Wide Sargasso Sea Part 1
Here's where you can comment on your views of and ideas about Jean Rhys' novel....
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 9:29 AM
21 comments
Here's where you can comment on your views of and ideas about Jean Rhys' novel....
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 9:29 AM
21 comments
21 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
In connecting Wide Sargasso Sea with Jane Eyre, it seems one of the common motifs they share is the idea of the “outsider.” In Jane Eyre, both Rochester and Jane were the main outsiders—the former, because of his dark, almost ape-like appearance and “oriental despotic” position that places him in a position of power above all others; Jane, due to her lower-class, orphaned status as well as her wild, unrestrained nature, which set her apart from the Reeds, the group at Lowood, Rochester, and society at large. Antoinette Cosway--and then later Mason-- (known in Jane Eyre as Bertha Antoinette Mason; does this mean she later changes her name?) is also quite an outsider from society. Like in the case with Rochester, it is her race—Creole— that sets her apart from the rest. Antoinette lives quite a lonely life—“no one came near [her family] (18)—, and much of this was due to racial antagonisms stemming from the hatred of the black Jamaican citizens, who loathed the white heritage in Cosway blood and probably also the fact that Antoinette’s mother was both the widow and daughter of slave owners. The blacks would shout racial slurs at the Cosways, calling them “white cockroaches” and telling them to “go away. Nobody want you” (23).
The racial tensions and consequent status of outsider that is placed upon Antoinette is seen in her relationship with Tia, who at first seems to be her friend and then coldly states to Antoinette, “black nigger better than white nigger” (24). Furthermore, two incidents serve to epitomize the racial conflicts in the novel, pitting the whole town—and hence, black society at large—against the Creole family: the killing of their horse and the burning of their home. The former incident, which occurs early on in the book, sets the tone for the rest of the novel and serves right away to place the outsider status upon Antoinette and her family; as her mother declares helplessly, “Now we are marooned…now what will become of us?” (18). Later on, the tensions between the two groups escalate even further upon the marriage of Antoinette’s mom and the rich Mr. Mason—“the black people did not hate us quite so much when we were poor” (34)--, because prior, even though they were partially white, at least they had been punished by poverty. Thus, the whole town bands together against the helpless family and sets fire to their home, shouting racial slurs at them; they are just barely able to escape, though Antoinette learns later that her brother, Pierre, had died along the journey.
The other way in which Antoinette is “othered” is in her relationship with her mother, just as Jane was in the relationship with her mother figure, Mrs. Reed. Her mother, Annette, is cold in her treatment of her daughter, “as if she had decided once and for all that [Antoinette] was useless to her” (20). Annette favors her son Pierre: she would rather sit with him than spend time with her daughter and desperately runs back into the burning house to save him. This treatment turns Antoinette away from her mother, and while once “[she] made excuses to be near her when she brushed her hair…not any longer” (22). After the conflagration, when Annette goes away to the countryside to rest and recover and Antoinette later goes to visit her, her mother screams “no” at her and “fl[ings] [Antoinette] from her” (48), which also serves to characterize their distant and unloving relationship.
Due to this complete disconnect from her family; Mr. Mason (whom Antoinette “would never like…very much” (33)); and society at large, Antoinette feels a sense of isolation much like that Jane felt. This isolation from humankind can be seen in the scene in which Antoinette travels alone through the expanse of Coulibri, and whenever she encounters some negative aspect of nature, she merely thinks to herself: “Better. Better, better than people” (28). She has simply had so many negative experiences with people that anything seems to be better than a person at this point. Furthermore, her dream, in which “someone who hated [her] was with [her], out of sight” (26), seems symbolic of her situation in life—like in the dream, she is constantly surrounded by enemies. The convent to which Antoinette is later taken also seems to represent her sense of isolation, as a convent is typically a place in which people are alone with themselves and God, though it is also her “refuge” (56), where she is protected from all harsh reality of the outside world. The exchange between Mr. Mason and Antoinette about how she should come live with Mr. Mason, Aunt Cora, and Richard outside of the convent walls, portrays how the convent has become her protection from the world:
“ ‘You can’t be hidden away all your life.’
‘Why not?’ [Antoinette] thought” (58).
Her fears of the outside world are also manifested in the dream she has after this conversation, which she later characterizes as “dreaming [she] was in Hell” (60). To her, the outside world of conflict and hatred directed against her is hell, a place where she is the ostracized outsider. Only in the convent, where she is one of God’s “chosen ones” (54) and God loves everyone equally, is she no longer an outsider. The convent seems to be, in addition, a less strict version of Lowood, a place in which Antoinette is taught about morals and religion.
