1
The “Other” on the Island and in the Attic
In the novels Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, both
protagonists have colonial doubles against whom they define themselves to display their
differences and to achieve a greater sense of what it means to be English. The process in these
novels mirrors that of English colonization since the English created their identity through
oppositional comparison to the colonial natives. In this process, the English started with a fear of
these peoples, which led to them hold these “others” captive or in servitude. In the end, the
“other” had to disappear through death or from the diminishment of their importance as England
began to lose power over its colonies.
Englishness is defined as having “‘more harmonious thoughts, what seemed better
regulated feelings’, ‘allegiance to duty and order’, ‘quiet’, apparent ‘content’, ‘disciplined and
subdued character’, ‘tranquility’” (Thomas 83). The qualities that are thought to be English are
those of constraint and intellect rather than passionate actions or expressions. Robinson Crusoe
has fleeting moments of emotion but for the most part he is focused on his survival, as well as
the amount of food or supplies he has. The record of his life while on his deserted island operates
as a list of tasks he has done as well as an inventory of the amount of materials he has
accumulated on the island. It would be thought that, upon finding himself stranded alone on an
island, he would express more feelings of loneliness or fear of his situation. Though he
occasionally does this, for the most part he is just concerned with providing himself with all the
materials he needs for a comfortable life. Jane Eyre, though, has a passionate childhood that is
looked on as unnatural by her aunt and cousins. She is sent to school so that her faults of being
overly emotional and rebellious can be corrected to create a “sound English character” (Bronte
2
431). Jane learns through her friendship with Helen Burns to calm her emotions as well as not to
declare open revolt against restrictive forms of society. By the time she is at Thornfield she is
externally in control of herself though she remains restless with her limited position as a
governess. In order to fit into English society Jane has to internalize emotions and appear as fits
her status, plain and Quaker-like. Robinson Crusoe becomes the exemplified version of English
control, reason, and entrepreneurship that allows him to turn a deserted island into economic
profit that eventually can be settled by a community. Jane Eyre displays the imaginative and
rebellious, yet restrained qualities of England as a country of restlessness that is discontent to
remain on its island, despite the fact that it is prevented from further colonization.
All nationalities that are not English become the “other” in the novels as seen through the
depictions of Bertha Mason and Friday. Imperialism, Reform, and Englishness in Jane Eyre
states that “Hall, in commenting on the period, writes, ‘In a social world in which identity was
always defined in relation to “others”, the “others” of the manly independent individual were the
dependent and the subjected - the woman, the child, the servant, the employee, the slave - all of
whom were characterized by their dependence’” (Thomas 85). Along with this list of others are
the colonized nations of the English. This is seen through the two novels since the pairings are
between the independent characters of Jane Eyre and Robinson Crusoe with the dependent and
subjected characters of Bertha Mason and Friday. Jane Eyre contradicts this definition of
dependency, though, because it creates an independent character who is both female and a
servant. This role would typically be seen as dependent, but Bronte gives Jane agency as well as
independent thought. Thus, the established difference between the female characters of the novel
is over the matter of Englishness. They both have tendencies of passionate outbursts, but Jane,
through her English education, learns to repress hers, while Bertha, with fewer social restrictions
3
in the West Indies, does not learn this. Also, she fits within the stereotypes of colonial peoples
lacking self-control, which is depicted in Jane Eyre through the descriptions of Bertha as
beastlike. They have many similarities in that they are inclined to be emotional and are both
punished for this by imprisonment, they both inherit wealth from English colonies, and both
eventually marry Rochester. Jane Eyre closely follows the tradition of defining the protagonist
through the “other”, which establishes the way the English view themselves, but also the way
they contrast that identity with the colonized.
