Rochester and Antoinette take towards each other are equal parts insidious and understandable. They are both fighting each other for control of the other, both trying to remove the others’ sense of self. Rochester sleeps with one of the maids within earshot of Antoinette in an effort to reclaim his freedom. The novel insinuates that Antoinette sexually assaults him and he wakes up feeling violated. Rochester sours, Bertha turns to her nurse, Christophine, for obeah magic so that she can rekindle their relationship. Every character in the novel is morally gray, both harming other characters and being harmed themselves. However, it is incorrect to posit that Antoinette is only a victim, which seems to be the point of her character. “They are both fighting each other for control of the other…” She was tossed around from house to house while being given absolutely no information, or choice, in the matter. In many ways, she is a victim to the patriarchal and racial systems that determined her place in society and these effects drove her to insanity-this is typical of “madwomen in the attic.” Antoinette’s step brother viewed her as property and her husband viewed her the same way, only marrying her for her wealth. Throughout the novel Antoinette is completely unaware of why things, particularly bad things, are happening to her. However, from a historical standpoint, the former slaves’ anger is arguably completely justified. Thus, she presents them as monumentally unfair.
It is quite interesting how these events are treated in the novel because Antoinette is relatively ignorant of her family history. The tension escalated with the former slaves burning down their estate, in an event hauntingly similar to Bertha Mason burning down Mr. The former slaves hated the Cosways which led to Bertha’s mother going insane shortly afterwards. Naturally, the Cosways were treated terribly after their slaves were emancipated and their house fell into disrepair. Shortly after her birth, all of the slaves were liberated and her father died, presumably after drinking himself to death. Antoinette Cosway (whose name later changes to Bertha Mason) was born into a slaveholding family in Jamaica.
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