The vast Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys has a tragic end where the protagonist, Antoinette, finds herself like a madwoman in an attic. Rochester asks: “Do all beautiful things have a sad destiny? » (Rhys 51). It is clear that Antoinette is a beautiful thing with a sad fate, and that Rochester can do nothing to control her. The circumstances of the situation and each of their journeys are at the origin of their tragedy. Rochester is not a tyrant who ruthlessly seeks to destroy her, but a victim with his own dilemmas trying to make his way in the world. Rochester is often seen as distrustful and selfish, but he is justified in many ways. He's hopeful about his situation, he's trying to live up to English standards, and he has no choice but to try to love a crazy woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although Rochester speaks to Christophine and calls Jamaica "an abominable place," this is because Jamaica is a reflection of Antoinette's demented mind. She seems normal at first, but as she progresses toward a state of madness, Jamaica becomes more threatening. When Rochester and Antoinette first arrive at their honeymoon home, Rochester smiles at a little boy and he begins to cry. The city is described as a “massacre”, which already has a connotation of death. The man called The Young Bull said to Rochester: “This is a very wild place, not civilized. Why do you come here? »(38). Jamaica is not welcoming to Rochester, and the country's hostility does not come from his imagination. Even after being immersed in a shocking new culture, Rochester manages to open his eyes to the beauty of Jamaica. As he walks through the village and observes the activity of the town, he says, “I felt at peace” (39). He describes the sea as serene, and when Antoinette asks him to taste the mountain water, he replies "that it was cold, pure and sweet, a beautiful color against the thick green leaf" (40). In his letter to his father, he mentions that it is very beautiful there. “Standing on the veranda, I breathed in the sweetness of the air. I could smell cloves, cinnamon, roses and orange blossom. And an intoxicating freshness as if it had never been breathed before” (41). He doesn't criticize everything about Jamaica, and he stops to acknowledge and admire the beauty of the strange region in which he has been placed. He tries to find some comfort in his situation. Jamaica's foreignness adds distrust to Rochester's wide range of emotions, as he is unsure of how to behave. “Not night or darkness as I know it, but night with blazing stars and an alien moon night full of strange noises” (53). This passage describes how Rochester perceives the island and how it is not what he is used to. Clara Thomas writes that "Antoinette's familiar treatment of Christophine and Antoinette's whims, which for Rochester are so exotic and therefore unsettling, brings distrust and suspicion into their romance" (344). When the environment is so new, you don't feel comfortable. He does not understand the customs of the country, and even the natural order of the moon and stars seems strange to him. Clara Thomas writes: “There is the constant threat of the strange exotic country, of the people he distrusts, and of something secret he cannot understand in Antoinette” (344). After being placed in such a bizarre village, surrounded by its mysterious inhabitants, he would of course have doubts and suspicions since the island and his wifehide secrets. Much of Rochester's estranged feelings toward Jamaica are reinforced by his loyalty to England. Rochester finds his identity in England and being expelled from his homeland affects him deeply. “The two women stood on the threshold of the cabin, gesticulating, speaking not English but the debased French patois that is used on this island. The rain began to run down the back of my neck, adding to my feeling of discomfort and melancholy” (Rhys 37). Rochester is very distant from Antoinette and it's because they come from different cultures. Silvia Capello writes: "Antoinette's husband is not portrayed as a demonic tyrant but as a victim himself belonging to a patriarchal society, victim of prejudice, incapable of understanding and recognizing the ties that unite his wife to the culture and the black community, therefore incapable of appreciating and understanding Antoinette's complex personality” (51). This is all a big cultural misunderstanding. Robert Kendrik writes: "Because Antoinette cannot fulfill the role of a true English wife, this fact is reflected in Rochester's role as a true English husband. She is neither English nor a properly anglicized Creole, and the possibility of madness and alcoholism in her family distances her further from the normal imagined by Edward” (235). Being in an alien world, Rochester wishes to maintain control of his identity. Laura Ciolkowski writes that "His identity is left uncertain by English laws of primogeniture which leave the youngest son without inheritance. Only the English likes and dislikes that shape him continue to remind him of his cultural heritage and the colonial power to which he is linked. It defines itself according to English tastes to help secure its identity” (348). Rochester is not wrong