"‘I went to see Christophine,’ she
said.
‘I will tell you anything you
wish to know, but in a few words
because words are no use, I know
that now.’ ‘Why did you go to see her?’
‘I went to ask her to do
something for me.’
‘And did she do it?’
‘Yes.’ "
This passage is a conversation between Rochester and Antoinette when Rochester asks where she was. What Antoinette didn't tell Rochester was that she went to Christophine's to get a "love potion" to make him love her. Love potions are a common trope in books and movies to make a character fall in love with another (against their will). The definition is: "a magical potion believed to arouse love or sexual passion toward a specified person, especially the person offering" The problem however is this potion makes the person do things against their own free will. So the real question here is how ethical is using a potion for love?
I believe it is wrong and a form of drugging to use a love potion. In the book Antoinette uses the love because she feels that she isn't loved by Rochester. This is how the scene went down:
"She
poured wine into two glasses and
handed me one but I swear it was
before I drank that I longed to bury
my face in her hair as I used to do...She need not have done what she did to me. I
will always swear that, she need not
have done it... I remember putting out the
candles on the table near the bed
and that is all I remember. All I will
remember of the night..."
In this scene Antoinette hands Rochester a drink and soon after he drinks he blacks out and doesn't remember the rest of the night. What happend after he doesn't know but he awakes next Antoinette under the covers of her bed. If what happend happend then technically Antoinette sexually assaulted Rochester. Which is when a person conducts sexual advances on a person without their consent. Although if we look at the second part of the quote when Rochester says "She need not have done what she did to me" it infers that had he not been drugged he would have consented but since he was he couldn't say yes or stop her from doing what she wanted to do.
What do you think went down this night? Do you agree? Other thoughts.
I think this is a good point, and points out the degradation of Antoinette's character as well as Rochester's because of this relationship.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this scenario is a typical date rape case. No matter how you looked at it, taking advantage of someone who is clearly under the influence is wrong. Even if he would have consented (which I don't think he would considering he been denying her to this point), it would still considered as rape.
ReplyDeleteIts also interesting to see the reversal of role in this. Instead of Rochester forcing Antoinette to do something, its Antoinette forcing Rochester. Just him tasting his own medicine. Doesn't make it right tho
Although Rochester says he would've consented but given that before this scene he had already started to distance himself from Antoinnette, I don't think he would have. I think that it's more of a situation where Rochester doesn't want to recognize his free will has been violated and deal with the emotions of the aftermath of being raped.
ReplyDeleteEven though a Rochester said he would be willing to do it, it seemed surprisingly close to rape, such as having intercourse while being under influence of alcohol. This in turn caused Rochester to develop some emotion against Antoinette.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I saw in class, this scene was never taken too seriously/put into the spotlight when discussing our sympathies for Antoinette and Rochester. I don't know whether it is because of the gender dynamics of Antoinette being a woman and Rochester being a man, or if it's because Rochester has committed many other cruel crimes.
ReplyDeleteI think this is Rochester not understanding what he has done to Antoinette, and just thinking she doesn't need to have control, it's ok because I have all of the control. The control being taken from Rochester is what makes him so mad at Antoinette, and because he's crazy.
ReplyDeleteThis situation comes down to a question of ethics. Is what Antoinette did to Rochester 'right'? Is it justified given how Rochester has been treating her up to this point? In modern society, Antoinette's actions would be constituted as Drug-facilitated sexual assault, a Class B Violent Felony. No matter what preceded it, Antoinette would be charged and punished under judicial law. Even though some would argue that Rochester had it coming, this question is highly subjective to one's beliefs and the use of 'love potions' highly debated. In terms of the novel, this had a great influence on Rochester as he lost the control over Antoinette he very much sought. Antoinette would not conform, so the eternal cycle of hatred began, destroying their relationship and resulting in the unfortunate ending of the novel.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thinks pretty clear that a "love potion" is a PG version of date-rape drugs. We don't really focus on it because "love potion" sounds innocent, and also likely because it seems less aggressive when a female uses it. I can't help but see it as unethical.
ReplyDeleteMany people, especially young people, have been taught through movies and stories to see a romanticized picture of a love potion. However, when thinking more deeply we can see how wrong it is. It is interesting to think about the ways movies have taught us to see this.
ReplyDelete