Jane Eyre Quote Analysis

Mason is explaining his injuries to the surgeon Carter, describing how he was attacked in the night. Rochester is present during this conversation.

The simile 'like a tigress' animalizes Bertha, but the verb 'worried'—meaning to shake and tear, as a dog does with prey—comes from hunting language and suggests prolonged, savage action rather than a single strike. This diction makes the attack sound predatory and methodical, constructing Bertha as a creature of instinct rather than a person acting from motive or emotion.

Use this to argue that the language male characters use to describe Bertha systematically strips her of human agency—animal metaphors position her as a force of nature to be controlled, not a person whose actions might have comprehensible causes.