In connecting Wide Sargasso Sea with Jane Eyre, I also found some correlations. In Wide Sargasso Sea, as in Jane Eyre, many supernatural events occur. From the red-room incident to her dreams of a baby, Jane Eyre was constantly haunted by the supernatural. Likewise, Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea is haunted by dreams and by notions of the supernatural. One day, when Antoinette was waiting for Christophine in front of her room, Antoinette “was certain that hidden in the room…there was a dead man’s dried hand…a cock with is throat cut…drop by drop the blood was falling into a red basin (31).” Like Nina mentioned, Antoinette also has frightening dreams. The first time, she dreamed about someone walking in the forest while someone who hated her was following her, and “though [she] struggled and screamed [she] could not move (27).” The second time, Antoinette dreamed of a forest again, but this time, she follows the man who hates her, stumbling and falling on the way.
Also, I believe that the fire incident that occurred to Antoinette’s house would be a cause to her setting Rochester’s house on fire later on (which we read in Jane Eyre). She had found solace in her home, even though she was always alone, but when she saw the house burning down, she “knew that [she] would never see Coulibri again. Nothing would be left, the golden ferns and the silver ferns…the jasmine and the honeysuckle, and the picture of the Miller’s Daughter” (44-45). Witnessing such a tragic occurrence, and having to deal with Rochester’s cruelty later on, may have been the cause of her burning Rochester’s house down the way hers was set on fire.
I liked Nina's comment about the parallel between Annette and Mrs. Reed. It made me think that maybe there are more similarities between Antoinette's experiences with other women and those of Jane Eyre. I thought that the nuns, Mother St Justine and Sister Mary Augustine, as well as the Plana sisters had a similar impact on Antoinette as Miss Temple had on Jane. They are poised, sophisticated, and each represent a quality of womanhood that Antoinette is supposed to strive for, be it beauty or virtue.
Next, Christophine is very similar to Bessie.
I also thought that Tia was like an anti-Helen Burns. Instead of showing Antoinette something good about human nature (the ability to forgive, faith, to accept one's own nature), Tia is an example of how money can change a person. She is Antoinette's friend until she is tempted by her pennies and expensive dress. It sort of starts a very depressing trend in both Wide Sargasso Sea and mirrors that in Jane Eyre where money can have a very powerful influence over the decisions people make.
At first, it was hard to discern why/to what extent people loathed Antoinette and her family. Perhaps I was missing important clues (by the end of part one, it's pretty darn obvious how people feel) but I reckon that Rhys wanted this meta-ambiguity to start with, suggesting that Antoinette had only known fragments of information. Tying in with Nina's quote (the black people did not hate us quite so much when we were poor” [34]), I found it intriguing that the ex-slaves and families of ex-slaves would have pity for ex-slaveholders. Though there is much racial tension and prejudice, the ex-slaves and such show great human spirit by still having the ability to pity the former slave-holding family. In this way, the culture of the islanders seemed much superior to British culture. When Mr. Mason arrived, he ordered the staff around as if they were slaves, not paid servants; money seems to give people the ability to dehumanize others without seeming immoral. On the other hand, it also seems that being extremely poor gives people the right to lash out at others with more wealth. Antoinette wanted to be Tia's friend, but because Antoinette did not understand her proper role in society (or have a proper role) she ended up being hurt mentally and physically. I suppose since Antoinette could no longer (or did not want to) oppress the poor through status, the poor decided to seek restitution for the actions of Antoinette's ancestors. The class, and racial, tensions in part one fuel the plot, thus understanding Antoinette's ambiguous role in society reflects how little identity she really had.
For further discussion:
Nina said that Antoinette is only partially white, but I believe she is all white.
Also, does anyone think that this ambiguity of her ancestry further clouds her identity?
AND...
I don't think Antoinette is much of a "be-er"
So far I must say that I’m in love with this book. It fascinating that Jean Rhys could give us deeper insight on the “mad woman in the attic”. First I want to compare how much Antoinette childhood is the same as Jane Eyre’s. They were both considered the outsiders of the many. Those “white niggers”, Antoinette’s family was called. They were hated because they were slave owners. Both Jane and Antoinettes suffered from never having a father in their life and never felling like the family around them loved them. Even in their own home they were the outsiders. This shows as to why Jane and Antoinette would share the same interior desire and motives.
