With only twenty pages left of Wide Sargasso Sea, we can almost fully observe the dynamics between the two prominent characters in the latter half of the book: Antoinette and Rochester. Throughout the book, the perspective has interchanged between these two characters, giving us insight into each one's thoughts and actions towards each other in Granbois. As a result of this frequent shifting of perspective, the question arises: who is the main protagonist of the book, and which character(s) should we sympathize with, if any? Rochester takes a very direct approach to provide us with an answer to this question when narrates: "I could not resist saying, half longing, half triumphant, "Well, Amelie, are you still sorry for me" (141). It is apparent from these lines that Rochester truly believes that he is the victim of this entire situation and that as a result he deserves sympathy. While it is true that Rochester ended up unexpectedly unfavorable in this marriage with Antoinette, as he was ignorant of Antoinette's backstory and family, his intentions and actions in the marriage detract from his deservedness of sympathy. Antoinette, on the other hand, appears to have truly received the short end of the stick, having to put up with Rochester. Antoinette's childhood story and appearance in the later scenes, point to the prospect that Antoinette is the character worthy of our sympathy, and therefore is the main character of Wide Sargasso Sea.
Normally, the character that narrates the majority of the novel is considered to be the main character of protagonist of the novel. While Rochester takes on this role in Wide Sargasso Sea, narrating over 100 pages of the book from his own perspective, his slimy character, especially towards Antoinette at Granbois, draws away from his credibility as a protagonist. The entire relationship between the two is corrupt, and a big part of this is Rochester's prideful nature and constant need to feel empowered. This leads to a fairly domineering relationship from Rochester's side, as this pride of his skews the readers' sympathy towards Antoinette. We can see an example of Rochester's need to be in a dominant position in his nickname of "Bertha" for Antoinette. When Antoinette laughs after narrating serious events of her childhood, Rochester calls her "Bertha" and tells her to stop laughing. Antoinette responds: "My name is not Bertha; why do you call me Bertha" (135). We can observe that Antoinette is actively annoyed in this scene, as she makes two concise statements that quickly put Rochester into question. Rochester simply replies: "Because it is a name I'm particularly fond of. I think of you as a Bertha" (135). Rochester essentially says in this response that he calls her "Bertha" simply because he feels like it and because he can. Rochester's lackluster response in this scene exhibits the dynamics of the entire marital relationship. His need to pride himself by calling Antoinette "Bertha," not to mention the fact that he slept with another woman on his honeymoon, darken our view of Rochester, and his inconsiderate attitude towards Antoinette shows him as anything but deserving of sympathy. In addition, we must also take into consideration Rochester's intention for marrying Antoinette to evaluate his worthiness of sympathy. It turns out that Rochester is the second son in his family, and therefore received none of his father's inheritance. Rochester conveniently decided to marry Antoinette, who had just received part of Mr. Mason's wealth, to compensate for not getting a job. The fact that Rochester married primarily for money completely takes the idea of sympathy of the table for Rochester, as it is only fitting that he ended up in this position.
We have established that Rochester is a character no where near deserving of our sympathy. Since he is such a prideful and dominant figure in his relationship with Antoinette and in general, it is only natural that our sympathy passes to the true protagonist of the novel: Antoinette. As stated before, even though Rochester narrates the majority of the novel, it still feels like we are simply in an interim waiting for Antoinette to pick up narration again. The reason for this is, as well as the reason for why Antoinette deserves sympathy, is in her traumatic childhood. In the first part of the book, we get some insight into the isolation and hate that Antoinette was subject to as a child, This alone already shows that Antoinette deserves more sympathy than Rochester, as Rochester's simple issue with primogeniture is nothing compared to the gravity of Antoinette's bleak childhood and the effect that it has had on her. When Rochester asks about Antoinette's childhood, she responds: "You want to know about my mother. I will tell you about her, the truth, not lies. Then she was silent for so long" (130). Despite how traumatic these events may have been for her, Antoinette still appears very sane in her recollection of them. The long pause before Antoinette actually begins to narrate the events exhibits that she is still affected by the events of her past, and her willingness to reveal the truth to Rochester depict her to be genuine, and the protagonist, in this scene. It is true that Antoinette at one point poisons Rochester, but her motivation for such an action can be seen as an extension of the traumatic feelings from her childhood. It is stated several times in the book that Antoinette was very lonely growing up, and had no one to really love her, as her mother started to go insane and her brother was crippled. As a result, when Antoinette starts to lose the first person to actually love her, that is, Rochester, she immediately seeks help from Christophine. The fact that she doesn't want to take Christophine's advice and leave Rochester imply that she doesn't want to hurt Rochester or take that dramatic of a change, as she says: "I must travel far, if I go. I have been too unhappy, I thought, it cannot last, being so unhappy, it would kill you" (110-111). Here, Antoinette suggests that the conditions of her childhood, namely her loneliness and isolation, have caused her to be unhappy because nobody loves her. As a result of all of this, Antoinette poisons Rochester out of desperation to keep intact the one true relationship of love she has (perhaps other than with Christophine). She had no malicious intent, and her actions can be seen as her simply trying to salvage what little feeling of love she has in her life. Because of her good intentions and convoluted childhood, she deserves our sympathy far more than someone like Rochester.
