Rochester's Participation Trophy
I think it's become pretty clear to everyone that there are many analogies for colonialism in Wide Sargasso Sea. But one of the strangest ones that occurred to me was the idea of Antoinette as Rochester's trophy.
Rochester's master plan was to go somewhere exotic and take a wife back to England as a trophy. Granted, his intent of marrying a woman from the West Indies was to get money, but I wouldn't put it past him to plan on showing off Antoinette back in England. It's the classic "foreign person is a zoo exhibit" maneuver we see so often in colonialism. Of course, this isn't completely true for Antoinette since she's actually white Creole, but the idea of someone raised in a different culture seems to be enough for Rochester in this situation, especially since Antoinette is so connected to Christophine's culture. Antoinette is his prize, she is his proof that he accomplished what he came to do and didn't waste his time.
And to Rochester, proving he didn't waste his time is very important. He had a goal when going to the West Indies and he meant to achieve that goal by whatever means possible. But he can't handle losing. Throughout his argument with Christophine, he's somewhat spacey until she explains what might happen if he let Antoinette go: "She marry with someone else. She forget about you and live happy" (159). Rochester's response to this is "A pang of rage and jealousy" (159). He cannot have Antoinette marry someone else, because then he would lose. He would have to return to England having failed what he came to the West Indies to do, something he would be thoroughly ashamed to do. And so, he becomes possessive of Antoinette. When he has her, he refuses to let her go. Even after he's driven her insane, he still thinks "She's mad but mine, mine" (166). He can't let his precious trophy go, even when she is not something to be shown off anymore.
But that raises the question of whether Antoinette can truly be a trophy if she's shut away in an attic all the time. Trophies are public items, meant to be shown off. By the time Rochester returns to England with Antoinette, she is not something to be shown off. So maybe she's not truly a trophy for him, or maybe she's his personal trophy that reminds him he's not a loser. If anything, I think Antoinette is Rochester's participation trophy. He participated, he didn't do that well, but he finished the race and he wasn't dead last.
But if anything, Rochester's disturbing possession of Antoinette as his little trophy is only something that drives me further from him.
Rochester's jealousy and possessiveness at the end of the book is a defining moment in his character development. It's the moment when we see him turning into the exact patriarchal figure we all hoped (against our best judgement) he wouldn't become. I think that for this reason, it makes sense that we can say he objectifies Antoinette and looks at her as a prize to be won (or kept) because of these sudden strong, unhealthy emotions. In this sense I see him looking at her not as a prize to be shown off as a way of bragging in society, but as a prize to be kept for him. He doesn't want anyone else to be able to be around her, to get to know her. At this point he is just exerting full control over her life simply because he can (and probably because he gets some sort of sick satisfaction from it).
ReplyDeleteRochester definitely has obsession issues by the end of WSS. I first interpreted Rochester's desire to keep Antoinette in his attic as his desire for control and just as a way for him to show off his power. Rochester had the power to keep Antoinette in his attic so he did. But I do think there is some element of Rochester wanting a trophy in his actions. And by doing so, Rochester has stripped Antoinette of her identity and reduce her to an object, a trophy. I hate Rochester.
ReplyDeleteI like this analogy a lot. Obviously, Antoinette isn't something Rochester wants to show off; he even makes a point of asking his father for his discretion, as well as warning Antoinette's caretaker that gossip is prohibited. However, he still needs something to satisfy his pride, so he locks her away. I think the difference between men and women's power at this time. Rochester goes crazy and submits to his pride, his "fatal flaw", and ends up totally fine but with a *dark secret* or whatever. However, Antoinette shows slight signs of madness in their early relationship, and she loses her identity, her home, her money, and her freedom.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your idea that Antoinette is some type of trophy for Rochester. However, as someone said in class she is a "defective" trophy as in the eyes of English society a women trapped in a attic would definitely put Rochester in the loony bin. Yet I think Antoinette is a trophy in the eyes of Rochester as she is the result of his success of attempting to mold Antoinette into the English identity. His actions are reminiscent of the goals of British colonial expansion, which would try to transform cultures and people and during the process completely destroy them.
ReplyDeleteI really like the phrase "participation trophy" - very fitting for your argument. I think it's also worth mentioning that part of the reason Rochester pressed her in the first place was because he was afraid of rejection ("I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor jilted by this Creole girl"). The little competition they have at the end of Part 2 is also fascinating ("we'll see who hates best", and of course it's Rochester). I think that maybe she isn't simply a participation trophy, but the "receivers" of the trophy have changed from England to Antoinette herself. Her state and her being there is a reminder to her that he has won. She is both the trophy and the person whom Rochester brandishes the trophy at.
ReplyDeleteThe jealousy and anger is pretty indictive of the idea of Antoinnette as a trophy to Rochester. I also wonder if Rochester in addition to seeing her as a trophy, doesn't want her to be happy. He needs her to show off his victory to society when need be but somewhere in his mind, he despises her for being Creole and her actions in the second part. Consequently, since he isn't happy with his life and the way it's gone he thinks she doesn't deserve happiness either.
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