Spanish Town is significant to Jane Eyre because it is where Rochester's wife, Bertha Mason, is originally from. Spanish Town is a town in Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the capital city of Jamaica from 1534 to 1872, during which it was under British rule. Slave labor was introduced by the Spanish and continued by the British as sugar demand increased. However, around the time Jane Eyre was written, emancipation was put into effect in 1838, bringing with it the demise of the plantation system. This information comes from a blog on COVE and a website called The Embassy of Jamaica. Fifteen years before the events of Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester travels to Jamaica and marries Bertha Mason, a Creole daughter of a wealthy family. He remarks how "... she came from a mad family; —idiots and maniacs through three generations! Her mother, the Creole, was both a mad woman and a drunkard!" (Brontë 262). The way he describes Bertha's family could be interpreted as the view that was prevalent during the time Jane Eyre was written; the British viewed Caribbeans as "idiots and maniacs and drunkards." This location illustrates colonization and empire because it's a great example of how the British colonized other countries to serve the empire. In regard to the relationship of Mr. Rochester and Bertha, Mr. Rochester can be seen as the colonizer and Bertha the colonized. Mr. Rochester is a wealthy Englishman who travels to an "uncivilized" country and marries a native, a technique often used by colonizing countries. Mapping this location on COVE reveals how the history behind this location complicates or deepens the novel's plot and how this place connects the novel to Britain's wider colonial and economic history.
Bibliography
Research: Spanish Town, Jamaica & The Colony of Jamaica | COVE, Jamaican Embassy