Introduction
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), a seminal Victorian novel, explores themes of identity, belonging, and exclusion through its portrayal of characters who exist on the margins of society. This essay examines how the novel constructs and contrasts the figures of the “Other” and the “Outsider” via a postcolonial lens, focusing on the characters Bertha Mason and Jane Eyre. The core thesis argues that Brontë illustrates innate differences between the Other—embodied by Bertha as a racialised, colonised figure who remains irredeemably alienated—and the Outsider, represented by Jane, who ultimately reassimilates into English society. By analysing racial differences, marriage dynamics, and Christian values, this essay draws on postcolonial critiques to evaluate how the novel both reinforces imperial stereotypes and subtly resists them through Jane’s trajectory. Contextual factors, such as Victorian imperialism and racial hierarchies, shape these representations, highlighting the novel’s enduring relevance in critiquing constructions of alterity. The discussion will proceed by examining Bertha as the Other, Jane as the Outsider, their contrasting engagements with Rochester and marriage, and the broader implications for postcolonial readings.
Constructing the Other: Bertha Mason
In Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason epitomises the postcolonial concept of the Other—a figure defined by racial and cultural difference that renders her perpetually excluded from the dominant English society. Bertha, a Creole woman from Jamaica, is depicted through animalistic and monstrous imagery, reinforcing colonial stereotypes of non-European subjects as savage and uncontrollable. For instance, Rochester describes her as a “clothed hyena” that “rose up and stood tall on its hind-feet” (Brontë, 1847, p. 321), employing metaphor and zoomorphism to dehumanise her. This literary technique underscores her irredeemable otherness, aligning with Edward Said’s notion of Orientalism, where the colonised are portrayed as inherently inferior to justify imperial domination (Said, 1978). Bertha’s racial background, tied to the West Indies’ plantation economy, contextualises her as a product of Britain’s slave-owning past; her “madness” is not merely psychological but a manifestation of colonial trauma, as critics like Spivak argue (Spivak, 1985).
Furthermore, Bertha’s characterisation as a “mystery” that “broke out now in fire and now in blood” (Brontë, 1847, p. 221), as provided in the query, uses gothic imagery and personification to evoke fear and unpredictability. This portrayal resists simplistic vilification by hinting at the violence inflicted upon her—locked in the attic, she symbolises the repressed horrors of empire. However, the novel largely reinforces her otherness by denying her agency or voice; she is spoken about but rarely speaks, a silence that postcolonial scholars interpret as the subaltern’s inability to be heard in imperial narratives (Spivak, 1985). Contextual Victorian attitudes towards race, influenced by pseudoscientific theories of racial hierarchy, shaped Brontë’s depiction, making Bertha’s otherness appear innate rather than constructed. Indeed, her laughter, described as “demonic” and “a savage, a sharp, a shrilly sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall” (Brontë, 1847, p. 111), employs onomatopoeia and hyperbole to exoticise and pathologise her Creole heritage, contrasting sharply with the restrained English decorum.
The Outsider: Jane Eyre
In contrast, Jane Eyre embodies the Outsider—a figure marginalised by class, gender, and orphan status but capable of eventual assimilation into society. Jane’s outsider status is evident from her early experiences at Gateshead and Lowood, where she is treated as an interloper; she reflects, “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall: I was like nobody there” (Brontë, 1847, p. 15), using simile to highlight her alienation. However, unlike Bertha, Jane’s whiteness and Englishness allow her to navigate and ultimately integrate into societal norms. This distinction is crucial in a postcolonial reading, as it reveals how racial privilege enables mobility for the Outsider while condemning the Other to perpetual exclusion.
Jane’s connection to Rochester illustrates her potential for reassimilation. The query’s quote—”He is not to them what he is to me… I feel akin to him” (Brontë, 1847, p. 184)—employs introspective narration and metaphor to convey a profound, almost spiritual bond, suggesting that outsiders can find kinship beyond social barriers. Similarly, the “string” imagery—”it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame” (Brontë, 1847, p. 263)—uses symbolism to represent an unbreakable emotional tie, facilitating Jane’s integration. Her temporary idolisation of Rochester—”He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun” (Brontë, 1847, p. 287)—draws on celestial metaphor to depict her devotion, yet she later reconciles this with Christian values, marking her growth from outsider to assimilated wife.
