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Description:

This video covers the plot of Jane Eyre, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. In it, Jane Eyre, an orphan-turned-governess with a miserable childhood falls in love with her new boss, Mr. Rochester. He has it all: looks, money, a crazy wife locked up in the attic. What’s a girl to do?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:07

Jane Eyre, a la Shmoop. It's no secret that everybody has a few skeletons

00:12

in their closet. Or in their attic. Some secrets are more shocking than others.

00:21

For instance, keeping your mentally unstable ex-wife hidden in your attic.

00:27

Yep, that's Mr. Rochester's scandalous secret. Bertha Mason, the madwoman in the attic, plays

00:33

a large part in the plot of Jane Eyre. So, what's her role in the book?

00:40

She might be a reflection of Rochester's past. Not a pretty picture.

00:46

After Rochester married Bertha, he soon realized she was not the right fit for him.

00:51

Whereas, Rochester is literally locking away his past and is ready to start a future with

01:00

his new British bride. Bertha could also be a warning to Jane.

01:10

Rochester seems to be an upstanding guy—aside from that whole wife-in-the-attic thing.

01:19

Rochester started out reasonably happy with Bertha, but she was eventually locked away

01:24

from the world. Could that be Jane's fate, too, if she doesn't

01:28

please Rochester? After all, what's to stop Rochester from throwing

01:34

Jane in the basement? The room's available. Finally, Bertha could be Jane's alter ego.

01:41

Being a foreigner, Bertha is not your traditional British Victorian housewife.

01:47

But neither is Jane. She's feisty and independent, which isn't the norm.

01:53

When Jane is locked in the red room, she goes bananas, like when Bertha freaks out that

01:59

she's locked in the attic. Jane complains about the expensive veil Rochester

02:05

buys her. Enter Bertha. Like an elf sent to do Jane's

02:11

bidding, she destroys the veil. Bertha and Jane have a lot in common, but

02:16

it's sometimes hard to see because they're so superficially different.

02:20

So, what role do you think Bertha played in Jane Eyre? A reflection of Rochester's past?

02:26

A warning? An alter ego? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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