The Wonderful Characters of "Wide Sargasso Sea"

Antoinette Cosway (later Mason): She is our troubled protagonist. From a less than splendid childhood to an arranged marriage, she struggles to deal with the problems created by family legacy, social stature, gender roles, race, and a volatile society.

Edward Rochester (The Unnamed Englishman): He can serve as our antagonist. From the start he displays pride and selfishness. Rochester can also be extremely controlling and is unsympathetic to the woes of others.

Christophine: A servant of Antoinette. She is loyal to the Cosways and the Cosways only. Christophine as a deep resent of English colonizers, as she views them to be greedy scoundrels that caused the mental degradation of Annette and Antoinette.

Annette: The mother of Antoinette. Annette is the second wife Alexander Cosway, and later the second wife of Mr. Mason. She seems aloof and more concerned about the preservation of pre-emancipated slave life.

Pierre: The sickly younger brother of Antoinette. He dies after Coulibri is set on fire by angry black Jamaicans.

Aunt Cora: One of the only positive figures in Antoinette's life. She cares for Antoinette after the destruction of Coulibri but later sends her off to a Creole convent. Aunt Cora is does not support the union between Antoinette and Edward Rochester.

Tia: Antoinette's only childhood friend. She throws a rock at Antoinette when she runs towards her in the midst of the chaos of Coulibri's destruction.

 Mr. Mason: Annette's second husband. He insists on staying at Coulibri Estate despite protests from his wife. After Annette's death he spends most of his time elsewhere in the Caribbean and away from Spanish Town, Jamaica.  

                                             Antoinette Mason in her later years as "Bertha"