Contrasting Engagements with Marriage and Christian Values
The novel’s treatment of marriage and Christian ideals sharply distinguishes Bertha and Jane, reinforcing racial hierarchies while resisting total exclusion for the Outsider. Bertha’s marriage to Rochester is portrayed as fundamentally incompatible due to her race and alleged madness; Rochester recounts her descent into “intemperate and unchaste” behaviour (Brontë, 1847, p. 322), using moralistic language to frame her as antithetical to Victorian Christian marriage. Postcolonial analysis reveals this as a projection of imperial anxieties; Bertha, as a colonised woman, cannot adopt the “servitude” expected in English unions because her Creole identity is constructed as inherently rebellious (Meyer, 1996). Her confinement symbolises the failure of assimilation, with Rochester’s description of her as “the foul German spectre—the Vampyre” (Brontë, 1847, p. 293) invoking supernatural metaphor to exoticise and demonise her, underscoring that she “can/will never” conform due to racial difference.
Conversely, Jane assimilates through marriage, embracing Christian values of companionship and duty. Her promise to Rochester—”I will be your neighbor, your nurse, your housekeeper… to be eyes and hands to you” (Brontë, 1847, p. 465)—employs parallelism and domestic imagery to signify her willing servitude, aligning with Victorian ideals of wifely submission. This reassimilation is enabled by her racial and cultural proximity to English norms, as postcolonial critics note; Jane’s outsider status is temporary, resolved through moral fortitude and faith (Spivak, 1985). However, the novel resists outright reinforcement by critiquing the patriarchal structures that marginalise both women—Jane’s refusal of bigamy and her inheritance empower her, arguably subverting imperial gender roles. Contextual factors, such as the 1833 Emancipation Act and rising abolitionist sentiments in Britain, influenced Brontë’s ambivalent portrayal, making Bertha’s otherness a foil to Jane’s redeemable outsider position.
Reinforcement or Resistance in Postcolonial Context
Jane Eyre both reinforces and resists representations of the Other and Outsider, reflecting Victorian imperial ideologies while offering evolving critiques. Through Bertha, the novel reinforces the Other as racially irredeemable, perpetuating stereotypes that justify colonialism; her fiery death—”she was standing, waving her arms, above the battlements” before leaping (Brontë, 1847, p. 445)—uses dramatic imagery to symbolise the destruction of colonial threats, aligning with imperialist narratives (Said, 1978). Yet, it resists by humanising Jane’s outsider journey, showing how societal margins can be transcended, thus critiquing class-based exclusion.
Postcolonial lenses, such as those from Spivak, highlight how Bertha’s silencing enables Jane’s voice, reinforcing Eurocentric feminism at the expense of the colonised (Spivak, 1985). Gilbert and Gubar’s feminist reading complements this, viewing Bertha as Jane’s “mad” double, resisting simplistic othering by linking their oppressions (Gilbert and Gubar, 1979). Ultimately, the novel’s enduring relevance lies in its exposure of how race constructs alterity, inviting modern critiques of ongoing outsider dynamics in globalised societies.
Conclusion
In summary, Jane Eyre constructs Bertha Mason as the unassimilable Other through racialised depictions and failed marriage, contrasting her with Jane Eyre, the Outsider who reintegrates via Christian values and emotional bonds. This reinforces imperial hierarchies but resists total exclusion by empowering Jane’s agency. Postcolonial analysis reveals the novel’s contextual ties to Victorian racism, yet its critiques remain relevant, prompting reflection on contemporary representations of difference. By illuminating these dynamics, Brontë’s work endures as a site for evolving discussions on identity and belonging.
References
- Brontë, C. (1847) Jane Eyre. Smith, Elder & Co.
- Gilbert, S. M. and Gubar, S. (1979) The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Yale University Press.
- Meyer, S. L. (1996) Imperialism at Home: Race and Victorian Women’s Fiction. Cornell University Press.
- Said, E. W. (1978) Orientalism. Pantheon Books.
- Spivak, G. C. (1985) ‘Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism’, Critical Inquiry, 12(1), pp. 243-261. Available at: JSTOR.
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