A symbol that is repeatedly in the life of Antoinette is the burning of her home. In the first part of the book, she was ran out of her house by an angry mob of her neighbors, and she turned around to watch her home burn into ashes. Just like in Jane Eyre, she burned the house of Mr. Rochester down.
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To answer Dana's comment that Antoinette is all white, the reason I said she was partially white more related to Jane Eyre than this book. I agree that there is definite racial ambiguity in Wide Sargasso Sea, and from this book I wasn't able to tell her ancestry... but in Jane Eyre it says that Bertha is Creole (and I was pretty sure that in class we discussed that she was partially black, but now I'm not certain). But now, looking at the definition of Creole on dictionary.com, I see it can mean a person born in the West Indies with purely European ancestry or, like I had thought, someone with mixed black and European ancestry. Now I'm not sure of her race at all...Anyone else have an opinion on the matter?
hmm.. SO I AM Really mad because I wrote so much but then I pressed page back by accident and everything I wrote got erased. Anyways, here's what I rememeber writing.
Wide Sargasso Sea has made me realize just how much Jane and Bertha or Antoinette had in common. As a child, Jane was always and outcast and she never was loved by the Reed family and the same goes for Antoinette who never received any love from her mother. Her mother favored her son, Pierre, way more than Antoinette. There was one point in the story during the fire that her mother said she didn’t want to wake up Pierre but instead woke up Antoinette. This just shows that Antoinette’s mother really didn’t care for Antoinette. Also, both Jane and Antoinette wanted someone to love them and wanted to marry someone who did love them. In Wide Sargasso Sea, the reader sympathizes with Antoinette and relates to her story. In Jane Eyre, Antoinette is just seen as a madwoman.
Also I really agree with what Michelle said about how Christophine is similar to Bessie and how Tia is like an anti-Helen Burns. Christophine provides advice to Antoinette and tells her to leave her husband if her husband doesn’t love her anymore. Antoinette’s relationship with Tia just really bothered me. Even though Tia stole her dress and pennies, Antoinette still ran to her after the fire. On page 45, Antoinette says “As I ran, I thought, I will live with Tia and I will be like her. Not to leave Coulibri. Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry.” I think the fact that Antoinette ran to Tia although she betrayed her shows that she really did want someone to be friends with, relate to her, and to love her. Also, because Tia was crying, it could mean that she really did feel like Antoinette was her friend but she was probably influenced by others on how “black nigger [was] better than white nigger.” (24)
First, I love that Dana and Nina brought up the ambiguity behind Antoinette's racial ancestry and the implications that may have within WSS and Jane Eyre as well. It's definitely a subject you continually find yourself confronted with throughout Part One and the subsequent narration. Here’s what my take on it was. Antoinette comes from a family of slave owners and she's the daughter of an ex-slave owner. She has a half-brother who is half English and half black (the one that writes a letter to Rochester, this is in Part Two, p. 95). I think there are implications throughout the book that question just how racially pure the descendants of slave owners were. Both Annette and Antoinette seem to be in this middle ground between the black populace and the white populace of the island. They're "othered" by both the whites and the blacks on the island and wherever they go.
I think the racially and culturally ambiguous position Antoinette occupies in the book definitely ramifies and contributes to the narrative of her identity. Like Jane’s social ambiguity, it seems to serve as a destabilizing factor—it further obscures Antoinette’s identity and it clearly unsettles those around her, in the same way Annette had put those around her at unease. It seems also to speak to the racial tensions and highly wrought interactions on these colonized islands like Martinique, like Jamaica, like Trinidad. Having read a cultural criticism from Jane Eyre, I feel like you can find related threads in WSS; in Jane Eyre, you can identify the displacement of colonial anxieties (those of the colonizers) and in WSS, you have both that and the anxieties and inner turmoil of the colonized. I definitely agree with Nina and Michelle that both Jane and Antoinette share the same position of outsider—in a way, the narrations by Antoinette and Rochester bring in the perspective of another “other.”
So far I’m enjoying the book, it definitely adds more dimension and depth to certain aspects of Jane Eyre, but I feel like you can also appreciate it just in and of itself.
Just as a side note:
Patois is a French word, and it basically refers to a sort of hybrid language of that spoken by a colonizing people and the colonized peoples. It's often used in a somewhat derogatory context. I don't know, it kept coming up now and then, and I had no idea what it was besides a language. If it was bothering anyone else, I hope that helps.
