Theory of

Embodiment and Mental Illness. National Womens Studies Association Journal (NWSA

Journal) (2002): 99-119. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Joshua, Essaka. I began to See: Biblical Models of Disability in Jane Eyre. Bront Studies:

The Journal of the Bront Society (2012): 286-291. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Tankard, Alex. The madwoman and the blind man: Jane Eyre, discourse, disability. Disability

& Society (2014): 1691-1693. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.