I am woman....hear me roar.....
9 years ago
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Madness
Scenes of madness and insanity are among the most important plot devices in Jane Eyre. From the vision Jane sees when locked in the bedroom at Gateshead to her hearing the "goblin laughter" she attributes to Grace Poole, to the insanity and wretchedness of Bertha Mason, madness is of central importance to the plot and direction of the story. Give examples of madness in the text, and show how they affect the reader's understanding of the character experiencing the madness and how these examples affect the reader's understanding of the characters witnessing it.
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3 comments:
Beyond the obvious madness I think there is some madness in Mr. Rochester. He has this wife up in the attic that he pretends isn't there and thinks he can go on and marry Jane without any consequences (or so it seems he thinks that way).. I think he had been living it so long and had so convinced himself that she wasn't really his wife that he didn't think about it in the right way.
I guess I need to start taking notes while I am reading these book club selections. I don't have any specific examples, and truthfully this was not the theme that stood out in the plot, to me.
Yes, I think Mr. Rochester experienced a type of madness (or helplessness) seeing no future for his life. Then when he saw that he was losing Jane he was "mad" with desperation at losing his true love. Also, Jane, when she knew she had to leave because of her principles and beliefs speaks of "laws and principles" and their worth (p. 322)and goes on to say "They have a worth - so I have always believed: and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane - quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs." The decision process, the heartbreak, her principles, and how much she loved him and would have to part from him...probably made her feel a little "crazy".
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