My main thought when I was reading most of part one was "what is going on here?" By the end I think I understood a little better, but over all it was really confusing. I think that Rhys made it confusing because it was in Antoinette Cosway/Mason's point of view, so we as onlookers can't completely understand everything around her because she herself doesn't really understand. She obviously doesn't understand the tension between the black and white Jamaicans because she doesn't understand why Tia was mean to her and stole her dress.
Ok, one thing that is really bothering me is Bertha's name. I know that the speaker is supposed to be Bertha Mason, but her real name is Antoinette Cosway? Also, I didn't get from Jane Eyre that Bertha was white. Oh well, I guess these will be cleared up later.
I guess I would like to talk about her time in the convent. It seems like Bertha, who, as Nina pointed out, is the “outsider,” really liked the convent because things were really simple there. She recalls how “everything was brightness, or dark. The walls, the blazing colours of the flowers in the garden, the nuns’ habits were bright, but their veils, the Crucifix hanging from their waists, the shadow of the trees, were black.” (57) Here Antoinette is talking about how everything is physically divided by light and dark, but she was also talking about how the convent divided everything between good and evil as well. She talked about how there was one nun who knew all about evil and one that knew all about heaven and virtue. I think that the confusion from the beginning of the book that both we the reader and Antoinette feel led her to really enjoy the divisions between right and wrong at the convent. Also, when Mr. Mason wants to take her from the convent at the end of the first part, I think it is foreshadowing that she will be heading some place not quite as simple - *cough cough* Mr. Rochester and Thornfield. The idea of thorns in a religious context suggests that maybe Antoinette will be heading someplace where she will suffer as Christ suffered. Ok, I know that was a stretch so I will stop with the possible religious allusions.
Definitely, agree with everybody about the similarities between Wide Sargrasso Sea and Jane Eyre in the people and events of the story. I wanted to bring up the title of the book. The Sargasso Sea is actually a section of the Atlantic Ocean with a lot of seaweed in that section. It was believed (a long time ago) that boats would get caught in the seaweed and be stuck there. Actually what it was was at that point in the ocean there is a clockwise current that makes the ocean almost stop. I was thinking that could be a medaphor for the tangled and sometimes seemly life that is not going any where for Antoinette. I mean in just this section she has to deal with all the people either hating her because she's part white or part black. Her house burns down, her brother dies, never ending. So I could see a relations between the horrible life that Antoinette live through and the Sargrasso Sea.
I completely agree with Michelle's comment in the connections she made between the characters and events in WSS and Jane Eyre.
First, it is important to note the similarities between Jane and Bertha/Antoinette in WSS because they allow for greater insight into the parallel between the two characters in Jane Eyre. It is true that they are both outcasts in their society, misunderstood by those around them and shunned by their caretakers (Jane by Ms. Reed and Antoinette by Annette) This abuse leads both characters to make their escape to a place where they find some solace. Jane is taught and comforted by Mrs. Temple, while Antoinette is accepted by the nuns in the covent. These are both steps toward much-needed independence for the young girls.
I also the parallel between Bessie and Christophine: They cared for the two girls when no one else would and gave them a small ray of hope in a dark world.
When I read about the fire in WSS, I was immediately reminded of the fire started by Bertha in Jane Eyre. I think the first incident brings about the second and is a means for revenge for Antoinette/Bertha.
Overall I like the book so far because it does, like dorotie noted, gives a lot of insight into the life of Bertha Mason. We are not really given much information about her in Jane Eyre and its interesting to know her side of the story. She isn't just a "mad woman," but a person much like Jane. It is interesting how similar Jane and Bertha are but how diffently their lives turned out.
I read Part I a while ago, so I apologize if I blend events from different parts together. As many people said, Antoinette and Jane Eyre are remarkably similar. Neither of them belong in their society; Jane continually flutuates on the social ladder and her orphaned status constantly haunts her, and Antoinette and her family doesn't fit in with the natives on her island or with her race. The natives on the island see Antoinette as intruders of their culture, and the whites see Antoinette's family as inferior because they associate with lesser races. Antoinette, to me anyway, has quite odd social skills; she just seems rather offbeat. Her mother wasn't too nice, she would constantly push her daughter away because she was depressed. Her brother being disabled, I think really is a symbol for Antoinette's "crazy" half, proof that her genes and her blood is somewhat tainted. Mr. Mason is really a foil in Part one to practically every other character in the book so far, representing the civilized culture and way of life, with their more exotic and rudimentary of doing things. Aunt Cora seemed to have to shoulder the burden for having to be the mother of Antoinette, beecause her mother wasn't up for the challenge. The burning of their house both freed and imprisioned Antoinette. It freed her from all of the restraints and hardships that she had to deal with at the house, but since that was the only place she ever knew, she was now reliant on the care of others. The death of her brother was like freeing the "crazy" side of her and her family, which both her mother and Antoinette caught.
