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Symbolism In Jean Rhys The Miller's Daughter

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Symbolism In Jean Rhys The Miller's Daughter
Rhys shows the ways in which Antoinette is affected by being perceived as a woman of color even if technically she is not by comparing Antoinette’s life to the life of colored people through the use of symbolism. Antoinette is perceived as a woman of color because of her history, the culture she chose to identify with as a young child, and her marriage with Rochester. Jean Rhys shows how Antoinette is negatively and positively affected by being perceived as a colored women. Jean Rhys uses the image “The Miller’s Daughter” to show how Antoinette identifies herself with the black culture. As it is said in the second essay on page 66, “Antoinette’s favorite picture “The Miller’s Daughter”, with its figure of a lovely English girl with brown …show more content…
The jail in Thornfield Hall has a direct tie between the suffering of Antoinette and the suffering of colored slaves. In the second essay, page 68, there is a passage that reads “After her confinement in Thornfield Hall, Antoinette has suffered in fact a fate comparable with the black Creole one, her reaction to confinement is the typical slave retaliation in the firing of the great house.” This passage show how by marrying Rochester and being forced to live in the jail of Thornfield, Antoinette comes up with a plan to end her suffering, just as many slaves ended theirs. Antoinette setts Thornfield on fire and jumps to her death believing she is meant to live with Tia. Also, the essay hints at how differently Antoinette and Jane Eyre are treated. Jane is part of the English culture, but is very different than an English woman. Antoinette has no clue who she identifies with, but there are many similarities between her beliefs and those of other cultures. As it says in the same essay, “Though Antoinette’s identification with Tia…, which have blossomed out of Antoinette’s actual experience of slave suffering promise that her choice of Tia’s invitation to jump, rather than live as Rochester’s captive, is the correct one.” This passage validates my thoughts that Antoinette made the correct choice to end her misery and suffering. Jean Rhys uses Antoinette’s jail in Thornfield as symbolism for the suffering of the
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