In part two of Wide Sargasso Sea Antoinette's husband, Mr. Rochester takes on the majority of the narration, and throughout the entire section, he realizes that something isn't quite right. Mr. Rochester always notices that the maids look like they are secretly laughing at him behind his back and that theres something about Antoinette that he doesn't know. And there is always a strong theme of alienation between Antoinette and Rochester, between Antoinette and the towns people, and between Rochester and the towns people. The only person that was willing to talk to Rochester about this issue was Daniel Cosway, supposedly Antoinette's half-brother, who wrote Rochester a letter that basically confirmed all of Rochester's fears about his marriage to Antoinette and what she's been hiding, and eventually Rochester goes to meet Daniel after he threatens Rochester.
The first letter that Daniel seemed sincere at first. It was a nice gesture because he was the only person that was finally letting Rochester know that there was actually something going on, but at the same time, I don't think Daniel's intentions were the most sincere. It almost seems like he was getting revenge on his father (Alexander Cosway) by messing with Antoinette's life. "You ask what proof I have and why I mix myself up with your affairs. I will answer. I am your wife's brother by another lady, half-way house as we say. Her father and mine was a shameless man and of all his illegitimates I am the most unfortunate and poverty stricken" (96). Daniel seems to really dislike his father, and the fact that he was the "most unfortunate" of the off-spring probably makes him even more jealous of the rest. While this probably isn't the only reason, I think it might be a important part. It was also stated that Alexander Cosway had many illegitimate children, but none of them seem to make an appearance into Antoinette's life.
Then after Rochester doesn't respond, Daniel continues to pursue this issue. In my opinion, if he had sincere intentions of just letting Rochester know what was going on, the first letter would've been more than enough. Rochester learned from the first letter that Antoinette had a mother that went mad. Then Daniel begins to threaten Rochester in the second letter, and this is where I became even more convinced that he had a more malicious intent. "You want me to come to your house and bowl out your business before everybody?" (119). This threat gets Rochester to go to Daniel's house, and after Daniel vehemently tells Rochester about how he was rejected by his father and about Antoinette's past, he urges Rochester to ask Antoinette about herself. "Ask her and she tell you. But not everything I think" (125). Upon Rochester leaving, Daniel can already tell that Rochester sort of believes him, in the sense that he really thinks that he should be wary of his wife now. Immediately after Daniel sees this, he demands 500 pounds, which to Daniel is his life. This transition from finishing his deed to demanding money can be seen as Daniel knowing that he's thoroughly convinced Rochester, and now he wants to get some gain out of this. It seems to me like he's let Rochester know what information he should be afraid of getting out, and used it as a threat to get money. However, Daniel doesn't ever get the money, and he doesn't seem to cause much problem after that, which once again makes me question his intent.
The first letter that Daniel seemed sincere at first. It was a nice gesture because he was the only person that was finally letting Rochester know that there was actually something going on, but at the same time, I don't think Daniel's intentions were the most sincere. It almost seems like he was getting revenge on his father (Alexander Cosway) by messing with Antoinette's life. "You ask what proof I have and why I mix myself up with your affairs. I will answer. I am your wife's brother by another lady, half-way house as we say. Her father and mine was a shameless man and of all his illegitimates I am the most unfortunate and poverty stricken" (96). Daniel seems to really dislike his father, and the fact that he was the "most unfortunate" of the off-spring probably makes him even more jealous of the rest. While this probably isn't the only reason, I think it might be a important part. It was also stated that Alexander Cosway had many illegitimate children, but none of them seem to make an appearance into Antoinette's life.
Then after Rochester doesn't respond, Daniel continues to pursue this issue. In my opinion, if he had sincere intentions of just letting Rochester know what was going on, the first letter would've been more than enough. Rochester learned from the first letter that Antoinette had a mother that went mad. Then Daniel begins to threaten Rochester in the second letter, and this is where I became even more convinced that he had a more malicious intent. "You want me to come to your house and bowl out your business before everybody?" (119). This threat gets Rochester to go to Daniel's house, and after Daniel vehemently tells Rochester about how he was rejected by his father and about Antoinette's past, he urges Rochester to ask Antoinette about herself. "Ask her and she tell you. But not everything I think" (125). Upon Rochester leaving, Daniel can already tell that Rochester sort of believes him, in the sense that he really thinks that he should be wary of his wife now. Immediately after Daniel sees this, he demands 500 pounds, which to Daniel is his life. This transition from finishing his deed to demanding money can be seen as Daniel knowing that he's thoroughly convinced Rochester, and now he wants to get some gain out of this. It seems to me like he's let Rochester know what information he should be afraid of getting out, and used it as a threat to get money. However, Daniel doesn't ever get the money, and he doesn't seem to cause much problem after that, which once again makes me question his intent.
