However, when people are deeply moved by the story of Jane Eyre, one of the characters in the novel is often ignored. She is the crazy woman, Bertha Mason, who is trapped in the attic. For most readers, Bertha Mason is usually regarded as a horrible crazy woman with the eccentric behavior, and is seldom mentioned in the same breath with the heroine Jane Eyre. In fact, she is in a close relation with Jane Eyre. To some degree, without Bertha, there would be no Jane Eyre. Because of her sacrifice, Jane Eyre could pursue her love, and live a happy life. Therefore, under this premise, the author of this thesis makes a deep analysis on the character of Bertha Mason, and exposes the deep theme of this work. This paper also helps readers have a better understanding of Jane Eyre and clear up the misunderstanding for Bertha Mason to some extent.

II. An Analysis of Bertha Mason in View of Character Necessity

2.1 The Introduction of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre tells about heroine Jane Eyre who suffers from plenty of misery, and gets over the difficulties in the process of the fighting against the inequality and pursuing the freedom. Finally, she grows up as a self-reliant woman and gets a happy life in the end.

The heroine Jane Eyre is born in a poor family, her father is a pastor. Soon her parents died. Then she lives in her uncle’s home, but her aunt does not like her at all. After her uncle’s death, she lives a misery life here about ten years. Then she is sent to the Lowood orphanage. The life here is very hard too. She receives a crippling blow in spirit and body. Because of the bad condition, she loses her best friend Helen. She has studied in this school for two years. In order to make a living, she works as a tutor in the Thornfield Manor. There, she meets the hero Rochester who is the protector of her student. One day, she is awakened by a burst of laughter, and finds the room of Rochester is on fire. She wakes him up and helps him to put out the fire. Later on, Rochester wants to know that whether Jane loves him, so he often invites others. Eventually, Jane can’t bear the insult and decides to leave. Rochester determined his mind to propose to Jane. However, Bertha Mason who is Rochester’s wife and lives in the room on the third floor all the time appears in the manor. On a rainy night, Jane leaves the manor. On the way to searching for a new way of life, she experiences a number of difficulties, and has been forced to sleep outside without food and warm clothing. Soon after, Jane’s uncle leaves her a fortune, and she finds the St.John who is her cousin. She decides to split the property. When John proposes to her, she refuses. Because she still loves Rochester. When she returns to Thornfield Manor, the mansion has been destroyed, the crazy woman Bertha is dead and Rochester is maimed in the fire. Jane is shocked a lot, and eventually she finds him and marries to him and gets a happy life. The story is very simple, but it has a great impact on the literary history.