The Failed Expectations of Bertha Mason

and Miss Havisham:

Repression and Madness in Victorian Society
Farheen Ahmed
(21110069@[Link])
Lahore University of Management Sciences

Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between madness and femininity in the
Victorian Era as depicted in the novels, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre. In nineteenth
century Britain, any sign of deviance from societal norms by women was received as
an indication of insanity. Changes in the female hormone cycle were misconceived
as manifestations of insanity and consequently, many restrictions were imposed
on feminine expression in Victorian society. Miss Havisham’s and Bertha Mason’s
characters in Great Expectations and Jane Eyre respectively, are representations of
the intertwined elements of madness and femininity. They reflect the repression
that women had to endure under the sociocultural context of the time. This can
be observed through their unsuccessful marriage prospects and their symbolic
confinement to limited spaces. The imagery associated with these characters is
also suggestive of the fear and destruction that was linked with deviant women.
“Deviant”, here, refers to those who deviated from feminine ideals of the Victorian
era. The study of these characters allows a glimpse of the constraining social norms
that were a regular part of women’s lives in the Victorian era.

Keywords: deviance, femininity, insanity, social norms

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Introduction
It may be argued that one of the most distinctive elements of Victorian fiction is
the prevalence of the ‘madwoman’. Found in many notable works of fiction, the
madwoman has an ominous presence that often eludes readers. While some novels
include themes of madness through subtle depictions of hysteria, others present
more deliberately fashioned insane female characters. Both such manifestations
of femininity and madness can be observed in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Dickens’ character, Miss Havisham, is a wealthy
recluse who refuses to change out of her wedding dress since the day she was jilted
at the altar. Miss Havisham’s only satisfaction seems to come from humiliating
young boys which she does vicariously through her ward, Estella. In the novel
Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason is the infamous madwoman, who is of Creole origins
and the wife of Mr. Rochester. Discussions of insanity in nineteenth century
novels would likely be incomplete without mentions of Bertha. Having been born
in the West Indies, Bertha’s ethnicity is another source of her otherization. The
darkness of her skin is highlighted numerous times in the novel and her racial
identity is seen as a contributor to her dangerous and threatening behavior.
Throughout the novel, Bertha remains locked up on the third floor of Rochester’s
house, Thornfield Hall. He asserts that this is a necessary measure since insanity
runs in Bertha’s family, as is reflected through her violent outbursts.

Extensive analysis of these characters allows for several commonalities to emerge

that help develop an understanding of portrayals of insanity in Victorian fiction.
Though outwardly quite dissimilar, both characters exemplify the societal
limitations surrounding the female role in the nineteenth century. Examining
these characters from a critical lens reveals deeper insights into the systematic
subjugation of Victorian women. This paper endeavors to examine how the
characters of these madwomen—Bertha Mason and Miss Havisham—represent
patriarchal forces of repression in Victorian society through their failed marriages,
physical confinement, and their destructive nature. Each of these aspects will
be analyzed subsequent to creating an understanding of female insanity in the
Victorian era. In the analysis of these characters, madness is perceived as deviance
from socially accepted ideals of femininity which manifests in tandem with the
repression they suffer.

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Female Insanity in the Victorian Era

In order to fully understand these characters, it is crucial to first contextualize

the system that mandated their existence as madwomen. In The Female Malady,
Elaine Showalter (1985) details how cultural attitudes towards the female
identity impacted ideas about insanity. She highlights that Victorian asylums
housed a vast majority of female patients, whereas, almost all the superintendents
charged with the care and treatment of these women were males (Showalter,
1985). The psychiatric profession was dominated by male practitioners who
attributed this disparity to women’s anatomy. It was believed that the female
reproductive system predisposed women to mental catastrophe and insanity was
“an unfortunate product of women’s nature” (Showalter, 1985, p. 59). Showalter
draws attention to the gaps in psychiatric discourse of that time. There is a
gaping absence of the female voice from the perspectives of doctors as well as
patients (Showalter, 1985). To bridge this gap, she suggests turning to novels
and women’s diaries which offer much richer and more resourceful narratives
as opposed to the accounts of male professionals. Women’s accounts present
female insanity in the context of prevailing social conditions and identify it as
a consequence of the constrictions imposed upon Victorian women (Showalter,
1985). Showalter suggests that, rather than the reproductive system, “mental
atrophy and moral starvation” were the actual causes of hormonal behavior, that
was misconstrued as insanity (1985, p. 62). It is, hence, a warranted assumption
that madwomen appear so frequently in Victorian fiction because authors were
greatly influenced by the societal perceptions of female insanity of the time. Their
work reflects the effects of these ideas on women’s lives.

