# Bertha Mason — Jane Eyre character guide

> Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bertha Antoinetta Mason, Antoinetta, Bertha, Mason, Miss Mason

**First appearance:** 0028-xxvi

## Snapshot

The unseen woman in Thornfield's attic whose laughter and midnight fires haunt Jane's new life, and whose existence shadows Rochester's past.

## Who they are

Bertha Mason lives hidden behind a locked door on Thornfield's third floor, tended by Grace Poole while her husband plays the restless master below. Her strange laugh, her violence, and the servants' frightened whispers turn the great house into a place where something is deeply wrong. She is the mystery Jane cannot solve and the reason Thornfield's romance carries a buried dread.

## Relationships

### [Frederick Lynn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/characters/frederick_lynn)

_social_

Barely connected; Bertha's existence is known to Frederick only through Rochester's secret.

### [Frederick Lynn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/characters/frederick_lynn)

_social_

Barely connected; Bertha's existence is known to Frederick only through Rochester's secret.

### [Frederick Lynn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/characters/frederick_lynn)

_social_

Barely connected; Bertha's existence is known to Frederick only through Rochester's secret.

## In the story

### [The Night of Terror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/chapters/xx)

The hidden assailant, described as biting and attacking Mason like a tigress.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/chapters/xxv)

The intruder is implied to be Bertha, described as a tall, dark-haired woman with a savage face who tears the veil.

### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/chapters/xxvi)

Bertha is revealed as Rochester's living wife, a madwoman confined to the third storey of Thornfield Hall.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/chapters/xxvii)

Referred to as Rochester's mad wife, whose existence prevents Jane from marrying him.

### [Chapter XXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/chapters/xxxvi)

Died by jumping from the roof during the fire, which she started.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/characters/bertha_mason
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jane_eyre_se/characters