Wide Sargasso Sea Analysis
Wide Sargasso Sea: Essay
In Jean Rhye’s Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester works to colonize and “other” Antoinette by using the power he has over her. The power he has because of his gender, his race, and his knowledge is what he uses to colonize Antoinette. In Trinh T. Minh-ha’s article, “Difference: ‘A Special Third World Women Issue’”, she states, “As you can see, ‘difference’ is ‘division’ in the understanding of many. It is no more than a tool of self-defence and conquest” (Minh-ha, 7). This quote says that difference is merely a tool used for conquest and this can be seen in Wide Sargasso Sea. The difference in gender between Rochester and Antoinette is what he uses to colonize her. During the postcolonial era, men had a lot more power and rights than women, so when a man and a woman got married, the man was almost always the dominate one. Rochester colonizes Antoinette by simply marrying her which gives …show more content…
Minh-ha states, “‘the maids upstairs in the guest quarters were women of color’ in a symposium” (Minh-ha, 7). This quote states that white men are the ones with all the power. Rochester being an English man in a postcolonial time, gives him a lot of power. He uses this power to colonize Antoinette by destroying her connection with Christophine. He destroys the connection by threatening to call the police on Christophine which causes her to leave. Christophine leaves because she knows that the police will listen to what an English man says. She is a very powerful character who was working towards Antoinette’s escape from her unhappy marriage, but by getting her to leave, Rochester removes the chances of Antoinette’s freedom which is how he works to colonize her. He also uses the power he has because of his race to cheat on Antoinette and sleep with Amelie, a Jamaican servant, in the room right next to Antoinette’s. Rochester does this to show Antoinette that he is the dominate one in the marriage and that he can do whatever he wants, but she
In Jean Rhye’s Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester works to colonize and “other” Antoinette by using the power he has over her. The power he has because of his gender, his race, and his knowledge is what he uses to colonize Antoinette. In Trinh T. Minh-ha’s article, “Difference: ‘A Special Third World Women Issue’”, she states, “As you can see, ‘difference’ is ‘division’ in the understanding of many. It is no more than a tool of self-defence and conquest” (Minh-ha, 7). This quote says that difference is merely a tool used for conquest and this can be seen in Wide Sargasso Sea. The difference in gender between Rochester and Antoinette is what he uses to colonize her. During the postcolonial era, men had a lot more power and rights than women, so when a man and a woman got married, the man was almost always the dominate one. Rochester colonizes Antoinette by simply marrying her which gives …show more content…
Minh-ha states, “‘the maids upstairs in the guest quarters were women of color’ in a symposium” (Minh-ha, 7). This quote states that white men are the ones with all the power. Rochester being an English man in a postcolonial time, gives him a lot of power. He uses this power to colonize Antoinette by destroying her connection with Christophine. He destroys the connection by threatening to call the police on Christophine which causes her to leave. Christophine leaves because she knows that the police will listen to what an English man says. She is a very powerful character who was working towards Antoinette’s escape from her unhappy marriage, but by getting her to leave, Rochester removes the chances of Antoinette’s freedom which is how he works to colonize her. He also uses the power he has because of his race to cheat on Antoinette and sleep with Amelie, a Jamaican servant, in the room right next to Antoinette’s. Rochester does this to show Antoinette that he is the dominate one in the marriage and that he can do whatever he wants, but she