I finished part one a while ago as well, and I just haven't been able to reach my computer. Well, the first part of this book is really racially tense. I can almost feel the hate seething from the book as I go through it. It's hard to follow the story with Antoinette for me for some reason, maybe it's senioritis, but I'm enjoying the journey. Antoinette's daily life seemed perfect at first, with her relationship with Tia, which seemed like a perfect friendship. They played together, and swam together, and it seemed just like a relaxing time, but in the end, Tia turns her back on Antoinette. The part that stands out to me is when their manor burns down. I still have this graphic image of the parrot flying with wings of fire and just falling to it's death. It's so unimaginable to me that the townspeople would be that cruel, and even the ones not involved to be cruel enough to not even help whatsoever. It is nice to see the backstory that Rhys has created and will be great to see how he ties this in with Jane Eyre.
Surprisingly, the biggest thing that stumped me for a while was not only Antoinette's racial ancestry but also who was the narrator. It took me a while because Ms. Clapp had told us it was Bertha's side of the story but in the book, the name that kept repeating was Antoinette. Once that hurdle was overcome, there was still the matter of Antoinette's race. Despite what race she really is, she still faces immense scrutiny and insults from the townspeople. They are relentless in badgering her even though she had no control over what family she was born into.
I have to agree with Dan in his comment about Tia, as well as Michelle's viewpoint on Tia. She becomes friends with Antoinette but she leaves her all of a sudden and abandons Antoinette. Tia even physically hurts Antoinette. I was devastated when this happened because Antoinette felt that they were like equals because they had "eaten the same food, sletp side by side, bathed in the same river" (45), but that wasn't equality for Tia. Antoinette had been betrayed by the one "friend" she had, even though she was too blind to see it. Antoinette didn't realize that Tia separated herself from her that day by the river. This ties into what Maggie commented on how Tia was influenced on what the other people thought about Antoinette and her family and condemned her own friendship with Antoinette.
I agree with Dan that there is a strong sense of racism in Part One. It creates a deep isolation between Antoinette and those in the society, so she spent a lot of time with Christophine. People did not accept Antoinette because her family was from Martinique. I hated it went Antoinette was called a "white cockroach" (23). That was such a degrading comment, which relates to many racial comments that some people use in society today. This reminds me of Jane Eyre because she was not accepted because of her background as a poor girl with no connections when she became a governess. The night that Blanche Ingram visited Thornfield, she and her mother insulted Jane as a governess in her presence. She was seen as useless, which relates to the part in the book when Antoinette settles herself to be so much less; as "nothing but white nigger now" (24). Antoinette has accepted her level in society, like Jane had when she first had ideas about Mr. Rochester taking interest in her. When she snapped back into reality, Jane realized that Mr. Rochester would never be seen with a girl like her. Both Antoinette and Jane realize their place in society.
Okay, so I finished reading part one and it is clear to see that Antoinette and Jane share many of the same characteristics. It is rather interesting to see the other side of the story. In Jane Eyre we only see the crazy side of Bertha and that’s in. In WSS, we get a better understanding of Bertha and where she is coming from. She wasn’t always a crazy kook living in the attic; she was someone with a life and a family. It’s just a whole new perspective and a new way of looking at Jane Eyre.
I just want to comment along with everyone else on how Jane and Antoinette are seen as the outsiders of the book. They are not accepted like everyone else, Antoinette isn’t loved by her mother and she constantly pushes her away. It wasn’t until she arrived at the convent that she was accepted and welcomed. Jane was always seen as the outcast and never accepted as an equal by Mrs. Reed. I liked what Drew said about the fire being Antoinette’s liberation from all that she disliked and restraints she had to deal with. Antoinette’s mother adored her brother Pierre but never really paid too much attention to her, and for Pierre to die in the fire was a way of relieving Antoinette of the neglect. However, after Pierre died her mother didn’t even acknowledge her and didn’t want her near her at all which was really sad. Fortunately, she eventually finds a place where she is loved and accepted. It was Antoinette’s Lowood, I suppose, the nuns were like Miss Temple and she just found somewhere she belonged.
