Bronte Wife In Attic

Charlotte brontë s jane eyre is well known for the shocking discovery of mr rochester s scandalous hidden wife a deranged woman locked away in an attic.

Bronte wife in attic.

Gilbert and gubar draw their title from charlotte brontë s jane eyre in which rochester s wife née bertha mason is kept secretly locked in an attic apartment by her husband. The real life attic that was the inspiration for a section of jane eyre where mentally ill character bertha mason is confined before she commits suicide is now open to the public. But astonishingly this may not have all been fiction. Bertha mason rochester s first wife was a beautiful creole woman from jamaica who rochester married years ago before she had a mental breakdown and naturally had to be locked in the attic.

The 1966 parallel novel wide sargasso sea by jean rhys serves as a prequel to brontë s novel. In the 700 page text gilbert and gubar use the figure of bertha mason as the so called madwoman in the attic to make an argument about perceptions toward female literary characters during the time period.