In the early half of the 19^th century, the Church of England was the authoritative voice on scientific matters. However, discoveries and books such as Charles Darwin’s, On the Origins of Species, resulted in a burgeoning divide between theology and science. For many Victorians this challenged their faith as these new scientific discoveries conflicted with the authority and dogma of the church. Many of the literary works of the second half of the 19^th century deal with the relationship of theology and nature, including Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “freak of nature” became a part of general vocabulary in 1847. The popularity of this term demonstrates the general public’s obsession in 1840’s Britain with the bizarre and abnormal. In this same year, Charlotte Bronte published her classic novel Jane Eyre. The connection between the appearance of the term “freak of nature” and Jane Eyre is interesting when considering the role of Bertha Mason in the context of the novel and the time period in which it was written.