Gilbert and Gubar - The Madwoman in the Attic

Reading Journal – Session 7 – 6/12/2016

Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar – The Madwoman in the Attic: A Dialogue of Self and Soul: Plain Jane’s Progress

·         Matthew Arnold: Charlotte Bronte’s mind contains nothing but “hunger, rebellion and rage”

·         “alarming revolution” following the “invasion of Jane Eyre”

·         contemporary critics shocked by “anti-Christian” refusal to accept the forms, customs, and standards of society = rebellious feminism

·         Jane’s anger perceived as horrifying: a heroine who wishes to escape society’s conventions far more dangerous to the audience than one interested in sexuality (as was another point of critique)

·         example for female Bildungsroman: problems encountered by the protagonist as she struggles from the imprisonment of her childhood toward an almost unthinkable goal of mature freedom are symptomatic of difficulties Everywoman in patriarchal society must meet and overcome:

o   oppression (Gateshead)

o   starvation (Lowood)

o   madness (Thornfield)

o   coldness (Marsh End)

·         Jane’s encounter with Bertha is the books central confrontation, it is an encounter not with her own sexuality but with her own “imprisoned hunger, rebellion and rage”, a secret dialogue with self and soul

·         metaphor of fire and ice to represent Jane’s experiences

·         escape through flight or escape through starvation, or escape through madness

·         deliberate allusions to pilgrimage

·         both Miss Temple and Helen Burns are something like mothers to Jane, feeding her, embracing her, counseling her

·         Adèle Varens, Blanche Ingram, Grace Pool all serve as negative role models for her

·         Jane and Rochester set up as spiritual equals

·         Rochester with secret of masculine potency and male sexual guilt and through this is her superior instead of her equal

·         Bertha as the most threatening avatar of Jane, doing what Jane wants to do, being her truest and darkest double

o   not only acts for, but also like her

·         “true” relatives with names from the Bible

·         Rochester’s proposal as fire of passion, St. John’s as ice

·         only through Rochester’s injuries can they shed society’s restraints on their different ranks and finally see each other as equal

This text certainly raises important points concerning Jane’s journey throughout the text, the important stations she has to live through as well as the meaning and purpose of the people she encounters in these symbolic settings. Analysis of the prominent metaphors of fire and ice, prophetic dreams and female sexuality and yearning for freedom are interwoven with the prominent position of Bertha Rochester as Jane’s darker evil double, living out the secret desires that Jane has to suppress. The text gives a comprehensive account of the most important aspects of the book. I especially like the interpretation of the function of Bertha Rochester. While the book itself subjects her to the most cruel treatment, physically, mentally and verbally, reducing her in a way that can only be done because she is a racial other, her role seems more profound through this interpretation, as a representation of Jane’s deepest and darkest desires.