In Wide Sargasso Sea, the main protagonist, Antoinette, is portrayed as weak and dependent on men, causing her to lose all financial stability and independence eventually leading to her downfall. Throughout the course of the novel, Antoinette is unable to overcome the oppression of her gender and marriage with Rochester, leaving her powerless. Upon looking through a feminist lens, author Jean Rhys condemns the text by emphasizing the difficulties women faced when attempting to attain success in life within a patriarchal society.
Rochester represents the average patriarchal male who physically takes Antoinette's money and emotionally deprives her of her freedom. Her weakness and dependency of men causes her to be vulnerable in her marriage. …show more content…
Rochester was in it for the money and had no other desire for Antoinette other than “thirst for her” physical gains, rather than connecting with her heart (85). While on the other hand, Antoinette was seeking love, losing her mind in hopes to win her husband's affection. Slowly deteriorating what sanity and happiness she had left in hopes that he would one day love her. After realizing that his love for her grew cold and hateful, she sought out advice from Christophine to save her marriage. (109) "When man don't love you, more you try, more he hate you, man like that. If you love them they treat you bad, if you don't love them they after you night and day bothering your soul case out." Christophines advice touches upon Rochester's way of love, he wishes to own things and to control Antoinette. Once he finally has control over her emotionally and physically, he loses interest because he no longer has to pursue …show more content…
He would never leave her but he also would never love her or care for her. “She marry with someone else. She forget about you and live happy.” (114) As Christophine asks him to let Antoinette go he become jealous for he could never imagine her with anyone other than himself. Antoinette was his, and no one else’s whether he loved her or not she was a possession to him not a wife . As he grows sick and tired of Antoinette Rochester decides to hide her away and get rid of her longing “...for the day when she is only a memory to be avoided, locked away, and like all memories a legend.” (p. 172) Rochester was never in love with Antoinette he was tied to her financially once his feelings for as a person grew sour he wanted to destroy her as if she was a memory that could just be forgotten, to him she was never a person but an object he
Rochester represents the average patriarchal male who physically takes Antoinette's money and emotionally deprives her of her freedom. Her weakness and dependency of men causes her to be vulnerable in her marriage. …show more content…
Rochester was in it for the money and had no other desire for Antoinette other than “thirst for her” physical gains, rather than connecting with her heart (85). While on the other hand, Antoinette was seeking love, losing her mind in hopes to win her husband's affection. Slowly deteriorating what sanity and happiness she had left in hopes that he would one day love her. After realizing that his love for her grew cold and hateful, she sought out advice from Christophine to save her marriage. (109) "When man don't love you, more you try, more he hate you, man like that. If you love them they treat you bad, if you don't love them they after you night and day bothering your soul case out." Christophines advice touches upon Rochester's way of love, he wishes to own things and to control Antoinette. Once he finally has control over her emotionally and physically, he loses interest because he no longer has to pursue …show more content…
He would never leave her but he also would never love her or care for her. “She marry with someone else. She forget about you and live happy.” (114) As Christophine asks him to let Antoinette go he become jealous for he could never imagine her with anyone other than himself. Antoinette was his, and no one else’s whether he loved her or not she was a possession to him not a wife . As he grows sick and tired of Antoinette Rochester decides to hide her away and get rid of her longing “...for the day when she is only a memory to be avoided, locked away, and like all memories a legend.” (p. 172) Rochester was never in love with Antoinette he was tied to her financially once his feelings for as a person grew sour he wanted to destroy her as if she was a memory that could just be forgotten, to him she was never a person but an object he