History WMG / JaneEyre

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between extreme reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, and her talent as an artist (which she sometimes uses rather than words to process her feelings) can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system," divides each day into "sections," and withdraws from society to be a nun), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also arguably show traits of the spectrum.

[[spoiler: Bertha]] was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person, even before she lost her mind. And her mother was noted as having gone insane too. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is known to cause, among other things, sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability, irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong. Also, Mr Rochester goes into some detail blaming her insanity on bad genes and the fact that she is mixed race. When syphilis is passed down like that, it can look like a genetic disease.///

[[spoiler: Bertha]] was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person, even before she lost her mind. And her mother was noted as having gone insane too. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is known to cause, among other things, sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability, irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong.

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between extreme reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist, and the fact that she sometimes uses painting rather than words to process her feelings can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system," divides each day into "sections," and withdraws from society to be a nun), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also arguably show traits of the spectrum.

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between extreme reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist, and her capacity for deep inward thought can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system," divides each day into "sections," and withdraws from society to be a nun), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also arguably show traits of the spectrum.

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between extreme reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist, and her capacity for deep inward thought can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system" and divides each day into "sections"), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also arguably show traits associated with the spectrum.

[[WMG: Jane is on the autism spectrum.]]
Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between extreme reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist, and her capacity for deep inward thought can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system" and divides each day into "sections"), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also show traits associated with the spectrum.

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist (an expressive form with which she's often more comfortable than words), and her capacity for deep inward thought can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system" and divides each day into "sections"), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming, yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also show traits associated with the spectrum.

Several contemporary literary critics have suggested this. Jane's introversion and social awkwardness, her alternation between reserve and "unfeminine" boldness, her high intelligence and "unchildlike" manner as a little girl, her talent as an artist (an expressive form with which she's often more comfortable than words), and her capacity for deep inward thought can all be seen as traits of high-functioning autism. The fact that other characters repeatedly call her "strange" and "queer" only reinforces this, as does her self-aware suggestion that Rochester views her as "an automaton." St. John Rivers (with his repressed emotions and life of logic and religious obsession), Eliza Reed (who lives by a rigid "system" and divides each day into "sections"), and Helen Burns (an introverted bookworm, [[GeniusSlob painfully disorganized and prone to daydreaming]]), yet deeply thoughtful, intelligent and mature for her age) also show traits associated with the spectrum.

[[spoiler: Bertha]] was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person, even before she lost her mind. And her mother was noted as having gone insane too. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is known to cause, among other things, sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability, irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong.

[[WMG: [[spoiler: Bertha Mason]]]]
[[spoiler: Bertha]]'s insanity in specific. She was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person. And her mother was noted as being the same way. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is known to cause, among other things, sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability, irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong.

[[spoiler: Bertha]]'s insanity in specific. She was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person. And her mother was noted as being the same way. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is known to cause, among other things, sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong.

[[WMG: [[spoiler: Bertha's]] Insanity]]
[[spoiler: Bertha]] was noted as cheating and drinking and generally being a rather immoral person. And her mother was noted as being the same way. She (and likely her mother) have/had neurosyphilis which is noted to cause, among other things sudden personality changes, changes in mental stability irritability, and mood disturbances. Neurosyphilis also tends to have a muscle weakness symptom, but not all people show all symptoms all the time, so that can be explained why she's still very physically strong.