In the deep shade, at the further end of the room, a figure ran backwards and forwards. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not tell: it groveled, 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…the hyena rose up, and stood tall on its hind feet.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 26. Jane meets Bertha. She describes her as a monstrous figure, groveling on all fours and with grizzled long hair, running backwards and forwards. This is Rochester’s legal wife, but portrayed in inhuman terms and not at all as a woman. A simile compares her to a wild animal. She is the source of all the mysterious sounds and happenings that Jane has experienced during her stay at Thornfield. Bertha is dehumanized here. Since because of her mental disability she is unable to act like a proper woman and wife, she is depicted as non-human.