Dickens was influenced by his visit to St. Luke’s Hospital where he was astonished
by the number of female patients. He provides vivid accounts of his interactions
with the female inmates in A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree (Showalter,
1985). Similarly, Brontë abhorred the effects of solitary confinement she witnessed
during her visits to asylums and prisons. Her experiences are likely to have
shaped her ideas regarding perceptions of female insanity that are represented
in works like Villette and Jane Eyre (Showalter, 1985). Having established the
position of women in the Victorian era, during which these novels were written,
a more comprehensive analysis of the madwomen characters becomes possible.

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Failed Marriages

For both of these characters, much like most Victorian women, marriage is a
focal point in their narratives. Miss Havisham is described to love Compeyson
with “all the susceptibility she possessed” (Dickens, 2002, p. 179). It is clear that
her feelings for Compeyson have brought her to her most vulnerable state and
this has given him exercisable power over her. When she is abandoned at the
altar, it becomes clear that Compeyson only valued her for her financial status.
Miss Havisham’s identity is closely tied with her inheritance for most of her life.
Herbert, her nephew, confirms this when he proclaims, “Miss Havisham was
now an heiress and… looked after as a great match” (Dickens, 2002, p. 178).
Especially from a marital perspective, Miss Havisham is merely an object in a
marketplace, who is regarded for her monetary value. It can be conjectured that
Miss Havisham’s trauma stems, in part, from the realization that her worth and
identity are contrived from something as superficial as her wealth. Regarding
wealth as identity for Victorian women, Raphael, in her paper A Re-Vision of Miss
Havisham: Her Expectations and Our Responses (1989), comments, “the system…
limits the ability of those not powerful enough to find a secure niche… subordinate
to their profit and exchange value” (p. 403). Moreover, as an upper-class woman
who has never had to be concerned with finances due to her inheritance, Miss
Havisham is pampered and unprepared to face the practicalities of life (Raphael,
1989). Her failed alliance with Compeyson comes with the startling realization
that her self-worth is limited to her financial status alone and this continues
to haunt her for the rest of her life. The passions and desire Miss Havisham
had prior to this event remain unsatiated and transform into rage. She spends
the remainder of her life repressing her unmet desires. For Miss Havisham, a
fall from grace coincided with a broken marriage and consequently, the stain
of scandal inhibits her qualification for the female ideal. Perhaps Showalter’s
(1985) analysis holds true for Miss Havisham when she remarks, “women who
reject sexuality and marriage (the two were synonymous for Victorian women)
are muted or even driven mad by social disapproval” (p. 63).

Bertha Mason’s marriage poses a similar predicament. In agreement with his

family’s wishes, Rochester seeks only wealth from his alliance with Bertha,
thus ascribing to her a monetary value, just as was done to Miss Havisham.
Additionally, prior to the marriage, Rochester objectifies Bertha and refers to
her beauty as if, it is the sole reason behind his desire to marry her. Throughout

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Rochester’s account of Bertha, her wealth and beauty are all that define her
identity. Brontë demonstrates how the woman is seen to be of no additional value
above her superficial attributes. Once the marriage is complete and Rochester
has acquired the much-coveted wealth, Bertha gradually becomes undesirable
to him. He cites her Creole origins and her expression of sexuality as a cause of
revulsion. From being the “boast of Spanish Town,” Bertha is soon transformed
into an “impure, depraved” creature of “pigmy intellect” (Brontë, 2000, p.
261). Her racial difference and her lasciviousness do not conform to the pure
Victorian female ideal. Bertha fails to live up to the traditional feminine role and
is immediately ostracized by Rochester. Valerie Beattie, author of “The Mystery
at Thornfield: Representations of Madness in “Jane Eyre”” states that through
Bertha, “the problematic conventions of Victorian romantic courtship and the
misogynist prison-like conditions of patriarchal marriages” are exposed (1996,
p. 499). Glimpses into the courtships of both Bertha and Miss Havisham disclose
their subjugated position in these relationships as well as the many norms of
acceptability and desirability that they must meet. Any mark of deviance in either
character results in severe consequences, otherization and perhaps the onset of
“madness”.’