I think Daniel wrote that letter with intentions of getting some kind of compensation for Antoinette's father's actions. He feels very entitled to the name Cosway and whatever fortune was left to his heirs, and I feel like he does deserve something in return for the hardship Cosway brought on him and his mother, but legally he has no rights to anything left by his father, which is an understandably infuriating thing to deal with. I question Daniel's reliability because his accusations are laced with jealousy and anger, so you don't know what he is saying just to hurt Antoinette's reputation and what is actually true. Ruining the life of one of his more successful half-siblings would obviously give him satisfaction, and the bitterness he has toward people like Alexander, his more successful brother, is a great example of how his intentions are clouded.
ReplyDeleteIn the title of your post, you ask if Daniel Cosway's actions are sincere or dishonest. I certainly don't think that Daniel is telling Rochester these things out of the goodness of his heart, but he isn't quite dishonest either. He's just telling a biased and illusive version of the truth that makes Rochester unsettled.
ReplyDeleteI think Daniel's whole scene is really interesting because Rochester is already feeling very uneasy in Jamaica. He feels like everyone's always laughing at him, like the landscape is hiding stuff, like he's alone and has been sold into his situation. It's cool because, in a way, Daniel and Rochester meeting clears up a lot of stuff for Rochester, or at least it's "supposed" to. However, it in a lot of ways just adds to this sense of uneasiness that Rochester is feeling. Daniel forces him to visit, hisses at him "venomously" as he leaves, and is just this very weird experience in Rochester's day. Reading that passage and the way Rochester described Daniel as yellow and when we talking about how slimy Daniel seemed, I think it's interesting because he just makes everything STRANGER than it already is, even though his surface intent (though obviously not his real intent) is to just let Rochester know about the family history and why everyone is snickering. Like, he's "trying" to help Rochester out, and by doing that making the area and family seem all the much more sketchy. This is also especially cool to me cause the idea of "sincere or dishonest" can then be looked at through the lens of all the people in Jamaica, really. The way Amelie always smiles and backhandedly says things like, "yes, master" creates this sense of "is she being for real or messing with me?" The landscape, the Obeah, all of it adopts this creepy sense of ambiguity for Rochester, and I think the meeting with Daniel sums that up pretty well.
ReplyDeleteDaniel's desire for vengeance and jealousy can be observed as the driving force behind his persistent letters to Rochester. I like that you point out that if Daniel's intentions were actually good, he would have simply stopped after one letter. After reading the first letter, I actually believed that Daniel was a genuine man that was going to help Rochester out of the miserable situation that he had gotten himself into. However, the following letter shattered this perspective, as the threats that he made in it make it apparent that Daniel isn't such a genuine guy. The demand for 500 pounds is sort of the nail in the coffin regarding the judgement of Daniel's character. We can observe that his intentions are anything but to actually help Rochester.
ReplyDeleteI feel like he's being trying to be sincere but failing because he did it with hopes of being compensated. He seems to be the only who goes up to Rochester and tells him more about the situation and why everyone is laughing at him. I saw it as sincere because at least he's trying but at the same time he's pretty rude about it. He's demanding money for something that Rochester wasn't responsible for and seems really sleazy with how willing he is to talk about other people's business.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Daniel's intentions were from the start insincere. The first letter that he wrote, I feel like the bitterness towards his father was legitimate, but his concern for Rochester seemed a little off for me from the start. In my opinion his concerns seemed forced and exaggerated. Admittedly, the blackmail did take me a little by surprise, but it served to solidify my idea of him as a sleazy character.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned by a few others, I think that Daniel's letter was not created due to the goodness of his heart. While it's nice to consider that Daniel may have been looking out for Rochester, I think it's more accurate that his letter was a symbol of the island's hostility to outsiders. Of course he "explains" things for Rochester, but that only further contributes to Rochester's uneasiness on the island. As a result, Daniel's intentions with this letter are clearly not good so it's hard to argue that he is simply trying to help Rochester adjust.
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