Wide Sargasso Sea comes to a tragic end in which the protagonist, Antoinette, is left mad in an attic. Rochester asks, “Do all beautiful things have a sad fate?” (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 their background are what cause their tragedy. Rochester is not a tyrant ruthlessly trying 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 it is justified in many ways. He is confident in his situation, tries to live up to English standards, and is given no choice but to try to love a madwoman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Even though Rochester talks to Christophine and calls Jamaica an "abominable place," it is because Jamaica is a reflection of Antoinette's demented mind. At first he seems normal, but as he progresses towards a state of madness, Jamaica becomes more threatening. When Rochester and Antoinette first arrive at their house on their honeymoon, Rochester smiles at a little boy and the boy begins to cry. The city is called "massacre" which already has a connotation of death. The man called The Young Bull tells Rochester “This is a very wild, uncivilized place. Why do you come here?” (38). Jamaica is unwelcoming to Rochester, and the country's hostility does not come from his imagination. Even after being thrust into a shocking new culture, Rochester manages to open his eyes to the beauty of Jamaica. As he walks around the town and observes the activity of the town, he says “I felt calm” (39). He describes the sea as serene, and when Antoinette asks him to taste the mountain water he says that “it was cold, pure and sweet, a beautiful color against the thick green leaf” (40). In his letter to his father he states that it is very beautiful there. “Standing on the veranda I breathed in the sweetness of the air. I could smell the cloves and cinnamon, the roses and orange blossoms. And an intoxicating freshness as if all this had never been breathed before” (41). He does not criticize everything about Jamaica and stops to recognize and admire the beauty of the strange area in which he has been placed. Try to find some reassurance in his situation. Jamaica's foreignness adds distrust to Rochester's wide range of emotions because he doesn't know exactly how to behave. “Not night or darkness as I know it, but night with blazing stars and an alien lunar 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 "the familiar way in which Antoinette deals with Christophine and Antoinette's whims, which to Rochester are so exotic and therefore troubling, brings distrust and suspicion into their idyll" (344). When the environment is so new, one will not feel comfortable and at ease. 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 land, of people she distrusts, and something secret that she cannot understand in Antoinette” (344). After being placed in such a bizarre village, surrounded by its mysterious inhabitants, he would obviously have doubts and suspicions since the island and his wife hide secrets from him. Much of Rochester's repressed feelings toward Jamaica are strengthened by his loyalty to England. Rochester finds his identity in England and the fact ofbeing taken away from his homeland affects him deeply. “The two women stood in the doorway of the hut gesticulating, speaking not in English but in the degraded French dialect they use on this island. The rain began to drip down the back of my neck, adding to my feeling of uneasiness and melancholy” (Rhys 37). Rochester is very distant from Antoinette and this is because they come from different cultures. Silvia Capello writes: “Antoinette's husband is not depicted as a demonic tyrant but as a victim himself belonging to a patriarchal society, a victim of prejudice, incapable of understanding and recognizing the ties that unite his wife with culture and the black community , therefore incapable of appreciating and understanding Antoinette's complex personality” (51). It's all a big cultural misunderstanding. Robert Kendrik writes that “Since 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 properly anglicized Creole, and the possibility of madness and alcoholism in her family distances her further from the normality imagined by Edward” (235). Being on an alien world, Rochester wishes to maintain control over his identity. Laura Ciolkowski writes that “her identity is left uncertain by English laws of primogeniture which leave the youngest child with nothing to inherit. 