In Jane Eyre, we become aware of the identity of the "madwoman in the attic," Bertha Mason, only when Jane does. We see her only through Jane and Rochester's eyes. For Jane, she is the obstructing "other." Rochester has lied to Jane and hidden his marriage to Bertha from her, trying to lure her into a bigamous marriage. He makes a self-serving case for his actions in locking his unwanted wife away from society in the attic. From his point of view, Bertha brought a West Indian "madness" with her from the Caribbean and made Rochester's life a misery from which he is now trying to find a few shreds of happiness.

Though Jane flees Rochester in horror, she doesn't question his story. She too regards Bertha as the mad "other," a grotesque, almost non-human force. Though critics since Gilbert and Gubar have pointed out that Bertha expresses the deep anger or "ire" Jane Eyre/"Ire" feels when Bertha burns down Thornfield, Jane herself rejects any connection with Bertha. This is especially startling as Jane herself, as a child, had a fit of madness when locked up in the red room.

Rhys, in telling Bertha's—whose name is Antoinette Cosway in this version—story from Antoinette's point of view, paints a sympathetic portrait of this "madwoman." We see her raised in a troubled and unstable environment, then married to a rigid patriarchal male who is filled with insecurities and too quick to believe that he has been tricked into a marriage with a woman who has inherited hereditary madness.

We see from this narrative that it is Rochester who drives Antionette mad. He acts as the colonizer, renaming her, taking her money without regard for her welfare, and forcing her to leave her home for the alien climate and culture of England. Through Rhys, Antionette is humanized, and her madness makes sense as a response to circumstances she can't control.