Part two, section 11

Wide Sargasso Sea pages 67 - 75: Antoinette ignores Rochester ... She touches Christophine's package

Synopsis of part two, section 11

The narrative voice changes abruptly to Antoinette for this section. Her relationship with Rochester is troubled and she visits Christophine to ask for her advice. Christophine tells her to leave, then Rochester will have more respect for her and may discover that he really does love her. Antoinette discloses that, as a woman married under English law, she has now no money of her own. Antoinette persuades the reluctant Christophine to use her powers in obeah and give her something that will make Rochester love her again.

Commentary on part two, section 11

According to Christophine, the soul is encased by the body. Her phrase suggests ‘wearing you out'.
The chief devil, sometimes simply called the Devil, is also known as Satan, a name which means enemy (see Big ideas: Serpent, Devil, Satan, Beast). He is associated with hell, depicted in the Bible as a place of eternal fire.
Christophine tells Antoinette that accounts of obeah are fairy tales, make believe.
The patois term for a white person is béké.
Christophine uses affectionate patois endearments to Antoinette.
Rochester has started to call Antoinette Bertha, his wife's name in Jane Eyre.
Christophine's description of Aunt Cora comes from the Old Testament account of a man who has discovered he is about to die 2 Kings 20:1-3 and turns his face to the wall.
Richard Mason's opinion that Antoinette is fortunate to find a husband alludes to the madness in Antoinette's family background.
Aunt Cora echoes the claim of some in the Old Testament that they had been abandoned by God, usually a consequence of their rejection of him (Judges 6:13)
Christophine tells Antoinette to act like a ghostly blood-sucking woman. Rhys explained that such figures appeared as ordinary in daylight but could still be identified because of having red eyes.
The Sunday before Easter, commemorating the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on a donkey, is known as Palm Sunday. Christophine combines two systems of belief; obeah and Catholicism. (See: Religious / philosophical context > Religion)
The crowing of a cockerel is associated with the cockerel which Jesus predicted would signify that his disciple Peter had denied him
Antoinette makes another reference to betrayal, this time to the New Testament account of Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples, who betrayed him to his enemies for thirty pieces of silver.

Investigating part two, section 11

The narration shifts to Antoinette at this point in part two:
- Why do you think Jean Rhys decided to do this?
There is a puzzling time shift in the narration when Antoinette says that she was thinking of selling another ring on the previous day. This suggests that her narrative perspective is from Thornfield Hall, after her arrival in England
- What is the effect?
- Why does she not take that advice?
Antoinette goes to Christophine for help and advice:
- Why does she not take that advice?

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover. ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, ⁶and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. ⁷And Isaiah said, Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover. ⁸And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day? ⁹And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? ¹⁰And Hezekiah answered, It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps. ¹¹And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. ¹²At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, What did these men say? And from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a far country, from Babylon. ¹⁵He said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them. ¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. ¹⁹Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good. For he thought, Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days? ²⁰The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

¹In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. ²Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, ³I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. ⁴And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ⁵Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. ⁶And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. ⁷And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. ⁸And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? ⁹And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? ¹⁰And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. ¹¹And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. ¹²At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. ¹⁴Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. ¹⁵And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. ¹⁶And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. ¹⁷Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. ¹⁸And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. ¹⁹Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? ²⁰And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. ²And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. ³For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. ⁵For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number - both they and their camels could not be counted - so that they laid waste the land as they came in. ⁶And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. ⁷When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. ⁹And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed my voice. ¹¹Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. ¹³And Gideon said to him, Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian. ¹⁴And the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you? ¹⁵And he said to him, Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. ¹⁶And the Lord said to him, But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. ¹⁷And he said to him, If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you. And he said, I will stay till you return. ¹⁹So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. ²⁰And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them. And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. ²²Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. ²³But the Lord said to him, Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die. ²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. ²⁵That night the Lord said to him, Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it ²⁶and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down. ²⁷So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. ²⁸When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after they had searched and inquired, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. ³⁰Then the men of the town said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it. ³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down. ³²Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, Let Baal contend against him, because he broke down his altar. ³³Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. ³⁶Then Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. ³⁸And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew. ⁴⁰And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

¹And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ²And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. ³And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; ⁴And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. ⁵For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. ⁶And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. ⁷And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, ⁸That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; ⁹And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; ¹⁰And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. ¹¹And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. ¹³And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. ¹⁴And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? ¹⁵And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. ¹⁶And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. ¹⁷And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. ¹⁸Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. ¹⁹And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. ²⁰And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. ²²And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. ²³And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. ²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ²⁵And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: ²⁶And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. ²⁷Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. ²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. ²⁹And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. ³⁰Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. ³¹And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. ³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. ³³Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. ³⁶And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, ³⁷Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. ³⁸And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. ³⁹And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. ⁴⁰And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

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