Editing Jane Eyre (section)

===Chapters 26–32===
* '''[[Bertha Antoinetta Mason]]:''' The first wife of Edward Rochester. After their wedding, her mental health began to deteriorate, and she is now violent and in a state of intense derangement, apparently unable to speak or go into society. Mr Rochester, who insists that he was tricked into the marriage by a family who knew Bertha was likely to develop this condition, has kept Bertha locked in the attic at Thornfield Hall for years. She is supervised and cared for by Grace Poole, whose drinking sometimes allows Bertha to escape. After Richard Mason stops Jane and Mr Rochester's wedding, Rochester finally introduces Jane to Bertha: "In the deep shade, at the farther end of the room, a figure ran backwards and forwards. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell… it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face." Eventually, Bertha sets fire to Thornfield Hall and throws herself to her death from the roof. Bertha is viewed as Jane's "double": Jane is pious and just, while Bertha is savage and animalistic.<ref>{{cite book |title= Madwoman in the Attic after Thirty Years| first =Gilbert I | last = Gubar II |publisher= University of Missouri Press |year= 2009}}</ref> Though her race is never mentioned, it is sometimes conjectured that she was of mixed race. Rochester suggests that Bertha's parents wanted her to marry him, because he was of "good race", implying that she was not pure white, while he was. There are also references to her "dark" hair and "discoloured" and "black" face.<ref>{{cite web |first=Carol |last=Atherton |title=The figure of Bertha Mason |url=http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-figure-of-bertha-mason |website=victorianweb.org |access-date=3 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715031946/http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-figure-of-bertha-mason |archive-date=15 July 2014 }}</ref> A number of writers during the [[Victorian period]] suggested that madness could result from a racially "impure" lineage, compounded by growing up in a tropical West Indian climate.<ref>Keunjung Cho, ''Contextualizing Racialized Interpretations of Bertha Mason's Character'' (English 151, Brown University, 2003) http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/cho10.html Retrieved 30 May 2020.</ref><ref name="Nygren 2016 117–119">{{cite journal|last=Nygren|first=Alexandra|date=2016|title=Disabled and Colonized: Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00144940.2016.1176001?scroll=top&needAccess=true|access-date=|journal=The Explicator|volume=74|issue=2|pages=117–119|doi=10.1080/00144940.2016.1176001|s2cid=163827804}}</ref>
* '''Diana and Mary Rivers:''' Sisters in a remote moors house who take Jane in when she is hungry and friendless, having left Thornfield Hall without making any arrangements for herself. Financially poor but intellectually curious, the sisters are deeply engrossed in reading the evening Jane appears at their door. Eventually, they are revealed to be Jane's cousins. They want Jane to marry their stern clergyman brother so that he will stay in England rather than journey to India as a missionary. Diana marries naval Captain Fitzjames, and Mary marries clergyman Mr Wharton. The sisters remain close to Jane and visit her and Rochester every year.
* '''Hannah:''' The kindly housekeeper at the Rivers home; "…comparable with the Brontës' well-loved servant, Tabitha Aykroyd."
* '''St John Eyre Rivers:''' A handsome, though severe and serious, clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. St John is thoroughly practical and suppresses all of his human passions and emotions, particularly his love for the beautiful and cheerful heiress Rosamond Oliver, in favour of good works. He wants Jane to marry him and serve as his assistant on his missionary journey to India. After Jane rejects his proposal, St John goes to India unmarried.
* '''Rosamond Oliver:''' A beautiful, kindly, wealthy, but rather simple young woman, and the patron of the village school where Jane teaches. Rosamond is in love with St John, but he refuses to declare his love for her because she would not be suitable as a missionary's wife. She eventually becomes engaged to the respected and wealthy Mr Granby.
* '''Mr Oliver:''' Rosamond Oliver's wealthy father, who owns a foundry and needle factory in the district. "…a tall, massive-featured, middle-aged, and grey-headed man, at whose side his lovely daughter looked like a bright flower near a hoary turret." He is a kind and charitable man, and he is fond of St John.