"The Widow" Bertha

Since moving into No. 23 South Bank Street, Jane has been busy with school affairs, while Bertha is also tossing about the drug trial case. Although the two are under the same roof, they have never communicated formally and in-depth.

Now that Bertha said "have a good chat", Jane was a little nervous, and she subconsciously grasped the hem of the skirt at hand.

Bertha laughed out loud when she saw this: "What are you afraid of? I won't eat you. You said that Edward wrote to you, but you reminded me to tell him about the bank. It would be terrible if he went bankrupt. "

Jane was taken aback for a moment, very surprised: "Don't you hate Mr. Rochester, Bertha? You even think about him."

"Of course I have to think about him," Bertha said naturally. "He's my cash machine."

As a native unmarried woman in the [-]th century, Miss Jane Eyre had never heard of the term "cash machine", but after thinking about it carefully, Mr. Rochester still owed Bertha tens of thousands of pounds. For Bertha, Isn't it just a machine for cash withdrawal?

He is naturally very important when it comes to money.

Thinking of this, Jane couldn't help laughing: Husband and wife can be regarded as the only ones in the world who have achieved this level.

With her smile, the atmosphere between Bertha and Jane immediately relaxed a lot.

"During this time, Mr. Rochester wrote three letters for me," Jane said frankly after letting go of her psychological burden, "most of them were to express thoughts and apologies, and I did not write back to him."

"What do you think about that?"

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. It has nothing to do with who Edward likes now," Bertha said lazily. Do you still like him?"

Jane bowed her head.

It's weird to talk about it with the wife of my sweetheart.But on the other hand, Jane trusted Bertha from the bottom of her heart, and she was direct to the direction so that Jane could not tell lies.

She was silent for a long time, then whispered, "I know I shouldn't."

Bertha sneered: "There is nothing that should or shouldn't be. If emotional matters can be controlled, then it is not emotional."

"That shouldn't be," said the pale and weak Miss Jane Eyre, who insisted in some respects almost stubbornly. "Others don't know the secret of Thornfield Manor's wheat store, but I do. You're still alive, Bertha, at first I was only mad at myself for falling in love with a married man, and what makes me even more angry now is that Mr. Rochester still insists on writing to me knowing that you are in London."

A slight blush appeared on Jane's pale face, obviously these words had been held in her heart for a long time.

But in the face of Jane's indignation, Bertha just let out a lazy "hmm", and then said solemnly: "Oh, I'm still going to live with Mycroft, it's even, you don't have to worry about it."

simple:"……"

You must know that Miss Jane Eyre has been secretly angry for a long time because of this matter!It never occurred to her that Bertha really didn't take it to heart at all, as if, on the contrary, she was too young to worry too much.

This feeling was so funny that Jane looked at Bertha's indifferent appearance, endured it, and still couldn't hold back, and laughed again.

Seeing her smile, Bertha continued: "The reason why you are so worried is because you believe that Edward and I are still husband and wife, right?"

Jane: "... yes."

Bertha: "But the two of us no longer love each other, and even paid a considerable price to end the relationship reasonably. What makes you still unable to accept this fact?"

Jane didn't answer right away.

She thought about it patiently, and then said firmly: "Because once this matter is exposed, the law will not recognize that you have severed your marriage with Mr. Rochester."

"Ah, I see."

Bertha was stunned, and she expressed her understanding: "Strictly speaking, this is really illegal. Edward and I 'deceived' the law. But think about it, my dear Jane, the law does not give me the right to leave him. If you dare to feign death to get away, what should other women who are not rich or bold enough do?"

"Maybe, maybe you can try to reason with your husband."

"Be reasonable," Bertha sneered, "well, even if Edward and I can reason, but at that point I have recovered my sobriety, Jane. What if I have not regained my sobriety? The law does not give Edward the right to divorce. If mad What about Edward? He's a man, and it's not so easy to trap him, so don't I have to live in the risk of being abused all the time?"

This puzzled Miss Jane Eyre.

She fell into silence, but instead of evading the question, she began to think deeply.The huge living room was suddenly enveloped in silence, only the glowing lights silently filled the indoor environment.

"I think..." After a long time, Jane said cautiously.

"I'll listen," encouraged Bertha, "if you have anything in mind, just say it."

"I've been thinking about Mrs. Fisher's running around calling for women to fight for voting rights and suffrage," Jane's voice was so soft that if it wasn't for the extreme silence in the room, her words would have been covered up by some movement, "The most legitimate The way should be to fight for the right to vote. If women have the right to vote, they can choose someone who speaks for them to change the law; if women have the right to vote, they can even choose a woman to participate in politics and change the status quo in person.”

Her voice is very soft, but her words are extremely weighty.

"In addition to voting rights, you can also campaign like Mrs. Fisher. She advocated that women should have the right to vote, and you can also advocate that women should have the right to divorce. Of course, this will take time and a lot of manpower Material resources. At the moment, there is indeed a problem with the law itself.”

"So you also agree that the law is wrong."

Bertha laughed and said, "If that's the case, why should I care about the wrong law? I even did the feign death thing to escape, do you think I would care about my ex-husband's status and reputation, Jane?"

Jane was taken aback for a moment.

