“Nineteenth-century Britain has been described as the 'first industrial nation' (Mathias 1983)” (Guy & Small. 2011: 13). The industrialization of Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries brought significant changes transforming society as technological advances affected all aspects of life, that of cultural, social, political and economic circumstances. In particular, modern advances in steam power technology expanded industrial printing processes that spurred economic growth in the writing industry, opening up forms of literature to a broader reading audience. Whereas previously “members of the social elite” had power and control over “the nature of literary culture,” the integrity of “their cultural authority” was now threatened, for what Matthew Arnold had called the “mass of humanity who were always satisfied with very inadequate ideas" (Guy & Small. 2011: 13). Through innovations in technology, scenes on the domestic, intellectual, and industrial fronts began dramatically to change, which pushed nineteenth-century writers to explore and embrace new ideas and themes “as they attempted to come to terms with what later historians would call the beginning of modernity” (Guy & Small. 2011: 13). During this age of anxiety, I intend to explore and discuss two representations of the lower aspects of life presented in the first and second half of the nineteenth century, referring to the representation of madness and the supernatural within Charlotte Bronte's Jane (1816-1855). Eyre (1847) and The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James (1843-1916). Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is a representation and reflection of the industrial era in which it was written. Depic...... middle of paper......11].Iwama, M. (2003) Bertha Mason Madness in a Contemporary Context, Brown University. [Online] Available from: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/iwama8.html, [accessed 20 April 2011].Landow, GP (2006) "Porphyria's Lover" — A Case study in what counts as evidence and where ambiguities emerge in dramatic monologues, Brown University. [Online] Available from: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/porphyria/porphyriagpl.html, [accessed 22 April 2011].Parkinson, EJ (2010) The Turn of the Screw; A history of his critical interpretations 1898-1979. [Online] Available from: http://www.turnofthescrew.com/, [accessed 9 May 2011].Steinberg, B. (2004) The supernatural element in Jane Eyre, Brown University. [Online] Available from: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/steinberg1.html, [accessed 20 April 2011].