I found it quite interesting that in Jane Eyre, Rochester is hiding Bertha Mason from the world all the while regretting that he ever married her, on the flip side Bertha (Antoinette) was the one who initially had the thought of not going through with the marriage. At the same time, she confides with him that she was caught sleeping underneath a full moon one night long ago and was scolded as doing this would cause a person to go insane. Adding the family history of insanity this foreshadows what is about to happen to Antoinette. I argue that even the hesitation that Antoinette felt towards marrying Rochester is also a prediction that the marriage will not go so well for either party, even though Rochester insists that they should still go through with it (kinda ironic that he is the one to push the marriage, but latter hides his wife from the world). Now the real question is, since Rochester was married to Bertha Mason at the same time planning a wedding with Jane and England doesn’t believe in polygamy, could the wedding even have taken place? Okay, the world may or may not know of Rochester and Bertha’s union, but eventually it will come about and what then? Would the Church even recognize the marriage of Jane and Rochester? If they had kids would they then be considered illegitimate? I would argue yes they would. Though I believe with a little bit of bribery the Church would nullify Rochester and Bertha’s marriage and recognize his marriage to Jane.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post John, and definitely agree. It seems not only ironic that Rochester pushed this marriage to Bertha (Antoinette), and paraded her as if she were a "show pony" leading up to the marriage, while later when her mental instability became further apparent, he locked her away in a dark room away from the world as if to say if she is out of sight, out of mind. He seemed to hope with desperate fever that by hiding Bertha, the marriage never existed. However, I believe you are on to something. Had the marriage to Jane gone through, it seems completely logical that not only would the marriage not have been recognized legally, but yes, the children (should there have been any) would be considered illegitimate.
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