Bertha-Impediment or Person?

     Narratives are all about perspective. So is the story of Bertha. Rochester, who was tricked into marrying her, and unhappy with a wife whom he cannot speak to, is certainly a biased opinion. It is virtually impossible to know if Bertha was truly mad when Rochester locked her in the attic, or if she had went insane only after the fact. The novel often treats Bertha as an object, an impediment, forgetting the fact that she is, in fact, a human being. If Bertha was truly insane, I believe Rochester did the best he could in caring for her. He made sure that she was well taken care of at all times and, though it was illegal, he truly thought marrying Jane was the right thing to do. From his perspective, he was not wrong in attempting to marry Jane. He had no relationship with his wife. It is easy to label him as the bad guy because we have a much better understanding of mental illness, whereas at this time, it was feared and misunderstood.
     Bertha is definitely a symbol for many things. She is definitely used to critique the treatment of mental illness in the time period. In addition to this, some see her as a symbol of Jane's suppression of her emotions. Perhaps she is a suggestion of what can happen to a woman who silences and suppresses pain. Bertha is not treated as human, which prompted the writing of Wide Sargasso Sea. While this is not Brontë's idea for Bertha, it is certainly interesting as it reminds us that she is a person.