Should we sympathize with Rochester or Antionette?

Throughout Wide Sargasso Sea, the reader is exposed to two very different characters (Antionette and Rochester). What is most interesting is that the narrator shift in Wide Sargasso Sea gives the reader insight into the thoughts and feelings of both these characters. In my English class, people tend to sympathize with Antionette more than Rochester, but I think that both characters have valid reasons to be sympathized with.

The beginning of the book starts off with Antionettes childhood. Part 1 is crucial because it shows the reader that Antionettes situation is less than ideal. Her father (Mr. Cosway) was hated around the area because he was a slaveholder and had many illegitimate children. Added on to that, Antionette's mother was from Martinique which made her even more of an outsider. Mr. Mason did not help the situation because he thought that he knew everything about the world and thought lowly of slaves. This lead to Mr. Mason being the primary reason for the slave revolt. Because of all these circumstances, it easy to sympathize with Antionette because she was born with a disadvantage.  The only people that liked her was her family. Everyone was already skeptical of her, and she had a hard time fitting in. When Antionette finally fit in at the school that she attended, Mr. Mason went and got her and said that it was time to put her out in the world to get married. This only made me sympathize more with Antionette.

Rochester is an Englishman and had a relatively easy time fitting in in England. The reason I sympathize with Rochester is because he did not know what he was getting into. When Mr. Mason struck a deal with Rochester he had no idea of Antionette's family history. Only after Daniel Cosway's letter was Rochester informed of the truth. The reader also has to keep in mind that Rochester was brought to Jamaica which is a place that he does not feel comfortable with. Everything around him is foreign, and he is not sure how to deal with that. He also gets poisoned by Antionette's love potion which ended up ruining his and Antionette's relationship. I don't agree with Rochester's decisions at the end of the book but I can see where he is coming from.

Who do you guys sympathize with? Leave your comments below :)

Comments

  1. TinaNovember 17, 2017 at 7:54 PM

    Okay, Rochester did not know what he was getting into. However, he knew that he didn't know what he was getting into, and got into it just the same (does that make sense?). Adding onto that, in the novel, Antoinette actually has second doubts about the marriage and wants to call it off. Rochester tries to convince her otherwise, and promises her "peace, happiness, and safety", some of the things that she longs for the most. And then, in the end, he takes Antoinette away from everything she's ever felt peaceful, happy, or safe around, and locks her up in an attic. Just some additional food for thought.

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  2. Matthew JinNovember 18, 2017 at 1:53 PM

    I'm inclined to sympathize with Antoinette. Although Rochester didn't know what he was getting into, he still had a say in his life. Well, at the very least, more than Antoinette had in her whole life. Rochester wasn't powerless. While Antoinette isn't powerless, she wasn't in any position that was considered wealthy or safe. Rochester is mostly in control of his wealth. Additionally, Antoinette's prior situations and background are worse than Rochester's.

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  3. Tim ChoNovember 18, 2017 at 7:20 PM

    I sympathize more with Antoinette. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Rochester has more power of his life than Antoinette, like Matthew says. In addition, we get to see Antoinette's childhood through her own eyes, which only makes her a more sympathetic character with more fleshed out struggles. I get that Rochester is insecure in his new environment. My problem is that he chooses to stay that way by keeping his pride as an Englishman intact rather than trying to understand his new environment (or Antoinette). In the end, I think it is Rochester that ends up doing the flat out more villainous stuff as well.

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  4. Abraham HanNovember 18, 2017 at 8:25 PM

    I definitely understand where your coming from when you say that you sympathize with Rochester(great blog post btw, I like when you make comparisons), however I think that it's crucial to understand that most of Rochester's discomforts, and later his distraught and evil nature stems from his inability to learn about and accept the environment around him. In other words, he was being ignorant. As Tina says, he willingly chose to get into an unfamiliar environment, however he refuses to even try to acclimate to the environment around him and rather chooses to complain about it instead. Because of this, I definitely sympathize more with Antoinette.

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  5. SamirDecember 13, 2017 at 7:48 AM

    Rochester definitely has good reasons to be sympathized with, especially in the case of the whole love potion thing. However, a lot of his problems stem from things that are essentially his fault. For example, he is extremely uncomfortable in his new environment, but it was his choice to move there in the first place (and he only moved there to take Antoinette's inheritance anyway). Antoinette is also just in a worse position than Rochester because she loses all of her property (to him no less), which is probably why most people sympathize more with Antoinette.

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