Physical Confinement
Another common point between Miss Havisham and Bertha is their confinement
to a single space, throughout the novels. Miss Havisham’s abode, Satis House, was
“dismal, and had a great many iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been
walled up… all the lower were rustily barred… a court-yard in front, and that was
barred” (Dickens, 2002, p. 54). Dickens’ description of Satis House matching
a prison could imply the state of its resident being similar to that of a prisoner.
Unquestionably, Miss Havisham spends her life like one. The significance of this is
twofold. Literally, Miss Havisham is shutting herself in and disconnecting from the
rest of the world. Metaphorically, this could represent both her otherization from
society and her state of mind. By being confined to a single space, Miss Havisham
is excluded from society. Raphael (1989) suggests that if Miss Havisham did not
exercise financial independence, she would have been cast into an asylum. Such a
fate is not surprising for Victorian women who behave as Miss Havisham does.
Moreover, isolating herself on her own volition indicates that Miss Havisham is
mentally trapped. Her wedding gown and the remnants of the wedding feast that

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she does not part with, force her to experience her trauma in a repeated, cyclical
manner. She is stuck in her past and cannot escape that one life-altering event—
her broken engagement. Clearly, the humiliation she experienced has changed the
course of her life permanently. Her confinement, likewise, reflects her exclusion
from society, that Victorian women would have experienced in consequence of
any scandal in their courtships.

On the other hand, Bertha experiences a much different form of confinement. She
resides in a room on the third floor, locked away. Her confinement, unlike Miss
Havisham’s, is not self-imposed. She is cast away by her husband on account of
her insanity. Whether Bertha’s insanity was pre-existing or is a consequence of
this abuse is unclear and leaves room for various interpretations. Regardless, the
conditions in which she is kept are wretched and inhumane. She is left to the care
of Grace Poole of Grimsby retreat—an asylum—whose habit of excessive drinking
demonstrates her inadequacy for the role. Quite like Miss Havisham, Bertha is
as good as an institutionalized patient while residing in her own home. Only,
Bertha does not choose this fate for herself, it is decided by society. Whether they
voluntarily opt for confinement or not, confinement seems to be the ultimate end
for the aberrant Victorian woman. However, interestingly, Bertha breaks free from
her confinement on numerous occasions. Beattie believes this carries metaphorical
significance and is an analogy for society’s view of rebellious women, “at once active
and passive, dangerous and containable, meaningful and meaningless” (1996, p.
496). She also remarks that in this way, Brontë protests the practice of disciplining
women through confinement (Beattie, 1996, p. 495). In The Madwoman in the
Attic, Gilbert and Gubar (2000) suggest that the third floor symbolizes the parts
of the world that shut women out, “Heavily enigmatic, ancestral relics wall her in;
inexplicable locked rooms guard a secret which may have something to do with
her; distant vistas promise an inaccessible but enviable life” (p. 348). Analysis
of Miss Havisham’s and Bertha Mason’s characters provides a nuanced view of
the limitations imposed upon women in the nineteenth century. Their diminished
participation in society and physical entrapment indicate how the forces of a
patriarchal society have worked against them.

Destructive Imagery

Analyzing the use of imagery in the novels will help us further

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understand their representation of madness. Beattie (1996) explains

that in Victorian times, appearance and physiognomy was taken as
an extension of a person’s character. These beliefs also permeate the
representations of fictional characters and provide insight into the
characters’ natures. In light of this, it is evident that imagery used to
describe both Bertha’s and Miss Havisham’s physical appearances do
not emanate positive characteristics. Miss Havisham is “corpse-like”
and deemed similar to “waxwork and skeleton” (Dickens, 2002, p.
57). Her appearance seems to have withered quite like her yellowed
wedding ensemble. Not only is Miss Havisham dehumanized through
her physical description, but Pip as the narrator as well as the critic
deems her the villain. In his first encounter with Miss Havisham, Pip
remarks that the sight of her makes him want to cry (Dickens, 2002).
Even after she has sought his forgiveness for her cruelty, he catches
himself morbidly fantasizing that she might die “hanging to the beam”
(Dickens, 2002, p. 396). Her vindictive streak in raising Estella to
humiliate men, perhaps, makes her quite culpable. Yet, taking this act of
vengeance at face-value is an insensitive reading of Miss Havisham; it
ignores Miss Havisham’s plight as a woman suffering from trauma. Her
entire life is structured around one event and her actions are entirely
dictated by it. Her mad rage evokes no sympathy and only earns her
the title of villain. In fact, Raphael (1989) posits that her rationale
for seeking vengeance is that “it is only through dehumanizing and
often brutal deceit and abuse that desire can be satisfied” (p. 410). It
is unclear whether Dickens intends for Miss Havisham to be seen as
a sinister figure or means to draw attention to society’s unforgiving
judgement of her. In either case, it is unjust to reach a verdict without
paying heed to her condition.

