"She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart," said Mason.
Chapter 20
Context
Mason continues describing Bertha's attack to the surgeon. He reports not just the physical assault but also the threatening words she spoke during it.
Analysis
The grotesque image of blood-sucking evokes vampire mythology, but the shift from literal action ('sucked the blood') to metaphorical threat ('drain my heart') suggests Bertha's words blurred physical and emotional violence. This conflation makes her attack feel both bodily real and symbolically resonant—as if the physical wounding stands in for some deeper claim she is making on Mason or Rochester.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Bertha's violence is given symbolic weight that her voice is denied—other characters interpret her actions as metaphors (draining the heart = emotional destruction) while dismissing her actual words as 'gibberish,' allowing them to control what her resistance means.