Within the novel Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason is portrayed through her dependence to her
English husband, Rochester. This is because she is thought to be mad and unable to take care of
herself so he must protect her and himself by confining her to his attic. Rochester also depends
on Bertha as a means to gain wealth since he was the youngest son and inherited little from his
father. Jean Rhys’ 1966 rewriting of Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea, focuses on Bertha’s
perspective and past that is not given in Charlotte Bronte’s novel. Through this, Rhys makes it so
Bertha, or Antoinette, “has life, agency, spirit and exercises it outside and against ‘the man who
hates her’” (Burton 61). Rhys’ presentation of the character is very different from Bronte’s since
she does not make her entirely reliant on Rochester, but instead shows the reader her life before
she meets him. This allows the reader to sympathize with her more and not just view her as an
obstacle to Jane Eyre’s marriage. Displaying the story from Antoinette’s perspective introduces
the more complex issues in the colonies and the tension that existed there after the Emancipation
Act that freed slaves, even though the West Indies continued to be in a state of colonization. It
offers a colonial perspective of the English unlike the other texts that are written by the English
for the English, thus portraying them as outsiders who do not understand the situation, yet judge
it for themselves. Wide Sargasso Sea, when read along side Jane Eyre, offers a larger picture of
4
the world of English imperialism where not just the English point of view on the situation is
given.
In Jane Eyre, the connection between the colonizer, Rochester, and the colonized, Bertha,
is similar to the English relationship to the colonies since they view themselves as helping to
“civilize” them in their “soul-making” mission (Spivak 244). However, Bertha is portrayed as
“degraded by passion” so that she cannot be educated or civilized (Thomas 40). She is “othered”
by her inability to act in a manner deemed socially proper by English society. Thus she is turned
into a mad animal that needs to be locked up. Bertha becomes the expressed version of Jane
Eyre’s internal passions that are only externally expressed in her early childhood. Jane and
Bertha “have often been seen as different manifestations of the same subject, and the madness,
savagery and animality of the one woman only the external manifestation of the uncontrolled
rage and passion of the other” (Azim 178). These descriptions illustrate the colonial people as
unable to control their passions, emotions, or selves, causing them to be viewed as
animalistically acting based off of instincts instead of reason, while the English pride themselves
on being civilized due to their ability to control and conform to restrictions. Jane Eyre initially
has difficulty fitting into this expected role. She is always restless but, through her time at
Lowood, has found different ways to express her passions that are thought to be more
appropriate, such as through art.
Bertha is described as Jane’s “‘dark double’ who ‘acts like Jane’ and also ‘acts for Jane’”
(Lee 41). They are in the same position of being separated from the rest of English society
through either their class or nationality and are both brought into English society by Rochester.
Though they react differently, Bertha “acts like Jane” when her passionate outbursts cause her to
be locked up, like Jane is locked in the red room by her Aunt Reed. She also “acts for Jane” in
5
her eventual destruction of the English manor and the restrictive Englishness that keeps the
“othered” dependents from being viewed as human whether they are compared to animals or
elves. Both are viewed as unnatural or inhuman by those around them which prevents them from
receiving sympathy. Rochester describes Bertha in animalistic terms focused on turning her traits
into inhuman aspects, while he regards Jane as a fantasy figure. They are denied human qualities
in either case, which isolates them more from the English upper class that wants to ignore their
existence or look down on them in scorn.
Friday, unlike Bertha, is viewed as trainable by Robinson Crusoe. He is initially rescued
by Crusoe from being eaten by the tribe that captured him, as is their custom. This event displays
the English interference with normal practices of the natives that they view as savage, though the
natives see no immorality within their actions. Crusoe not only interferes with the natives but he
names Friday, thus establishing his relationship with him as being that of colonizer to colonized.
The practice of naming comes from early English colonial history since they would frequently
name the places they “discovered” without wondering if these places already had names. His
relationship with Friday begins with a sense of ownership since he believes that he saved
Friday’s life and so has the right to have him as a servant. Friday appears to willingly fulfill the
role of servant that is given to him, though this could be the English perspective that savages,
once trained, would want to help them. He refers to him as “my man Friday” and names him for
the day in which he saved Friday’s life (Defoe 203). Thus in many ways Crusoe only regards
Friday through his service his relationship to himself. Friday, as Crusoe’s double, highlights
Crusoe’s ability to survive on an island while keeping his English sense of propriety intact as
Crusoe teaches Friday to behave in a more “civilized” manner.
