Race. It marks you. It sets you in a mold, in a place, separated by nothing more than a microscopic genetic marker, impossible to be seen in its origin, but realized on the surface - scrutinized, judged, stereotyped, for something that isn't done or made, but simply is. Jean Rhys colors it ugly in Wide Sargasso Sea, subtly and tastefully, introducing us to Charlotte Bronte's characters, unmarked. Race in Antoinette's world is about as clear and identifiable as the fruit in a smoothie. The smoothie-mentality fails to catch on, as we see in Rochester's emotional abandonment of Antoinette. I am extremely intruiged by his shock when he learns of Antoinette's self-proclaimed half brother, Daniel. Tainted by her relation to her father's illegitimate half-white half-black child, Antoinette ceases to be the same in Rochester's eyes. But why? What is so off-putting about the family of his culturally torn bride? Antoinette is enslaved, not only by marriage, but by blood. That unseen marker, that sets her in Rochester's mind - different.
But what, then, about Jane? Bronte's dear, main character...she's often seen as a foil for Bertha, sure. But what about the Antoinette-Jane, sans Bertha? Before Bertha. Culturally torn, divided by family, bound by money, seeking equality or in the least, solidarity, in emotions. We've posited before in class that race and class were nearly synonomous in their day, so then why not draw lines between the bold connections that tie Antoinette and Jane? Why ignore their need for emotional depth and commitment from Rochester? Why write-off the monetary control and struggle that underlies their relationships, not only with Rochester but with Family, Friends, or anyone with whom they share an experience? Jane struggles to define who she is because of her lack of family, where as Antoinette is bound and judged by her own, but this schism should divide them - it should unite them, as Rhys and Bronte do in their subtle exposees of these women.
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