Chapter Part Two of Wide Sargasso Sea - Study Guide by Jean Rhys

to her own version of dying. "I did not love her. I was thirsty for her, but that is not love" (p.78) what he sees as a sexual game becomes sickeningly tense, tangled and threatening "Desire, Hatred, life Death came very close in the darkness" (p.79).

The Letter: Daniel Cosway sends a letter entailing all the sordid details of Antoinette's family history, as if he is warning Rochester of what to expect from his own wife, inferring that lunacy, drunkenness and sexual scandal should be expected from the girl herself. He manages to imply that it is a conspiracy against Rochester and that many were involved to entrap him and that many view his ignorance with pity: "many think I shameful how that family treat you and you relatives" (p.82). Its effect is to stir hatred in Rochester as he stamps the orchid he associates with Antoinette, perhaps foreboding the violent treatment she can expect from his wounded pride and shame at his ignorance of her family history. Despite the fact that it is not entirely her fault and that she tried not to marry him, it will be her who suffers. He shows little sympathy towards her after Amelie's attack and taunts. Amelie's smiles, we begin to realise, by the vehemence of Christophine's threats of bellyache (p.84), pose a sexual menace. When Rochester is lost in the forest begins to tie in the themes of secrecy as he questions the grunting Baptiste about the road remains, presents the motif of Obeah as the girl screams and runs away in terror and Rochester becomes interested in Zombies (bear in mind the derision the children treated Antoinette with calling her a zombie in Part One).

The Voice of Antoinette: This section (p.89-98), narrated by the heroine, details her visit to Christophine's and her fondness for the older woman as she speaks endearingly of the smell of cotton and washing habits of the Jamaican women. Unfortunately she rejects Christophine's sensible advice to leave her husband and instead wills her to give her a love potion. Here we can see her desperation and her unhappiness as she realises her situation and his lack of love and impatience with her. During their conversation we learn of Antoinette's financial vulnerability and Robert Mason's machinations against Aunt Cora's attempts. We also learn that he has begun to call her Bertha - taunting her and expecting her to be mad like her mother. In changing her name he essentially oppresses her identity and imposes another. As such, it is a cruel act of patriarchal and imperialist domination to enforce an identity on his wife, mastering her not only financially but also attempting to tyrannize her mentally. The cock, significantly, is crowing again: "That is for betrayal, but who is the traitor?" (p.97)

Daniel Cosway: the split narratives, the local gossips and lies and Rochester's bewilderment all make it hard to decipher what is the truth out of what we hear. Amelie says he is a superior man who reads the Bible (p.99) but she also says he is a bad man trying to make trouble (p.100). However, should we trust her reports bearing in mind she then slyly mentions Sandi and a rumour of Antoinette's marriage to him? Also, is Daniel to be believed when his report of Antoinette is preceded by a diatribe of bitterness against his father? Should we believe his tale of Christophine going to jail or his tale of Antoinette's relationship with Sandi, especially as his biblical devotion seems somewhat awry and dedicated to revenge and sanctioned anger. The message he chooses to have above the mantelpiece is 'Vengeance Is Mine' and his view is "You take too long Lord"(p.100). He is after all trying to bribe and threaten the "fine English gentleman" that he seems so respectful towards.

Confrontation and Betrayal: Antoinette approaches him "why do you hate me?" (p.104), but he is detached and instead of listening, thinks about his own resentments and is boiling with suspicions as he sees similarities between her and Amelie: "perhaps they are related. It's possible, it's even probable in this damned place" (p.105). Antoinette tries to articulate her side of the story; "the other side" - that which Jean Rhys manages against Jane Eyre in creating Wide Sargasso Sea. Her lie about her mother become explainable: a) she is told to lie and b) "There are always two deaths, the real one and the one people know about" (p.106). It is a startling prophecy of her own end, as her spirit and body divorce in madness. She retells parts of the story that we have heard from part one except with an adult's perspective. It is particularly interesting to see how she realises the scar Tia gave her during the fire had marked her physically and mentally ("I think it did spoil me for my wedding day and all the other days and nights" (p.110)). Her mother's madness comes to be explained and we see the shocking treatment and abuse that she is left to when Mason moves away. Later as Christophine points out, we see more how Annette was