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British Literature Videos 176 videos
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Jane Eyre 72991 Views
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Description:
This video covers the plot of Jane Eyre, a novel by Charlotte Brontë. In it, Jane Eyre, an orphan-turned-governess with a miserable childhood falls in love with her new boss, Mr. Rochester. He has it all: looks, money, a crazy wife locked up in the attic. What’s a girl to do?
Transcript
- 00:07
Jane Eyre, a la Shmoop. It's no secret that everybody has a few skeletons
- 00:12
in their closet. Or in their attic. Some secrets are more shocking than others.
- 00:21
For instance, keeping your mentally unstable ex-wife hidden in your attic.
- 00:27
Yep, that's Mr. Rochester's scandalous secret. Bertha Mason, the madwoman in the attic, plays
- 00:33
a large part in the plot of Jane Eyre. So, what's her role in the book?
Full Transcript
- 00:40
She might be a reflection of Rochester's past. Not a pretty picture.
- 00:46
After Rochester married Bertha, he soon realized she was not the right fit for him.
- 00:51
Whereas, Rochester is literally locking away his past and is ready to start a future with
- 01:00
his new British bride. Bertha could also be a warning to Jane.
- 01:10
Rochester seems to be an upstanding guy—aside from that whole wife-in-the-attic thing.
- 01:19
Rochester started out reasonably happy with Bertha, but she was eventually locked away
- 01:24
from the world. Could that be Jane's fate, too, if she doesn't
- 01:28
please Rochester? After all, what's to stop Rochester from throwing
- 01:34
Jane in the basement? The room's available. Finally, Bertha could be Jane's alter ego.
- 01:41
Being a foreigner, Bertha is not your traditional British Victorian housewife.
- 01:47
But neither is Jane. She's feisty and independent, which isn't the norm.
- 01:53
When Jane is locked in the red room, she goes bananas, like when Bertha freaks out that
- 01:59
she's locked in the attic. Jane complains about the expensive veil Rochester
- 02:05
buys her. Enter Bertha. Like an elf sent to do Jane's
- 02:11
bidding, she destroys the veil. Bertha and Jane have a lot in common, but
- 02:16
it's sometimes hard to see because they're so superficially different.
- 02:20
So, what role do you think Bertha played in Jane Eyre? A reflection of Rochester's past?
- 02:26
A warning? An alter ego? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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