Joyce Carol Oates' interpretation
Posted by Maggie on October 13, 1997 at 12:11:51:
In response to Joyce Carol Oates Essay on JE, written by Cassia on October 08, 1997 at 18:17:08
My copy of JE has an introduction by Oates which has some great insights into the novel. However, she said something in it that has puzzled me since I read it this past summer. Oates made a comment about Bertha saying that she had syphyllis (and her maddness was caused by this disease.) I don't see how she was able to make this leap. I thought that Berta's maddness was an inherited disease. Futher, she made an ominous comment that JE and Rochester will also suffer Bertha's fate. Does anyone have any ideas on how Oates came up with this interpretation?
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