Plasticity In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

In fact, the only other sole that knows of her existence is Grace Poole, her nurse. Grace feeds her, takes care of Antoinette’s every need, but is often neglectful when it comes to keeping Antoinette locked up. Tired of being trapped, as “Antoinette lies encaged in Thornfield Hall’s dark, cold attic, the threads that hold her to the reality that the world perceives as sanity finally break” (Mezei 197). Antoinette escapes Grace’s custody numerous times in an effort to gain her bearings; she knows nothing of her surroundings and does not believe she and Rochester mad it to England. Sadly, no one at Thornfield ever notices Antoinette and therefore, she is not released. After Jane and Rochester wedding is ruined and his secrets exposed, he shouts, …show more content…
Jane Eyre says “you are inexorable for that unfortunate lady: you speak of her with hate—with vindictive antipathy. It is cruel—she cannot help being mad” (Bronte). Jane is correct in this statement as “both Lacan and Merleau-Ponty contend that the “capture” or “loss of plasticity,” which are distinctive for madness, reveal something of the nature of human subjectivity” (Feyaerts and Vanheule 159). This means Antoinette is not to blame for her madness; she is simply the victim of circumstance. Lacan enforces this by stating, “not just anyone can go mad” (qtd in Braunstein 85). Lacan goes on to explain “that one “is always responsible” for one’s subjective position” (Braunstein 87). This means that someone is always to blame for madness, not necessarily the afflicted individual, but someone is to …show more content…
Rochester knows that he is to blame for Antoinette’s madness and often reminisces on the day he calls her “Marionette, Antoinette, Marionetta, Antoinetta” (Rhys 92) with guilt. In order to justify his behavior, Rochester, often cites Antoinette’s abnormal cognitions for her unusual actions.
Antoinette does numerous strange activities throughout both Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre. These activities, can only be surmised as the cognitive difference between Antoinette and those around her. When “[Antoinette] is alone, and comfortable with this aloneness. [S]he may manifest social withdrawal by [her] own volition, looking for and at times even finding the way spontaneously cure herself” (Dana 48). This occurs many times as Antoinette seeks solace in first the convent, and later in marrying Rochester with his promise of peace (Rhys