The Significance of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre to the Construction of the Feminist Theme

Jane Eyre is a realistic novel with romantic overtones.While readers are impressed with the heroine Jane, they tend to neglect the important role of the character Bertha Mason in the work.The image of Bertha, in fact, is a revealment of women's situation of Victorian period when women in England suffer intolerable oppression from patriarchal society.Women are deprived of the right to vent out their miserable experience and then are forced to be submissive.However, Bertha, who should have been quiet and obedient, has been taking "abnormal" and "crazy" actions to sheer off her feelings.Therefore, it is reasonable to regard Bertha as a positive feminist in reality.Thus, the paper explores how the author employs Bertha Mason so as to present the theme of feminism.The paper points out three aspects of the significance of Bertha Mason to the construction of the feminist theme: 1) the mad Bertha is the human shape of the madness in the heroine Jane; 2) Bertha herself is a representative of feminist in reality; 3) the sacrifice of Bertha signifies an end of the patriarchalism in the work.