Antoinette's Madness
We had a discussion recently in class about Antoinette ending up just like her mother and going mad. However, I would argue that her madness is not a result of any genetic or biological factors, but rather a product of the similar experiences that both she and her mother go through.
Like Antoinette, Annette is essentially rejected by everyone from society and constantly ridiculed everywhere she goes. She eventually marries Mason, and everyone around her says that she seems to be happier and more like herself after marrying him. However, their relationship does not stay like that forever, and the fire at Coulibri, which arguably was the fault of Mason due to his overconfidence and dismissive attitude towards his servants, puts an unfixable divide in Annette and Mason's relationship. Especially considering that Pierre, Annette's beloved child, ends up dying due to the fire, I cannot blame her for being devastated and furious with Mason. This is the point where Annette is formally declared mad and sent away until she dies. Looking at all of the events leading up to her placement in an asylum, I think that she was not inherently "crazy," but rather a grieving mother and angry wife.
Antoinette goes through some very similar experiences in her life. As Annette's daughter, she is also ridiculed and tormented throughout her life, even by those she considers her close friends. Throughout part I, we see her identity struggle as she feels like she cannot fully identify with any cultural or racial group. The strongest presence in her life is not her own mother, but Christophine. After she marries Rochester, we see a glimpse of Antoinette happier than she's ever been. Rochester at the beginning of Part II is kind to Antoinette and shows her some amount of affection, although he does not really love her. However, after he begins to act more distant with her, she gets desperate and asks Christophine for a love potion. This is not very ethical, but her intentions are rooted in desperation and longing for affection. When Rochester realizes that Antoinette tampered with his drink, he retaliates by cheating on her - and is aware the entire time that she is within earshot. After this moment things escalate quickly between Antoinette and Rochester.
Christophine tries to advocate for Rochester and make a deal with him, but he only becomes angrier and tightens his hold over Antoinette. What sets him off is Christophine's request for money, and her suggestion that Antoinette settle down and marry someone else, and possibly find happiness. He decides to keep her locked up because he does not want her, but he does not want anyone else to be allowed to have her. Like the nickname he gives her, he sees her as a marionette for him to manipulate. He initially goes to the West Indies to find a wife, and he refuses to leave without one, so he chooses to keep Antoinette as a sort of trophy for himself. Antoinette calls herself a "child of the sun," so Rochester knows that keeping her locked away in cold, grey England will cause her to wither and fade. This is his way of punishing Antoinette as well as satisfying his personal agenda for revenge against his father and everyone else who he believes deceived him into marrying Antoinette.
Rochester may not believe that he is doing the right thing, but he knows that the law is on his side and that he can easily wield his power over Antoinette to his own will. He locks her away, putting her in a situation similar to Annette's, where Antoinette is held in isolation and deemed mad, never to be taken seriously again. Annette and Antoinette begin their marriages in happy states, but things end up sour for them and they both ultimately meet their demise at the hands of their husbands. While they may both be legitimately mad in some ways, it is not due to genetics or biology, but rather because they were put in situations that caused them to both go mad. I think that anyone put in these situations would be psychologically affected in the same way.
Like Antoinette, Annette is essentially rejected by everyone from society and constantly ridiculed everywhere she goes. She eventually marries Mason, and everyone around her says that she seems to be happier and more like herself after marrying him. However, their relationship does not stay like that forever, and the fire at Coulibri, which arguably was the fault of Mason due to his overconfidence and dismissive attitude towards his servants, puts an unfixable divide in Annette and Mason's relationship. Especially considering that Pierre, Annette's beloved child, ends up dying due to the fire, I cannot blame her for being devastated and furious with Mason. This is the point where Annette is formally declared mad and sent away until she dies. Looking at all of the events leading up to her placement in an asylum, I think that she was not inherently "crazy," but rather a grieving mother and angry wife.
