Antoinette Cosway in Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre are both relatively isolated women struggling to survive in a society dominated by men. Although both women strive to achieve similar goals of happiness, equality, and a sense of individuality or identity, the first fails and the second succeeds. Their divergent results are due to the contrasting ways in which they attempt to achieve their goals and the different levels of personal motivation and independence they possess. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First of all, Jane and Antoinette are both chasing the same Mr. Rochester, in addition to their similar goals of personal fulfillment. How each woman attempts to achieve her goals, however, contrasts greatly. Antoinette attempts to acquire three qualities through Mr. Rochester. She has been unhappy since childhood, and at one point during her marriage to Mr. Rochester, she states that if he loved her, she would be happy. Happiness, in turn, would help her gain a sense of individuality and equality, as it would give her the confidence to assert her identity and the courage to make herself equal to Rochester. So, Antoinette tries to force him to love her by drugging him and seducing him. Unfortunately, this act angers him so much that he becomes incapable of feeling love for her and thus she is rejected by him. This is her downfall: she makes the mistake of becoming dependent on another person to complete herself and make her happy. In this way, she loses her independence. The loss of his independence, in addition to the rejection of her, causes him to lose his happiness, his sense of identity and his equality. The way Jane attempts to achieve her goals is quite different from that of Antoinette. Instead of depending on another person to achieve her goals, Jane depends on herself. She enjoys enormous independence, which she acquired from childhood. When she was very small, she was neglected by the family who raised her. During this time, she learns to satisfy herself by reading, drawing and thinking. In this way, she gains independence. During her time at Lowood, she gains a sense of identity, as she begins to realize who she is as she grows and learns and becomes someone that people recognize as important, as opposed to someone who is ignored and mistreated, as she was in her old one. environment. When she becomes a governess and befriends Mr. Rochester, who treats her as an equal, she gains a sense of equality. Eventually, when she is engaged and in love with Mr. Rochester, she has found happiness - this is implied the morning after he confesses his love to her, as she is dressing: "I looked my face in the glass and I smelled it. was no longer clear: there was hope in its appearance and life in its color. (259) Additionally, Mr. Rochester repeatedly asks her, “Are you happy, Jane?” » and she answers several times: “Yes”. (258) However, when it is revealed that Mr. Rochester already has a wife and, in some way, would trick Jane into marrying her, Jane's happiness, sense of identity, and equality are all put into question. in question. Indeed, if Jane married Rochester knowing that the marriage would not be real, she would not be happy; she would lose confidence in herself because she abandoned her morals, and she would have felt inferior to Mr. Rochester by doing whatever she had to do, abandoning her values ​​in this case, to be with him. some.