Wide Sargasso Sea: Analysis of Major Characters
"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre," offering a revisionist lens on the character of Bertha Mason, originally depicted as the "madwoman in the attic." The story is told primarily through the perspective of Antoinette Cosway, who grapples with profound isolation and cultural dislocation as a white Creole girl in the West Indies. Her arranged marriage to British gentleman Mr. Rochester is framed as a transactional union, lacking genuine emotional connection, which highlights Antoinette's vulnerability and dependence on the men in her life.
The narrative explores the complexities of identity and madness, as Antoinette's struggles become intertwined with her family's perceived legacy of insanity, exacerbated by societal prejudices. Mr. Rochester's character presents a stark contrast, revealing his initial ignorance of Antoinette's background and the consequences of their union. Supporting characters, such as Annette Cosway Mason, Antoinette's mother, and Christophine Dubois, her devoted nurse, illustrate the impact of colonialism and personal tragedy within Antoinette's world. Through these characters, the novel delves into themes of alienation, power dynamics, and the quest for self-identity against a backdrop of cultural conflict.
Wide Sargasso Sea: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Jean Rhys
First published: 1966
Genre: Novel
Locale: Jamaica, Dominica, and England
Plot: Domestic realism
Time: The 1830's
Antoinette Cosway, later Bertha Mason Rochester, whose story constitutes a revisionist treatment of events culminating in her transformation into the famed madwoman in the attic, Bertha Mason Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847). Antoinette, the protagonist and narrator of approximately one-half of the story, reflects on her youth and the loneliness and isolation that she experienced as a white Creole child in the predominantly black West Indies. Having outlived most of her family, she halfheartedly submits to a marriage with the British Mr. Rochester that has been arranged by her stepbrother. In reality, this union is a business deal whereby Antoinette's inheritance is consigned to Rochester in return for his accepting responsibility for her. This latter point proves important as whispers and insinuations spread about Antoinette, her beautiful mother, and her younger brother, individuals thought to have “slept too long in the moonlight,” who exhibit the madness supposedly present in all white Creoles. Antoinette's naïveté about life outside the West Indies contrasts sharply with Rochester's comparative worldliness. Her query to her soon-to-be husband reveals her troubled vulnerability—she speaks not of love or even romance but of rest: “Can you give me peace?” This attitude exposes a young woman who has deferred to the decisions of the men in her life—her father, stepbrother, and husband—while depending on old and subservient women for what little emotional support and nurturance she has received. She becomes a woman who cannot act and who is increasingly defined by men, as symbolized by Rochester's arbitrarily changing her name from Antoinette to Bertha. When her husband rejects her because of his growing preoccupation with her possible madness, Antoinette, denying her own resources, consults the black arts for a spell to bring love to their marriage. When this desperate attempt fails, she becomes blank, a shell destined for the profound madness chronicled in Jane Eyre.
Mr. Rochester, a young British gentleman, the second son of a proper English family who is forced by the law of primogeniture to secure his own fortune. His narration of the second half of the story recounts his arranged marriage to a beautiful but mysterious West Indian girl who brings to the union the fortune he seeks. Despite certain odd circumstances surrounding their marriage, only after receiving a revealing letter from a black man who claims to be a relative of his bride does Rochester realize why this marriage was so eagerly sought by her stepbrother. He also realizes that everyone but him is aware of the potential for madness that exists in his new wife's family. Sensing that he has been the victim of a duplicitous plot, Rochester expresses hatred for the deceptive beauty of the islands, a quality that he has come to associate with Antoinette as well. Seeking only his own sanity, he returns to England with Antoinette and conceals her with a nurse in the attic of his family home. Also on his return to England, he learns that both his father and his brother have died, thus ironically providing him with the fortune that he already has secured at great cost to himself and at even greater cost to Antoinette.
Annette Cosway Mason, Antoinette's mother, who was widowed at an early age. After her first husband's death, the family was very poor and lonely for five years. Determined to provide for her children and herself, Annette marries Mr. Mason and is happy for a time, but after the natives destroy her home and kill her son, Annette turns against Mason and tries to kill him. He places her in a separate house with servants as attendants. There her daughter witnesses the effects of madness. Vivid impressions burn indelibly into Antoinette's mind.
Christophine Dubois, a native of Martinique given to Annette as a wedding present by her first husband. Christophine becomes Antoinette's nurse and is the only person who consistently supports the lonely young woman. A colorful person given to expressing bromides of conventional wisdom, Christophine receives the news of the terms of Antoinette's marriage with the pronouncement, “All women… nothing but fools.” A practitioner of voodoo, she refuses to use her black arts on Rochester until Antoinette has told him herself about her family secrets. In the end, Christophine's wisdom is not strong enough to save Antoinette.
Mr. Mason, Annette's second husband and Antoinette's stepfather. After Annette's demise, Mason attempts to care for Antoinette.
Pierre, the younger brother of Antoinette, who is afflicted with the family curse of madness. Their mother dotes on him much more than on Antoinette. Pierre is killed when natives set fire to the Mason home.
Aunt Cora, a relative of the Cosways who tries to protect Antoinette's rights and fortune after learning of Richard's arranged marriage for Antoinette.
Richard Mason, Antoinette's stepbrother, who negotiates the marriage of Antoinette and Rochester.
Daniel Cosway, a black man who claims to be a relative of Antoinette. He writes a letter to Rochester telling him about the taint of madness that follows Antoinette's family.
Sandi Cosway, Daniel's half brother and a relative of Antoinette. Implications persist that Sandi and Antoinette are involved romantically.
Grace Poole, Mrs. Eff, and Leah, servants in the house in England in which Rochester confines Antoinette.