Antoinette goes through some very similar experiences in her life. As Annette's daughter, she is also ridiculed and tormented throughout her life, even by those she considers her close friends. Throughout part I, we see her identity struggle as she feels like she cannot fully identify with any cultural or racial group. The strongest presence in her life is not her own mother, but Christophine. After she marries Rochester, we see a glimpse of Antoinette happier than she's ever been. Rochester at the beginning of Part II is kind to Antoinette and shows her some amount of affection, although he does not really love her. However, after he begins to act more distant with her, she gets desperate and asks Christophine for a love potion. This is not very ethical, but her intentions are rooted in desperation and longing for affection. When Rochester realizes that Antoinette tampered with his drink, he retaliates by cheating on her - and is aware the entire time that she is within earshot. After this moment things escalate quickly between Antoinette and Rochester.
Christophine tries to advocate for Rochester and make a deal with him, but he only becomes angrier and tightens his hold over Antoinette. What sets him off is Christophine's request for money, and her suggestion that Antoinette settle down and marry someone else, and possibly find happiness. He decides to keep her locked up because he does not want her, but he does not want anyone else to be allowed to have her. Like the nickname he gives her, he sees her as a marionette for him to manipulate. He initially goes to the West Indies to find a wife, and he refuses to leave without one, so he chooses to keep Antoinette as a sort of trophy for himself. Antoinette calls herself a "child of the sun," so Rochester knows that keeping her locked away in cold, grey England will cause her to wither and fade. This is his way of punishing Antoinette as well as satisfying his personal agenda for revenge against his father and everyone else who he believes deceived him into marrying Antoinette.
Rochester may not believe that he is doing the right thing, but he knows that the law is on his side and that he can easily wield his power over Antoinette to his own will. He locks her away, putting her in a situation similar to Annette's, where Antoinette is held in isolation and deemed mad, never to be taken seriously again. Annette and Antoinette begin their marriages in happy states, but things end up sour for them and they both ultimately meet their demise at the hands of their husbands. While they may both be legitimately mad in some ways, it is not due to genetics or biology, but rather because they were put in situations that caused them to both go mad. I think that anyone put in these situations would be psychologically affected in the same way.
I agree with your points. I also think that the irony in the parallel between Antoinette and Annette is that the parallel is actually mentioned in the book. Daniel Cosway mentions to Rochester that she's going to go the same way as her mother. While his argument as to why this connection exists is mostly incorrect (as he claims that there's something genetic passed between them), he does acknowledge the connection that exists. But I think what really furthers this connection is the fact that they had such similar experiences that lead them to a similar ending. By marrying an Englishman and being socially isolated, they both face emotionally and mentally extraneous situations that lead them to this fate of mental illness.
ReplyDeleteErin's point about is interesting. There is some irony in the sense that Daniel Cosway warns Rochester than Antoinette will be exactly like her mother (implying something genetic) whereas we know that it most definitely is not genetic. However, Antoinette meets a similar fate to her mother, but like what you say, is due to going through similar experiences that are absolutely horrific.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that Rochester does not necessarily believe he is doing the right thing. I don't think societal morals matter as much to him anymore, especially in the case of Antoinette. However, Antoinette did not do the morally correct thing either - she drugged him and robbed him of all independence, which is basically a smaller version of what Rochester ends up doing to her. In this way, I think Antoinette and Rochester's relationship is a growth beyond the similarities between Antoinette and her mother. Their relationship is much darker and desperate on the surface, and they are so involved with each other in this vicious cycle of revenge and love/hate. Mason and Annette, on the other hand, seemed a little more separated from each other, ironically because Mason did not realize the cultural boundaries between them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about Antionette's madness being a product of the way she's treated and the people around her and not being a biological phenomena. I think there is an interesting aspect of this being sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy. Part of the reason that Antionette feels ostracized is because people avoid her because they assume that she will become "crazy" like her mother did. This feeling of isolation is in large part what makes her attracted to Rochester, someone who shows her physical attraction which she interprets as love. When this is taken from her it hits her especially hard because she goes right back to feeling profound loneliness which drives her to ask Christophine to give her a love potion. It's possible to imagine a scenario where Antionette isn't as isolated throughout her life and doesn't react so strongly when Rochester does what he does in the novel.
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