The concept of Bertha as an obstacle to Rochester and Jane’s love is displayed through Rochester’s narrative to Jane, where he attempts to tell the story of his wife. Bertha is presented as a manipulative, cunning and witch-like figure. She is portrayed as the villain to Jane and Rochester is the victim of her deceptive nature. ‘I was dazzled, stimulated; my senses excited…she allured me…’ (Chapter 27) The use of these adjectives and the verb ‘allured’ creates a powerful image of Bertha enchanting Rochester and enticing him in to the marriage. Rochester claims he was ‘ignorant, raw and inexperienced’ and so was wooed by Bertha. Bronte’s one dimensional monster is evident once again as Bertha has no opportunity to narrate her side of events. Bronte allows Jane to give Rochester a voice and yet denies Bertha this privilege; this is a significant narrative strategy as it conveys to the reader that Bertha is not a central or even significant character whose side of events is worth reading about. This subtle technique ensures that no sympathy towards Bertha is felt as the reader is only aware of Bertha’s demeanour as portrayed through Jane and Rochester’s eyes.
Rochester’s portrayal of himself as a naïve and innocent man seduced by a cunning woman is starkly contradicted in ‘Wide Sargasso Sea.’ Christophine confronts Rochester over his treatment of Antoinette and adds a new dimension to the ever unfolding counter story: ‘Everybody know that you marry her for her money and you take it all’ (Part Two) Christophine powerfully suggests to the reader that Rochester is the evil and cunning character, her Creole dialect, with its simple, direct language making the accusation even more forceful. Christophine’s conversation with Rochester conveys that Rochester managed to make Antoinette think she loved him through convincing her that he was madly in love: ‘You make her think you can’t see the sun for looking at her.’ Rochester’s reply to Christophine: ‘It was like that…’ (Part Two) conveys that he did make Antoinette love him rather than being lured in by a ‘witch.’ During Christophine’s confrontation with Rochester over Antoinette the technique of repetition is used for Rochester’s mental reply. This is powerful as it shows how guilty Rochester if feeling. He accepts ‘it was like that.’ The repetition intensifies the sympathy felt towards Antoinette by the reader as the narrator of this part of the book, a narrator who is Antoinette’s antagonist, accepts and reinforces the words of Christophine.
Rhys directly rewrites many claims Rochester made to Jane about Bertha. For example he says: ‘Bertha Mason is mad, her mother…both a mad women and a drunkard…Bertha copied her parent in both points.’(Chapter 26) These statements are short and forceful, leading the reader to believe in them without question. Rhys responds to the mad image of Bertha by countering the argument that she inherited her mother’s illness: ‘They tell her she is mad, they act like she is mad…in the end she give up…care for nothing.’ (Part Two) Rhys suggests through Christophine that, like her mother, Antoinette was driven to the state she is seen in throughout ‘Jane Eyre’ by Rochester’s ill treatment of her. Rochester repeatedly portrays Bertha as a drunk, which reinforces the images of her as negative and uncontrollable previously presented. He couldn’t ‘…bear the continued outbreaks of her violence and unreasonable temper or the vexations of her absurd, contradictory exacting orders.’(Chapter 27) The use of negative adjectives (absurd, contradicting and exacting) suggests that Bertha’s mental state was unstable and inconsistent. Rhys provides reasons for Bertha’s state, which she felt was described so heartlessly by Rochester in ‘Jane Eyre’. Antoinette breaks into Christophine’s account and describes travelling to Christophine at night: ‘O Pheena, Pheena, help me.’ (Part Two) This additional detail conveys the extent of Antoinette’s desperation and unhappiness. Christophine tells Rochester how she ‘let her have rum…I know that won’t hurt her.’ Antoinette appears to have wanted help only because of Rochester. Christophine says: ‘You bring that worthless girl to play with…you talk and laugh and love so that she hear everything. You meant her to hear.’ (Part Two) The list of ironically pleasant verbs and alliteration used emphasises the thoughtless and harsh actions of Rochester towards his wife. Antoinette is not considered a worthless mad drunk, but a young woman driven to the edge of desperation through her selfish and unloving husband.
Rochester refers to his wife as ‘Bertha’ at all times during ‘Jane Eyre.’ Her identity lies in this name; ironically it is very British However ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ reveals Rochester’s wife is actually called ‘Antoinette’, a far more delicate and feminine proper noun.
Rochester repeats his wife’s name, pairing it with marionette in ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’: ‘Marionette, Antoinette, Marionette, Antoinette.’ (Part Two) This tormenting rhyme of Antoinette as a doll shows she is being manipulated and controlled. Rochester renames Antoinette in ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’: ‘My name is not Bertha, why do you call me Bertha?’ (Part Two) The reader learns that Bertha is not Antoinette’s real name and not one she warmed too. Rochester’s explanation for renaming his wife (‘…because it’s a name I’m…fond of. I think of you as Bertha…you must be Bertha’ (Part Two)) conveys that he wants to break the persona of Antoinette and create a new firmly British wife, Bertha. Rochester’s attempt to steal Antoinette’s identity is seen as successful when we re-read ‘Jane Eyre’, where Bertha is the sole human name used in reference to Rochester’s wife.
In ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ the reader learns that Antoinette writes pleading with her brother to take her away from Thornfield, ‘…this place where I am dying…’ In ‘Jane Eyre’ the reader has no understanding of why, upon Richard’s visit, he is attacked savagely by her: ‘the poor man groaned…I heard the snarling, canine noise and a deep human groan.’ (Chapter 20) Jane’s description of what she heard whilst tending to Richard’s wounds directly depicts Bertha as dog-like. This vicious presentation is transformed in ‘Wide Sargasso Sea.’ Rhys describes the meeting, giving reasons for Antoinette’s desperate actions: ‘He looked at me as though I were a stranger.’ (Part Three)Antoinette’s attack on her brother appears to come from her sad realisation that her brother could not ‘interfere legally’ between Rochester and herself. This was further pre-empted because Richard appeared to not even recognise his changed sister. It is comprehendible to the reader that Antoinette would behave irrationally when not even her brother could help or recognise her. Grace Poole, Bertha’s minder, acknowledges Rochester’s cruelty in ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’: ‘I don’t believe you know how long you have been her, you poor creature.’ (Part Three) This is significant because it shows Bertha is no longer aware of the concept of time, having been locked up for so long. These factors provide human depth to the seemingly animalistic attack on Mr Mason in ‘Jane Eyre’.
The ending of ‘Jane Eyre’ emphasises Bronte’s one dimensional depiction of Bertha. Jane returns to find Thornfield Hall destroyed. Jane and the reader learn that Thornfield has been burnt down by Bertha. Bronte presents Bertha as a mad woman possibly seeking revenge for Rochester’s love of Jane ‘…as if she knew somehow matters had gone on…’ (Chapter 36) The final images of Bertha enable no emotional understanding of her: ‘she was standing, waving her arms…shouting out…’ (Chapter 36) The reader does not know what she was shouting or why she took this drastic action and so can only conclude that Bertha was a mad and desperate woman who deliberately set out to burn Thornfield and all its residents. The image of Bertha’s ‘…long black hair…streaming against the flames…’ reinforces this conclusion by depicting Bertha as witch-like and hellish. Countering this image is that of the heroic Rochester: ‘…when all was burning…he went back to get his mad wife…’ (Chapter 36) In ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, however, he is presented through Antoinette’s dream of the fire as ‘the man who hated me’ shouting ‘Bertha!’(Part three) The death of Bertha is not the end of Bronte’s novel. This is significant as it reinforces the fact that Bertha is not a central character and was designed to be a hurdle for Rochester and Jane’s love to overcome. Jane’s justly famous statement, ‘Reader, I married him.’ (Chapter 38), could not have been written without Bertha’s death.
In ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ Rhys naturally develops Antoinette’s death, exploring her state of mind and reasons for the fire. The narrative pace increases as Antoinette describes her dream and the reader realises it is a prophetic dream of her final fate. This premonition is an effective device as it enables the reader to understand Antoinette’s actions and feelings: ‘I saw the grandfather clock…I saw the orchids and the stephanotis...I heard the parrot call…’(Part Three) Rhys rewrote the ending leaving the reader feeling Antoinette did not commit suicide but escaped into the world she loved. ‘…when I looked over the edge I saw the pool at Coulibri…the sky so red…I jumped and woke’ (Part Three). ‘Woke’ can be interpreted as Antoinette meaning she woke from the nightmare of England.
Antoinette’s final dream encompasses the symbolism which runs throughout the book, flowers and the colour red symbolise Antoinette’s passion and beauty. This contrasts to Jane Eyre, where Bertha is described as having ‘a discoloured face’. Rhys’ symbolism can be seen as very foreboding when we re-read the book: ‘Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched.’ (Part One) This could be interpretated as a metaphorical depiction of Antoinette’s fate; a beautiful woman condemned to a life of solitude. The colour red is associated with Antoinette, it appears in all her dreams and her favourite dress is also red. Antoinette’s passionate nature is symbolised though this colour and the many references to fire.
The narrative technique is important in the final stages of ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, as we return to Antoinette’s first person account. Antoinette regains control from Rochester and Grace Poole’s narrative, which leaves her in a dominant position regarding reader sympathy and depicts her as an innocent woman driven to insanity bravely escaping her terrible life to her past happiness.
This ending is far from the unexplained actions of a mad woman endangering many lives. Instead it draws upon Antoinette’s unhappiness at being taken away from her home and family. The state Antoinette is in is presented as being the direct result of her treatment by Rochester and not an inherited illness as claimed in ‘Jane Eyre’ Antoinette’s foreseen death is an act of rebellion rather than suicide which results in the reader respecting Antoinette and perceiving her as a strong character as she escapes to her past in Coulibri. The ending of ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ is crucial to Rhys’ rewriting of ‘Jane Eyre’ as the reader learns the extent of the impact Rochester’s treatment has had on Antoinette.
To conclude, Rhys develops a stereotype of madness and racial otherness into a tragic human figure by presenting her with a history and with thoughts and feelings. Rhys stresses that there are always two sides to every story (she even allows Rochester a point of view), a notion Bronte does not entertain regarding Bertha at least. As well as ‘vindicating the mad woman’ of ‘Jane Eyre’, Rhys has also explored a significant moral. We must not pre judge people but should try to understand and take into consideration their circumstances in order to form a balanced view, as Rhys said: ‘There is always the other side…always.’