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. He defines himself according to English tastes to protect his identity” (348). Rochester is not wrong if he is unable to conform to the customs of Jamaica, because none of the islanders can even understand English culture. Antoinette and Christophine go so far as to mock English culture, when they can't even understand what it's like. Rochester tries to compare the red clay of Jamaica to the clay of England and Antoinette mocks him. “Oh England, England,” she replied mockingly, and the sound went on and on like a warning I had not chosen to heed” (Rhys 40). When Christophine serves him coffee, he says: “Not horse piss like English madams drink, I know them. Drink, drink their yellow horse piss, talk, talk, their lying talk” (50). It's interesting how he says he knows them when in reality he doesn't at all. On page 69 he contradicts himself by saying: "I'm not saying that I don't believe, I'm saying that 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 cannot understand each other. This confusion, and not Rochester's actions, is what causes the dysfunction between Rochester and Antoinette. Rochester is a victim of his circumstances. He got into this situation not because he wanted to drastically change his life, but because he had no other choice. Being his father's second son, Rochester was left without an inheritance and agreed to marry Antoinette so that she could survive financially. Clara Thomas writes: “He has been deceived by Mr. Mason, married to a girl who perhaps has a stain of color and perhaps of madness in her blood. He also has to deal with his own self-loathing, 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 sense. He is trying to please his father. In the letter 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 squalid maneuvers of a younger son” (Rhys 39). In another letter he writes: «Everything is fine and went according to your plans anddesires” (43). Note that it does not include the word “mine” or the word “our.” He desperately tries to find legitimacy and acceptance in his father's eyes, and in doing so he puts aside his own plans and desires to avoid being a disgrace to the family name with no means of support. Rochester simply has to make decisions based on his birthright. The way Antoinette treats Rochester is a sign that she is undeniably going crazy. Antoinette went mad before she even met Rochester. «I never wanted to live before I met you. I always thought it would be better if I died. Long time to wait for it to end” (54). Even when she is married, in the present she says “say die and I will die”. Don't you believe me? So try try, say die and watch me die” (55). Rochester says, “I saw her die many times. My way, not his way” (55). Rochester reads that “a zombie is a dead person who appears to be alive or a living person who is dead” (66). Many times Rochester tries to kiss her fervently, to touch her face gently, but she gives no response. Rochester watches Antoinette as she sleeps and notices how lifeless she seems. On page 88 he says “I gently rolled up the sheet as if covering a dead girl.” He describes her as cold in several passages. Antoinette is difficult to love because she doesn't respond and is dead inside. While Antonietta walks in the Coulibri garden she says “The paths were covered with vegetation and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh and living ones” (4). This foreshadows and symbolizes Antoinette's world as she is trapped between the living and the dead (Huebener 19). There is a lot of truth in Daniel Cosway's letter to Rochester when he writes "there is madness in that family" (Rhys 58). Antoinette is following in her mother's footsteps. When Christophine tells her to leave Rochester, Antoinette responds, “Go, go where? Somewhere strange 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 worried that people would laugh at her. Clara Thomas states: “She cannot forget the causes of her mother's ruin and degradation, even if she does not fully understand them. He fears the same fate for himself but at the same time, in a disastrous way, he awaits it” (358). The pattern according to family history was inevitable and Rochester cannot be held responsible for the fact that he was given a bad deal. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom EssayIt is impossible to place the “blame” of the tragedy on a single person or event, as ultimately every factor contributed to Antoinette's death. Rochester is often blamed, but he was also the victim of a tragedy they couldn't have foreseen. An interesting picture tells the story of Antoinette and Rochester. When they are sitting in the dining room, a moth flies into the candle and falls to the floor. Antoinette has been burned her entire life, but for a brief moment she is taken away from her past, she is saved, and she is still. The same way he examines the soft, brilliant colors of the wings, just a page before Rochester realizes he can see the red and gold lights on his face. For a moment he can see her beauty, until she is gently disturbed with his handkerchief and flies away. Antoinette is a fragile zombie, prone to death or life at any moment. Rochester is a victim who tried to thrive with the conditions he was given, but never succeeded. Works Cited Cappello, Silvia." Postcolonial Discourse in Wide Sargasso Sea: Creole Speech versus European Speech, Periphery versus Center, and Marginalized People versus White Supremacy." Journal of Caribbean Literatures 6.1 (2009): 47-54. Center. 2013.