Point of View

The novel is divided into three parts. In the first, Antoinette is the only narrator. In the second part, Rochester takes over, but his narrative is interrupted briefly by Antoinette. In the third part, the English nurse Grace Poole is the narrator until Antoinette regains the narrative voice. This first-person narration is significant because it lets the reader see the world through the subjective gaze of flawed characters. In Parts I and II, Antoinette reveals her own naivety by relating her story. She so obviously does not understand the world she has been born into. Why her mother rejects her, why Tia will refuse to shelter her in the midst of the riot at Coulibri, and why Rochester will reject the gift of her love are all mysteries to this uneducated, ignorant, and yet sympathetic heroine. Watching Antoinette struggle to belong and witnessing her repeated rejections...