Better late than never...

Hi All,

I finally got myself sorted with this New Lit paper & now I'm part of this blog community, YAY!

After watching the Wide Sargasso Sea film last week, I was so anxious to finish reading the book & there's one interesting point in the book which surprised me a little; I'm not sure if any of you had noticed it or was I just reading too much in between the lines?

I was stunned to find out that Christophine was drugging Antoinette to calm her down when things turned sour with her husband, Rochester!!! All along, I perceived that Christophine was a righteous woman and she was put into jail for all the wrong reasons, but now I’m not too sure after this horrifying discovery!

Part Two in the novel where Rochester confronted Christophine:

‘You haven’t yet told me exactly what you did with my – with Antoinette.’ (Rochester)

‘Yes I tell you. I make her sleep.’ (Christophine)

In my opinion, this statement from Christophine was the first hint that she was giving Antoinette some kind of hallucinative potion or drug and she knew that it was fairly powerful too as she continues saying:

‘I succeed. But I get frightened that she sleep too much, too long. She is not beke like you, but she is beke, and not like us either. There are mornings when she can’t wake, or when she wake it’s as if she still sleeping. I don’t want to give her any more of – of what I give. So,’ she went on after another pause, ‘I let her have Rum instead. I know that won’t hurt her. Not much. As soon as she has the rum she start raving that she must go back to you and I can’t quiet her…’

So what was Christophine feeding Antoinette? And clearly it was very strong and she knew it too for she wouldn’t “want to give her any more” but she started giving her rum instead! Another crazy idea in my head, did Christophine give Antoinette’s mother the same potion or drug when she was married to Mr Mason and before the fire? Who would know? Or to give Christophine the benefit of the doubts, she was simply trying to help Antoinette and/or her mother to mend their marriages but the more she helps the more destruction she creates!!!

What an unexpected IRONY!!!

After all, I still feel that Christophine had all the good intentions to help poor Antoinette but the end result was so tragic that she merely had to walk away from the whole situation and let fate play its cold & heartless tricks on Antoinette…

Albert