Character Sketch – Christophine Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Christophine was the servant of Annette and the nurse of her daughter Antoinette. She was a wedding present from Alexander Cosway, the first husband of Annette. She practices magic which is called obeah, and also has wide knowledge of the Caribbean black culture. She has had all her three children with different men, but has still remained single. She opened her reason why she didn’t want to get married in a quote: All woman, all colors, nothing but fools. Three children I have. One living in this world, each one a different father, but no husband, I thank my God. I keep my money. I don’t give it to no worthless man
men, especially Christophine. She is a wise and loyal figure. Christophine introduces Antoinette to the black culture of the Caribbean and instills in her a sensitivity to nature and belief in the practices of obeah. She is an outsider because she dresses and speaks differently from the Jamaican blacks. She is a servant, but, unlike the other black servants who live at Coulibri, she remains loyal to the Cosway women. She provides a contrast to Annette because she exercises complete independence from men and distrusts their motives. Although she has three children by three different fathers, Christophine remains unmarried, saying “I thank my God. I keep my money. I don´t give it to no worthless man“. Times and rules change and in consequence, women change too. This novel is the evidence that after the Emancipation Act, black women and ex-slaves started to find and explore themselves
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