Understanding Jane Eyre Through Bertha Mason Anonymous College

One reason why Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, is a huge success is because of the intriguing narrator-reader dynamic. The narrator – Jane herself – develops a certain kind of intimacy with the readers throughout the autobiography. Although readers may feel as if they have a strong understanding of Jane, there are ambiguous moments in the text that leave the readers questioning the entirety of Jane’s character. While it is true that readers know quite a bit about her thoughts, they know very little about her subconscious desires. Using Freud’s notion of the subconscious, and Bertha Mason as the key to understanding the narrator’s deepest desires, readers can develop a complete characterization of the narrator. Hence, Jane Eyre is often acclaimed for its intimate characterization of its pinnacle character created through numerous asides with the readers, consequently developing a seemingly sophisticated understanding of the narrator. However, it appears that readers are intimate only with Jane’s conscious angelic self, and distant with her unconscious demonic half, thus begging readers to question if they can ever truly understand all aspects of the narrator. Although, if readers analyze Bertha Mason to achieve a complete...