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From her earliest appearance in the novel, Aunt Cora serves as a stand-in mother figure for Antoinette. She returns home to Jamaica after her husband, an Englishman, dies, and her presence provides some much-needed reason to an otherwise very chaotic family situation. As Mr. Mason’s presence draws the ire of locals, Aunt Cora attempts to warn him of the danger they are in and validate Annette’s concerns about staying at Coulibri. Her ability to concisely describe the racial dynamics at play on the island may not mean much to Mr. Mason, but these details provide important context for the reader. Aunt Cora’s perceptiveness also makes her a source of stability for Antoinette as she loses her mother and her home. Knowing how much Annette struggled to cope with the isolation and judgment she faced, she attempts to ensure that Antoinette knows she is safe, wanted, and capable. Helping her recover from her illness and enrolling her in a convent school give Antoinette the opportunity for a fresh start, although she ultimately struggles to fully distance herself from the suffering of her childhood.
Aunt Cora does all she can to support Antoinette, but in the end, her actions are not enough to save her from following a path similar to her mother’s. This failure is not a reflection of Aunt Cora’s efforts but rather a product of the sociopolitical forces working against women during the era. When she finally returns from her years abroad, Aunt Cora confronts Richard Mason about Antoinette’s marriage to Rochester with the goal of protecting her financial independence. Her strong will and sense of protectiveness emerge throughout the argument, but these qualities prove powerless in the face of a wealthy Englishman. As a widowed white Creole woman, Aunt Cora has no legal means of intervening in Antoinette’s arranged marriage. All she can do to help her niece is give her two valuable rings to sell in case she finds herself in a vulnerable position. Rhys further emphasizes Aunt Cora’s inability to save Antoinette from Rochester through her death, literally removing her from the novel as her niece’s ill-fated marriage begins. Notably, Aunt Cora is the only woman in the family who does not go mad in her final days. By including her passing in the novel, Rhys seems to suggest that their family’s rumored history of madness is not the cause of the struggles that Antoinette and her mother endure leading up to their own deaths. Even the most calm and collected women fail to survive the oppressive nature of 19th-century gender norms.
