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Bertha Mason is probably the most memorable character in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. But … aside from contributing to the super-creepiness of this book, and aside from providing a major plot twist, what, exactly, is Bertha Mason doing in Jane Eyre? Here’s the 60second Recap® on Bertha’s symbolic importance.

Video Transcription:

There’s something on the third floor, Jane. And it’s coming to get you.

It’s a ghost …

It’s a madwoman …

It’s Mr. Rochester’s wife!!!

It’s also the central symbol of this book.

Some people say that Bertha Mason, the crazy lady on the third floor, is a symbol of the Victorian woman as a “lesser” member of society. Without rights of their own, Victorian women were literally locked away from participating in a male-dominated world. No wonder they felt like going crazy.

But there’s another interpretation of Bertha that I think is even better: It’s Bertha as a symbol of Jane’s hidden rage against an anti-female, unenlightened society.

Think about it. Even though Jane loves Rochester, she still has her doubts about marrying him. Jane fears a lack of independence and the imprisonment that marriage could bring.

Bertha literally is imprisoned by Rochester, and not only is she the one who rips up Jane’s wedding veil—her existence is also what keeps the wedding from going forward.

If you watched Recap 2, you know that some of the conflict in this book is manifested in Jane’s character. And Bertha is key to that. You could say that Bertha expresses what Jane can’t express. She is a symbol of the way Jane wishes to destroy the limited—and limiting—views of women that her society buys into.