First off, I'd like to say that I agree with Janna that I feel that Wide Sargasso Sea can be appreciated in and of itself, without having read Jane Eyre. However, it definantly adds another perspective to Bertha's situaion in the novel.
Also, I really liked how Tania pointed out that Antoinette is similar to both Jane and Bertha in Jane Eyre. I remember when we were discussing Jane Eyre by itself, it was noted several times that Jane and Bertha were a sort of kindred spirits kind of charactors. Bertha was able to manifest Jane's frustration and anger with the world and especially with Mr. Rochester. Obviously, Antoinette shares that same frustration.
I also found the different types of tensions, which I know have already been mentioned a lot in this blog, really interesting. At one part, after Antoinette's mother marries Mr. Mason, she remarks how badly she wants to move, to get away. Her main reason is that now that she is married to a rich, white, Englishman, she is hated even more than when she was poor, secluding herself from the community. Not only does this further reinforce the family's status as an outsider, but it really opens up one's eyes to their situation. Any way they live, they will be hated, because they are different. It really shows the intolerance and utter resistence to change within the society.
Last off, I really want to echo Bonita's confusion at first over the whole Bertha-is-Antoinette thing in the book. You're not alone, Bonita! I was very confused as well!
So I had some hardcore computer problems last night and just completely forgot to blog so here I am.
From the very beginning of the book, Rhys shows Bertha, or Antoinette's mother getting ill. When I first started part one I was a bit confused because I didn't realize that Bertha was Antoinette. Annette's excursion with the horse foreshadowed a lot because they never made it truly apparent why the horse was poisoned. There is a great parallel between the white visitors who view Antoinette's famil as less significant due to the financial status and the way Jane is viewed throughout the whole novel Jane Eyre. They condemn Annette and her family for their "penniless" existance and don't offer any compassion for her trials and strife just as no one offered anything to Jane. Another parallel I saw was the power of supernaturla events in the novel. Christophine embodies most of what is supernatural and is seen as having protective abilities. The red room was the first supernatural event in Jane Eyre but played a consistent role throughout the novel. Also both Antoinette and Jane are haunted by dreams. Just as Jane continuously had dreams, Antoinette was haunted by the dream of someone following her. After reading Nina's blog I really like how she compared Annette to Mrs. Reed because at first I didn't see that connection at all but I am seeing it be more and more persistent throughout the book. I find it funny how Antoinette has no real sense of structured time and how she goes mostly by the changing seasons. It shows the great difference between her and the white visitors who came to with them. Also on the way to the convent, the two bullies that tease Antoinette parallels how the Reed children, especially John, bullied Jane when she stayed at Gateshead. But I feel like the convent was a place where she could start fresh, then again I got the same feeling when Jane went to Lowood and it turned out she was still tormented. Lowood was however a place where Jane first experienced real nurture and love.
That is it for now! I will probably blog for part 2 today as well so I will be seeing you all soon!
I have to admit, I find reading the first part pretty confusing to understand. I guess my mind is not really absorbing everything that is happening in the book, I trend to see more as I get more interested in the book, but this is a short book.
Ok, for what I did picked up, I have to agree with the consensus of the parallels between Jane Eyre and Antoinette of both being outsiders suffering in between classes. There seems to be a lot of parallelism (including characters and effects) in this book with Eyre, though I’m having trouble picking up all of them. As everyone pointed out, cast as the “outsider.” Jane Eyre was put in the same place, while having enough class distinction to feel some superiority as she admitted to refusing the idea of going down to lower classes, she it still to lower to even eat with the rest of the household. Antoinette is ostracized by the black former slaves for being former slave holders and white, while also ostracized by other whites for having lost much of their class distinction and any form of capital. They are despised by the whites as shown by the comments (“A fantastic marriage and he will regret it”) when the mother married Mr. Mason, and mocked by the blacks, a “white cockroach” as said by Tia despite all the time they spent together. They are ostracized by race as well as class. I found the events after the marriage ironic that by marrying Mr. Mason and finally gaining large amount of capital and a little status (still very much treated badly) that it made the situation even worse by arousing the full onslaught of the hatred of the creoles (also to note, agreeing with Cora with the fire with the fire connection in Jane Eyre).
Also, going with Drew (I’m lacking true original material to input) with the disabled brother and the depressed mother, I can also see the how it setting up the insanity background to Antoinette.
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