for not being able to conform to the ways of Jamaica, because none of the islanders can even understand English culture. Antoinette and Christophine go so far as to make fun of English culture, even though they don't even understand what it looks like. Rochester tries to compare the red earth of Jamaica to the earth of England and Antoinette laughs at him. “Oh England, England,” she called back mockingly, “and the sound continued like a warning I did not choose to hear” (Rhys 40). When Christophine serves her coffee, she says: “No horse piss like the English ladies drink, I know them. Drink, drink their yellow horse piss, talk, talk, their lying speech” (50). It's interesting how she says she knows them when she doesn't know them at all. On page 69 she contradicts herself by saying, "I'm not saying I don't believe, I'm saying I don't know, I know what I see with my own eyes and I never see it." The women ridicule Rochester for his English heritage. The two very different cultures fail to understand each other. It is this confusion, not Rochester's actions, that causes the dysfunction between Rochester and Antoinette. Rochester is a victim of its situation. He found himself in this situation not because he wanted to radically change his life, but because he had no other choice. As his father's second-born, Rochester found himself without an inheritance and agreed to marry Antoinette so that he could survive financially. Clara Thomas writes: “He has been duped by Mr. Mason, married to a girl who has perhaps a tinge of color and perhaps madness in her blood. He must also confront his own self-contempt, the recognition that, following his father's instructions, he married for money—he was bought” (343). The act of marrying Antoinette for financial gain was actually altruistic in a way. He tries to please his father. In theletter to his father, he writes: “I will never be a shame to you or to my dear brother, the son you love. No begging letters, no petty requests. None of the furtive and shabby maneuvers of a younger son” (Rhys 39). In another letter he writes: “Everything is going well and has gone according to your plans and wishes” (43). Note that it does not include the word “my” or the word “our”. He desperately tries to find legitimacy and acceptance in his father's eyes, and in doing so he sets aside his plans and wishes in order to avoid disgracing the family name without any means of support. Rochester must simply make decisions according to his birthright. The way Antoinette treats Rochester is a signal that she is undeniably going crazy. Antoinette went crazy before she even met Rochester. “I never wanted to live until I knew you. I always thought it would be better if I died. It’s such a long time to wait until it’s over” (54). Even when she is married, in the present tense, she says: “say die and I will die.” You don't believe me? So try, say die and watch me die” (55). Rochester says, “I saw her die several times. My way, not his” (55). Rochester reads that “a zombie is a dead person who appears to be alive or a living person who is dead” (66). Several times Rochester tries to kiss her fervently, to gently touch her face, but she gives no response. Rochester looks at Antoinette as she sleeps and he notices how lifeless she looks. On page 88 he says, “I pulled the sheet gently as if I were covering a dead girl.” He describes her as cold in several passages. Antoinette is difficult to love because she doesn't respond and she is dead inside. As Antoinette walks through Coulibri's garden, she says: "The paths were overgrown with vegetation and the smell of dead flowers mingled with fresh living ones" (4). This foreshadows and symbolizes Antoinette's world as she is caught between the living and the dead (Huebener 19). There is much truth in Daniel Cosway's letter to Rochester when he writes "there is madness in this family" (Rhys 58). Antoinette follows in her mother's footsteps. When Christophine asks her to leave Rochester, Antoinette responds: “Go, go where? In a strange place where I'll never see him? No, I won’t, then everyone, not just the servants, will laugh at me” (67). Antoinette's mother was always afraid that people would make fun of her. Clara Thomas says: “She cannot forget the causes of her mother's ruin and degradation, even if she does not completely understand them. She fears the same fate for herself but at the same time, in a doomed way, she expects it” (358). The family history pattern was inevitable, and Rochester cannot be held responsible for being assigned a bad case. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get Custom Essay It is impossible to place the “blame” of the tragedy on a single person or event, as all factors ultimately contributed to Antoinette's demise. Rochester often gets the blame, but he was also the victim of a tragedy they couldn't have predicted. An interesting picture tells the story of Antoinette and Rochester. As they sit in the dining room, a moth flies into the candle and falls to the floor. Antoinette has been burned her whole life, but for a brief moment she is removed from her past, she is saved, and she still is. Just as he examines the soft, brilliant colors of the wings, just a page before. 2013.