THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: THE OTHERNESS OF BERTHA / ANTOINETTE MASON IN CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S JANE EYRE AND JEAN RHYS'S WIDE SARGASSO SEA

Abstract

Many readers who are familiar with the Victorian literature are aware of Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece Jane Eyre. In the book, the lunatic lady held locked on the third floor of the house, may have stuck in your mind along with some thought-provoking questions. Who is Bertha Mason in reality? Why is she locked up? Is she really mad or does the narration show her to be a mad woman? And if so, what are the causes of her madness? In Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys manages to find answers to these questions and illuminates the readers by indicating that there is another side to the coin, constructing her own version of it. In the light of above information, the aim of this paper is to shed light on the otherness of Bertha / Antoinette Mason, in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.