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The Patriarchy of Inheritance

Because Wide Sargasso Sea takes place before the passage of the Married Woman's Property Act of 1870, Rochester gets Antoinette's family fortune. He says, "The thirty thousand pounds have been paid to me without question or condition. No provision made for her..." (WSS 63). But how could this money ever really belong to Antoinette if she had been economically controlled by Mr. Mason prior to her marriage? The entire marriage was just a financial transaction between Mr. Mason and Mr. Rochester, while Antoinette was again denied her independence. 

As a result of Mr. Mason and Mrs. Rochester's economic dominance, Antoinette has no physical property of her own. Antoinette only has her name, which was given to her by her mother, and her confusing cultural identity. Mr. Rochester eventually takes away both Antoinette's name and her identity, leaving her with no tangible or even intangible property. 

I think it's significant that Antoinette's name is so similar to her mother's name, Annette. Even though Annette gives Antoinette very little emotional support in her childhood, they are connected by their names. According to scholar Nancy Harrison, "Rhys' inversion of the names of mother and daughter suggests an "identification"of the daughter with the mother even more pointedly than Rhys' text itself" (Kimmey 118). Antoinette's name is a powerful reminder of her maternal connection, while both women have been "driven mad" by their patriarchal environments. 

Antoinette's confusing identity doesn't neatly fit with one cultural or religious group, though she does experience a strong connection to the islands themselves. Her depections of Coulibri's natural landscape show a strong identification with the land, and Mr. Rochester takes away that connection. 

Throughout the course of Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette's property, name, and identity are stolen by men around her. This novel is a powerful example of patriarchy and its negative effects on women. 

Comments

  1. BettyNovember 17, 2018 at 4:15 PM

    I can definitely see how the patriarchy and Rochester take away Antoinette's identity either by not allowing her any property or locking her up in an attic far away from the land she loves. In addition to taking away Antoinette's identity, Rochester also tries to make Antoinette conform to his own identity. He calls Antoinette by the more English name of Bertha Mason. Also, Rochester gives Antoinette the identity of a "mad woman" instead of a person, which further negates Antoinette's agency and provides a convenient excuse for Rochester to control Antoinette and lock her up in his attic.

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  2. Elizabeth RienstraNovember 17, 2018 at 7:40 PM

    Yes, definitely. I think you raise a good point about Antoinette's marriage simply being a financial transaction between Rochester and Mr. Mason. I think we all sort of believed that Antoinette would have had control over her own finances if she hadn't gotten married because Christophine said so, but would she really? If we take into account the creepy way Mr. Mason was prepping Antoinette for marriage at the end of part one, I think it's quite possible he never had any intent of letting her control her money.

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