Jane Eyre
Scene #7 · Chapter 26
At the altar, just as the clergyman is about to ask Rochester if he will take Jane as his wife, a stranger declares an impediment to the marriage. The solicitor Mr. Briggs reveals that Rochester is already married to Bertha Antoinetta Mason, sister of Richard Mason, who is present as a witness. Rochester initially tries to proceed with the ceremony, gripping Jane's hand with fierce determination, but when confronted with legal proof and Mason's testimony that Bertha still lives at Thornfield, he admits the truth. He then leads the entire party up to the third floor of Thornfield to see Bertha herself—a violent, animalistic woman who attacks him and must be restrained with ropes—bitterly declaring "That is my wife" and explaining she is mad and comes from a mad family.
This revelation shatters Jane's entire world and destroys the possibility of her marriage to Rochester, forcing her to confront that the man she loves has deceived her and that their relationship has been built on a lie. The scene exposes Rochester's moral transgression—his willingness to commit bigamy—while also revealing the Gothic secret that has haunted Thornfield throughout the novel. Jane's discovery that Rochester is legally bound to a living wife creates the central crisis that will test her principles and force her to choose between passion and moral integrity.
"That is my wife," said he. "Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours!"
Chapter 26 · Edward Rochester
The marriage cannot go on: I declare the existence of an impediment.
Chapter 26
It simply consists in the existence of a previous marriage. Mr. Rochester has a wife now living.
Chapter 26
Bigamy is an ugly word!—I meant, however, to be a bigamist; but fate has out-manoeuvred me, or Providence has checked me,—perhaps the last.
Chapter 26 · Edward Rochester
What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it grovelled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face.
Chapter 26 · Narrator