6
The recognition of the “other” as a distorted double causes fear within the English sense
of self. Upon discovering Bertha’s existence, Jane Eyre flees from the house since Rochester is
already married to the colonial version of herself. Her fear is that the madness that describes
Bertha comes from the same emotion that is hidden within herself and so, remaining in
confinement could potentially lead to her needing to be locked away. A similar fear was also
present within the English colonies in the form of anxiety around the native populations revolting
in maddened mobs from their ill treatment. Within these novels, fire is key in the connection
with the colonies since the center of domestic life in the English home is the warmth of the
fireplace, yet it is used as a weapon in slave revolts or any rebellion against the wealthy. The fire
can also be seen as a symbol of the colonial native. These people are used for labor by the
English to support themselves and their wealth, just as they use fire to shelter themselves.
However, the English still have the fear that these people can revolt against the system of
colonization, causing harm to the economics of the English system, just as a fire when out of
control or unwatched can burn down houses. The fear of the “other”, coming from their ability to
cause the most harm if they so choose, leads to the enslavement or imprisonment of native
populations in order to fulfill the needs of the English, as well as to calm their fears that they are
actually similar to these peoples.
Crusoe fears the savages due to their cannibalistic practices that resemble less civilized
practices of consuming. According to Psychoanalysis, Language, and the Body of the Text, both
capitalism and cannibalism are methods of consuming, though capitalism is portrayed as a more
civilized version. The fear, however, is that the two are not differentiated but only displayed as
being alternative methods of the same goal of consuming. Consuming connects the practices of
the civilizer to the practices of the colonized that are seen as barbaric. Thus, “the transformation
7
of primitive cannibalistic desires into a socially acceptable mode of consumption-of labor, via
imperialism (slavery and property invasion) and capitalism” “occurs through an act of aggression
directed at others, ostensibly to prevent their aggression” (Gliserman 64). Robinson Crusoe is
absorbed, throughout the novel, in capitalism and in the amount of material objects he has. He is
frequently displayed as not caring about more than economic concerns as seen when he sells
Xury, the slave who helps him escape from slavery, rather than allowing him to also be free.
Crusoe, when he first encounters the footprint signifying someone else has been on his island,
runs back to his fortified cave in fear. He protects his sense of identity through physical
boundaries since “Crusoe’s sense of his psychological boundaries is inadequate; his identity
needs to be buttressed. The wall that he builds is an integument that reinforces the boundaries of
self” (McDonald 23). On this isolated island he constantly needs to show that he is civilized and
different from the native populations. He does this by taming the wild goats so that he can more
easily kill them, planting crops, making himself clothes, and building himself a table. He could
survive like the “savages” without performing these tasks, but in doing so he differentiates
himself and affirms his sense of self as a civilized consumer.
Due to the English fear of the colonies, they place the natives into a state of captivity
either through slavery, exploitation, or their lack of political voice. This same pattern is
established in Jane Eyre when Rochester, who fears his new wife’s differences as a Creole,
labels her as mad. From that perspective he has limited responsibility for her as only that of a
caretaker and not of a husband. Thus her madness justifies his relationships with other women
since she cannot be a wife while acting like an animal in the attic. He also fears her emotional
expressions that could lead to revolt against him. He does not fully understand her and fears that
she is capable of realizing he married her just for her money as well as that she is being used to
8
fuel the continued status of the English elite. Thus to keep her from leaving or revolting against
him he describes her as mad and brings her to England where she is unknown. Her legal status is
greatly reduced not only because she is female and from the West Indies but since she is
supposedly mad without any control over herself. In order to deal with the fear of her potential to
revolt, Rochester hides her away in his English manor.
