In class today, we talked a lot about where our sympathies lie at this point in the novel. Many people have expressed their distaste of Rochester and how he it the main cursor for Antoinette going down the same path as her mother. I hope I’m not the only one who actually still likes Rochester’s character, but if so, I think I’m prepared to fight this battle alone if I must...
Now, just because I like Rochester doesn’t mean I hate Antoinette. I can understand why Antoinette struggles emotionally because of her hard childhood. She’s never had a long time friend that is her age and so she has always relied on Christophine to fix things for her. This kind of reliance has stuck with her through her marriage as Antoinette begs Christophine to make Rochester love her again. This kind of plea reflects a sort of childlike behavior as Antoinette relies on Christophine to make her problems disappear, instead of trying to solve them herself. Like when she was a child, Antoinette still hides in the shadows and wants Christophine’s dark magic to fix her marriage with Rochester. When she goes to Christophine for help, Christophine does offer some effective advice: She urges Antoinette to just talk to Rochester; tell him her story; help and make him understand. In order for her magic to work, Christophine tells Antoinette that she must talk to Rochester in a composed manner, like adults.
And this does work! Before, Rochester had kept all his feelings of insecurity to himself, letting it all boil up inside of him. He had the feeling of being constantly watched, laughed at, and ignored all at the same time. But once Antoinette presents to idea of just sitting down and talking, a way for them to get to know each other, Rochester is finally able to let some of those poisonous thoughts (no pun intended...or maybe it was intended...which even ya’ll prefer), that have been brewing inside of him, out. “I feel very much a stranger here...I feel that this place is my enemy and on your side” (78). As Rochester’s character has been infolding, one could notice how his pride has been rising as he beings to setting into the role of the white, male landowner. But, one of the main reasons he is so prideful is because he is trying to make up for how insecure he really is on the inside. Just by having a mature conversation, like adults, Antoinette is able to bring out a soft side to Rochester, a side that may have just stayed hidden until it would eventually get to him.
But this all goes wrong when Antoinette tries out Christophine’s “love potion”, which in turn poisons Rochester and pulls him further away from Antoinette, an effect that is the exact opposite of what was intended to happen. Earlier in their marriage, Rochester expresses how he feels no love for Antoinette, only lust. This is because these two are still strangers. They were strangers from the start and up until their little talk, they were still complete strangers. Once Antoinette begins to open up about her troubling past, Rochester, in turn, begins to feel comfortable with her as well. If Antoinette hadn’t ruined it and used the bad potion that Christophine had given her, their marriage may have worked out in the end. But, instead, Antoinette decides to kick him when he’s already down. Being a prideful man, Rochester has already taken a step down by admitting his insecurity of being a complete stranger whom everyone judges in this foreign land, but once Antoinette slips him that poison, she has attempted to take him even further down by taking advantage of him. This leaves Rochester with a sense of disdain and that she is now untrustworthy.
Although Rochester’s sequential actions don’t reflect well on his character, it all could possibly have been avoided if Antoinette had had a sense of maturity in this marriage, which could be problematic since she still is very childlike. So, all in all, was this marriage doomed from the start? I think so. There were times where it could have been saved, but with Rochester’s pride and insecure nature combined with Antoinette’s naive judgement, it seems like these two lovers (or lack thereof) weren’t meant to cross paths, or at least not at this time.
My interpretation of Antoinette's asking of Christophine for help was not so much that it showed her reliance on Christophine, which is true nonetheless, but more that it showed her desperation to keep the one person who truly showed affection towards her relevant. Because of this, along with her traumatic childhood which you pointed out, I expressed a good deal of sympathy for Antoinette as opposed to Rochester. In addition, I like that you bring up the point about the love potion, that if Antoinette had never introduced such a thing, the relationship may have worked out, as Rochester probably wouldn't have felt the need to sleep with Amelie.
ReplyDeleteI do see great potential in this scene where Rochester and Antoinette finally talk openly about all the "secrets" that have obsessed him, and it does seem as if he comes to understand her--to feel less of a "stranger"--after hearing her affectingly told tale (which we recognize, but which is intense to hear again, through his ears, and how he must be picturing this young girl going through all this). And I pretty much take him at his word that "she need not have done what she did" with the potion--implying he was already falling in love again after talking so intimately.
ReplyDeleteBut the sticker is that he still insists on calling her "Bertha"--even after she's just revealed more fully than ever what "Antoinette" means, as a name, what it signifies, who she is. And he still wants to make her into this "other woman"--"this of all nights you must be Bertha." Antoinette's "as you wish" is poignant, as it is still his wish that is ruling the relationship, and she seems to acquiesce. Her drugging of him could be thus seen as an effort to gain some control over what he "wishes." But even under the influence of the love potion, she's still "Bertha" to him. After all the talking, he still doesn't get it.