When it comes to Bertha, the descriptions of her appearance are far

more grotesque. She is a “vampire,” (p. 242) “a beast,” (p. 250) and a
“hyena,” (p. 250), capable of sucking blood and draining the heart. It
is almost unfathomable that a woman known for her beauty so rapidly

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takes on these unhuman forms. Rochester admits to desiring her as long

as she was a docile, unmarried woman. However, as soon as they are
married, he is revolted by her “unreasonable temper, or the vexations of
her absurd, contradictory, exacting orders” (p. 261). When Rochester
discovers her self-willed nature, he no longer sees Bertha as the beautiful
woman that he coveted. She deviates from the feminine ideal and this
causes her to immediately be labelled an animal. Moreover, there is
repeated emphasis on the darkness of her features and how that adds
to her monstrous appearance. This goes to show that her race is also a
contributing aspect in her dehumanization. It is also worth noting that
Bertha, despite her madness and monstrosity, does not harm Jane, the
governess of Thornfield Hall and the love interest of Mr. Rochester.
Her violence is always directed at Rochester and her brother Mason.
Though she is painted as a threat, Bertha’s offences only target those
who have had a hand in her oppression. Similar to Miss Havisham,
Bertha’s oppression and suffering is overlooked. According to Gilbert
and Gubar (2000), Bertha’s rage and aggression is also symbolic of the
way women writers felt about the patriarchal nature of society and the
male-dominated literary tradition.

In terms of imagery, another important aspect to consider is the use of

fire as a symbol in the novels. The use of flames carries connotations
of rage, intensity, passion and danger. In Great Expectations and Jane
Eyre, fire imagery is associated with Miss Havisham and Bertha Mason,
specifically in how their deaths unfold. Immediately after she has
sought forgiveness from Pip and reclaimed herself as a character, Miss
Havisham’s dress catches fire, which ultimately leads to her death. In a
similar manner, Bertha’s life ends as she plummets to her death amidst
a smoldering Thornfield Hall. As characters whose lives were colored
with passion, repression and rebellion, such a spectacle of their deaths
is suggestive of a highly tragic but symbolic end. Perhaps, it represents
the fate of the deviant Victorian woman—the flame of rebellion at last
put out and the menace subdued. Thus, the symbolism associated with

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the madwoman conveys how nonconformity in women is received as a

threat or danger to society and necessitates being tamed.

Conclusion

It seems that from an outward perspective Miss Havisham and Bertha

Mason are worlds apart. Yet, the experiences of both these women are
quite alike in a number of ways. They are both victims of a system
that is meant to operate entirely against them. Their passion and rage
stem from the disadvantage of their womanhood. Inevitably, this raises
questions about the link between femininity and hysteria or madness.
It is evident that this is a cultural construct. Victorian women who
deviate from the norm, show self-will and ambition, are denounced in
society. Miss Havisham and Bertha offer us insight into the meaning
of this otherization in the lives of women. Their presence is symbolic
of the injustices in the system and the outrage brewing within women
who recognize their secondary place in society. Deviance and rebellion
in women, it appears, had no place but in the asylum, in Victorian
society.

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References

Beattie, V. (1996). The Mystery at Thornfield: Representations of Madness in

“Jane Eyre”. Studies in the Novel, 28(4), 493-505. [Link]
stable/29533162
Brontë, C. (2000). Jane Eyre (R. J. Dunn, Ed.). Norton.
Dickens, C. (2002). Great Expectations. Penguin Books.
Gilbert, S., & Gubar, S. (2000). The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer
and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Yale University Press.
[Link]
Raphael, L. (1989). A Re-Vision of Miss Havisham: Her Expectations and Our
Responses. Studies in the Novel, 21(4), 400 -412. [Link]
org/stable/29532671
Showalter, E. (1985). The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture,
1830-1980. Penguin Books.

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