Crusoe, when he initially rescues Friday, is fearful that he will act based off his
cannibalistic tendencies and eat him. Thus he makes Friday into his servant and teaches Friday
that he is subservient. An example of this is that he teaches Friday that “his name should be
Friday” and that he is to call Crusoe “Master” (Defoe 203). This clearly establishes a hierarchy
among these two on the island. Crusoe is described as being pleased by the communication
between them only being that of “‘No Friday’ or an abject ‘Yes Master’” (Watt 45). “Robinson
Crusoe, Individualism and the Novel” states that “It seems that man’s social nature, his need for
friendship and understanding, is wholly satisfied by the righteous bestowal or grateful receipt, of
benevolent but not undemanding patronage” (Watt 45). Crusoe naturally fears the natives since
he has seen them eat other natives, so, in order to peacefully live in close proximity to one of
these “savages”, he feels he needs to establish a strict sense of order. He worries that he will be
eaten by Friday but he also fears becoming more like the natives with their means of
consumption that he abhors. Crusoe does not want to form a friendship with Friday or the other
natives on the island but since he feels the need for companionship he creates a relationship of
master and servant with him.
Eventually the “other” must disappear from the text in order for the English character to
be content in their identity as the sole protagonist. In Jane Eyre, Jane can only marry Rochester
and gain happiness once Bertha has died a tragic death. In the same way, in order for England to
9
realize itself, it needs to lose its connections to its colonies, especially once they have become a
burden of dependency that brings the English fear of revolt. It is due to historical slave revolts as
well as slaves being freed that England lost some control over its colonies and wanted to distance
itself from the turmoil ensuing there. Similarly, Rochester marries Bertha for her money but
when she goes mad locks her away pretending she does not exist until she demands recognition
by burning down his English manor. However, she dies in the flames and though Rochester is
injured in the fire he can continue with his life and marry Jane. According to Ten Books that
Shaped the British Empire, “Jane Eyre deals with empire but ultimately the plot must banish
these non-English, colonial elements in order to ‘pave the way for the ultimate insertion of Jane
into a stabilized and socially sanctioned English container at Thornfield Hall’” (Burton 57). Jane
needs the death of the “other” in order to properly become part of English society. She knows
that going to the British colonies in India with St. John would kill her. Thus, within the novel,
neither the English nor the “other” can survive when outside of their “natural environments”.
The “other” may be used to create the English characters but, in the end, the “other” needs to
disappear in order for them to come to a full realization of self and to achieve their goals.
The colonial “other” in these two novels is juxtaposed with the English, which displays
the first as passionate and savage while maintaining the sense of superiority of the latter. In Jane
Eyre, the distinctions and similarities between Jane and Bertha are clearly established so that,
though they are both “othered”, only Jane is accepted due to her English qualities of restraint.
While in Robinson Crusoe, Friday is initially placed in a subservient position by Crusoe, where
he remains throughout the story, and though he helps Crusoe numerous times, he is rarely
regarded on his own. Thus, this cycle of “othering” depicted in Jane Eyre and Robinson Crusoe,
from fear to slavery or imprisonment, that ends in the purposeful removal of the “other” when
10
they are no longer useful, has wider implications which can be seen throughout English colonial
history.
Works Cited
Azim, Firdous. The Colonial Rise of the Novel. New York: Routledge, 1993. Print.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Bantam Books. 1987. Print.
Burton, Antoinette and Isabel Hofmeyer. Ten Books That Shaped the British Empire. Durham:
Duke University Press, 2014. Print.
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Signet Classics, 1961. Print.
Watt, Ian. “Robinson Crusoe, Individualism and the Novel.” Twentieth Century Interpretations
of Robinson Crusoe. Ed. Frank H. Ellis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1969.
Print.
Gliserman, Martin. Psychoanalysis, Language, and the Body of the Text. Gainsville: University
Press of Florida, 1996. Print.
Lee, Julia Sun-Joo. The American Slave Narrative and the Victorian Novel. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010. Print.
McDonald, Robert. “The Creation of an Ordered World in Robinson Crusoe.” Dalhousie
Review.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1982. Print.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism.” Critical
Inquiry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Web. 4 May 2012.
Thomas, Sue. Imperialism, Reform, and the Making of Englishness in Jane Eyre. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.