She didn't expect Bertha to go around in a big circle, and she was actually answering the "damage to reputation" that she was worried about at the beginning.In Jane's view, Bertha and Rochester, Bertha and Mr. Holmes are clearly two different relationships.But clearly, for Bertha, the two events were indeed connected.

only……

Miss Jane Eyre looked at Bertha quietly. The woman sitting opposite was still so beautiful and presumptuous. She sat casually and smiled contemptuously, as if she had already seen through the troubles and entanglements in Jane Love's bottom, and didn't take them as anything worth keeping in her heart. trouble.

She can probably understand Bertha's meaning, they are related, what is the connection?After all, it was nothing more than the relationship between women and women's power, but for Jane, she could only figure this out, and she started to get confused when she had to go deeper into one, two, three, four, why and why.

"I thought," finally Jane sighed, rather confused, "I thought you were doing this to start a new life."

"Of course, I do want to start a new life," Bertha replied, "but that doesn't mean I'm picking up the maiden medal."

"The Virgin's Medal?"

Bertha curled her lips, but did not answer.

"Before you were confused about the use of voting rights," Bertha broke the subject, "but now you have figured it out. Did something happen in school?"

"……Um."

Jane didn't get entangled in that topic, and responded following Bertha's train of thought: "I'm helping Mrs. Fisher polish the manuscript."

"What manuscript?"

"Her speeches, and transcripts of conversations with other ladies at the salon."

In fact, when Mrs. Fisher made a request, Jane didn't want to agree to her.

She always felt that these things had nothing to do with her, but Mrs. Fisher did not intend to ask Jane to help out voluntarily. She was paid to help her edit the manuscript, and it was not low.This greatly relieved Miss Jane Eyre's financial embarrassment when she first arrived.

Not that Miss Jane Eyre coveted the pennies, but...

Just before refusing, she thought of Bertha.

Witnessing Mrs. Fisher's preaching outside the printing factory that day, Bertha seemed to have sympathy for her. She could understand Mrs. Fisher, so Jian Jian couldn't help thinking: whether Bertha's life is so happy and presumptuous has something to do with it Woolen cloth?She understands the importance of women having power, so many ways of thinking are different from Jane.

Miss Jane Eyre agreed to Mrs. Fisher's request for revision because she wanted to know what Bertha was thinking.

It pays off.There were a lot of polished manuscripts, and Jane naturally figured out the necessity of voting rights, but what Bertha said today, such as "the maiden's medal", made her unable to figure it out, and a new round appeared in Jane's heart. confused.

Bertha certainly understood Jane's confusion.

To be honest, Miss Jane Eyre is really the same person, she is full of emotions, even if she tried her best to suppress her nature in Thornfield Manor, she couldn't stop her pair of bright eyes.Not to mention that in London now, Jane has nothing to suppress, and even expresses whatever thoughts she has in her heart.

Bertha's words "the maiden's medal" made her very dazed—of course, like the native Victorian women, the law does not allow divorce, just like women must remain innocent and pure to be decent. She cannot understand the power structure and the shackles set on women after mastering the right to speak.

Since the birth of cultural civilization, this statement has been bound up with social morality like a shadow, and it still has a strong influence in the 21st century.The lack of law is objective, but who dares to say that morality is wrong.

If Bertha said straightforwardly that the chastity archway was made by men, and the concept of women’s purity and virginity is the restraint of women by the patriarchal society, Jane would have to jump up in fright.

Therefore, Bertha is not going to talk to Miss Jane Eyre about this, and the current practical problem is more important.

"I've heard of the salon meeting you mentioned," Bertha said, "I'm quite interested. If Mrs. Fisher has a meeting next time, can you reserve a place for me in advance?"

"of course."

Jane regained her spirits immediately: "I think Mrs. Fisher will be very happy."

Bertha nodded.

Jane: "Then... when will you move to Mr. Holmes?"

Bertha raised her eyebrows: "Aren't you worried?"

"I don't quite understand your thoughts, Bertha," Miss Jane Eyre's expression was much calmer than before, and she said neither humble nor overbearing, "but you are not worried, so I will not add to my troubles in vain."

"exactly."

Hearing this, Bertha comforted her and said, "What are you doing with such a tiring life? I will pack my luggage tomorrow and move in the day after tomorrow. Minnie and the coachman will be left for you for the time being. Don't miss me too much. I will still be on the South Bank during the day. Street, I'll move back after I've settled the matter at hand."

"So you moved there to solve things." Jane suddenly realized.

"That's natural."

"That……"

Jane hesitated for a moment, but still made up her mind to speak: "I wish you success in your career, Bertha."

Bertha: "..."

I know you are a clever girl, but this sentence surprised Bertha too much!

Although I didn't understand it, I didn't stop it.Miss Jane Eyre not only behaves and sits upright, but also respects the ideas of her friends, and is even willing to put herself in her shoes for her sake.Where can I find such a girl? How lucky was Rochester to get Jane Eyre's heart.

In the Victorian era, Bertha felt very pleasant to hear a blessing from a woman who said "career is going well".

"For each other, Jane," she laughed, "let's go our separate ways."

Author has something to say: Bertha: I'm not going to pick up...

simple:?

Bertha: Damn, there is no such thing as a chastity archway in England, how should I speak!

Bertha: I'm not going to pick up the maiden medal!

simple:? ? ? ? ? ?

#On how cultural differences manifest in daily life#