The Role Of Mr. Mason In The 1800s

Marriage arrangements of the 1800s “were not just a joining of a man and women, but a joining of families, businesses, jobs and wealth” (Stephanie Ann, “Mid-1800s/ Civil War Era Marriage Proposals”). Most marriages were arranged by the head of the family, the father, and agreements were made between the groom and the bride’s father. During this time, The Married Women’s Property Act had not come about therefore it was mandatory that property, money and dowry of women shall go to the man when a marriage took place. As the book of Wide Sargasso Sea takes place in the 1800s, it is evident that Mr. Mason had a similar mindset to men of that age; he wanted to marry her up. When Antoinette was in the convent school, he frequently hints the idea
of an arranged marriage, “’I have asked some English friends to spend next winter here. You won’t be dull’“(49). He wishes to marry his only step-daughter and even pays her future husband “The thirty thousand pounds… without a question or condition.” (59) This marital joining of Antoinette and Mr. Rochester arranged by Mr. Mason has many negative effects on Antoinette that changes her life.
With this marriage, Antoinette’s life takes a huge turn.
In 1834, women were not allowed to keep what they earned as the Married Women’s Property Act had not come about till the 1870s. If she had simply rejected Mr. Mason’s request, she would have had her own money and estate. Mr. Mason is able to greatly influence Antoinette and show that he is of power in the relationship. He is able to charm her and make her marry him “I told you that when you are my wife there would not be any more reason to be afraid” (66). He uses her significant weakness as a way to get her to agree. Mr. Rochester also shows that he has a possessive side over Antoinette (Sandi, 14-16). Women that were resentful and violent were “abandoned by men as “crazy”, as well as “unfeminine” (Chesler, 45). As Antoinette is someone who is now more open, Mr. Rochester often felt that she was unfeminine and that he didn’t have enough control over her. Also, when Mr. Rochester finds out about Antoinette’s previous relationships, he feels like he has not been controlling enough and feels disgusted, “Now disgust was rising in me like sickness” (104) . Mr. Rochester later challenges her identity and takes over everything she has. Names are very important things to people “bestowal of name and identity is a kind of symbolic contract between the society and the individual” (Deluzain, “Behind the Name”). When he changes her name to Bertha, she seems very disturbed and unhappy ““I hope you will sleep well, Bertha”- it
cannot be worse’” (94). This shows that she no longer feels like herself and that all control has been taken by Mr. Rochester.
At a young age, Antoinette was often alone and trying to find someone to treat her with attention.
She treated Christophine as her own mother “I left a light on the chair by my bed and waited for Christophine, for I liked to see her last thing. But she did not come” (31), but sometimes even Christophine could not give her the attention and love she needed. Her mother was twice married, with one deceased husband who had been an ex-slave owner that drunk himself to death and a second husband who was rumoured to have come “to make money as they all do.” (25) When she was to marry Mr. Mason, she had a son that was dying, a complicated daughter and not enough money to survive .She was getting desperate and Mr. Mason, a planter who wanted their land, seemed like the best option to save the family from their debt. Their family often received lots of discrimination but after the marriage, they underwent double the amount of discrimination which allowed the idea of leaving Coulibri to emerge. Annette and Mr. Mason often fought about leaving “‘You must have a reason, ̛ he would say, and she would answer ‘I need a change’ or ‘We could visit Richard’ ” (27). People often attacked them with many racist insults. It got to a point where they set their house on fire, “‘Oh, my God, they get at the back, they set fire to the back of the house.’ ” (33) After the fire, the family was to flee the house. Annette lost her son, her parrot and herself and most importantly “hated Mr. Mason…She said
she would kill him, she tried to”. Thus leading to the failure of Annette’s marriage and leads the family into ruins.
This marriage foreshadows the marriage failure that Antoinette experiences. As a neglected child from birth, Antoinette never had anyone to support and love her and was often under emotional distress. When she does get married, her marriage ends up in ruins like her mother’s. After they are married, the story switches to Mr. Rochester’s point of view. He explains the unwillingness of Antoinette to marry him “‘I’ll trust you if you’ll trust me. ... You will make me very unhappy if you send me away without telling me what I have done to displease you” (66). He must persuade her to marry by saying things she will want to hear. It also became evident that he truly never had affection for her by the way he treats her “I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor jilted by this Creole girl” (65), as well as the way he reacts when he receives the letter from Daniel Cosway that states the madness of Antoinette “I felt no surprise. It was as if I’d expected it, been waiting for it” (82). Mr. Rochester then cheated on Antoinette with Amelie as he felt that this would hurt her. This lead to Antoinette asking Christophine to use Obeah magic and leads to the fall of their marriage. Mr. Rochester locks Antoinette up in the later years and he seems to treat her as if she does not exist.
This arranged marriage led to the insanity of Antoinette Mason. As the marriage of Mr. Rochester and Antoinette becomes more intimate, they seem to begin taking more advantage of each other. Mr. Rochester gives her the affection she thought she needed but he ends up simply being a flux. After receiving the letter, he discovers that she is “not faithful to him” (Sabri, 15), and that “is disgusted by Antoinette’s free sexuality and promiscuity” (Sabri, 16). He finds out that Antoinette had been together with Sandy and therefore decides to do something that will hurt Antoinette (Sabri, 16). He begins to reconsider his feelings for her. This then begins to worry Antoinette. She frantically tries to salvage the marriage she has by begged Christophine for help “he does not believe me…I do not know why, but so afraid…Help me” (96). Mr. Rochester discovers that Antoinette and Christophine had been working against him and tries to separate them. She gets desperate and crazy and is labelled Bertha Mason. This name marks the end of Antoinette Cosway.
Overall arranged marriages have had many negatives effects on many different people. The marriage of Antoinette and Mr. Rochester changed the life of Antoinette. Antoinette is used in their marriage for her money and her dowry. She is taken possession over by Mr. Rochester and is treated unfairly. Therefore ending her marriage similarly to her mother’s. She lives under Mr. Rochester’s wrath and was kept from the real world. The locking up of Antoinette at the end of the novel shows how a damaged marriage, dysfunctional families and racial tensions can harm a person.