Wide Sargasso Sea

within its very foundation. Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea often seen as a prequel to Jane Eyre (as it is set a time that precedes the events of the novels) sets out to unearth the secrets that are hidden within Jane Eyre; it fills in the chasm that exists in Jane Eyre by providing the history of Edward Rochester’s Creole wife Bertha Mason nee Antoinette Cosway. In a 1979 interview with Elizabeth Vreeland Rhys explained her reason for writing Wide Sargasso Sea: I thought, why should she think Creole

Names are identifying characteristics that influence how people see you and how you see yourself. Names are people’s identities, without them, loss of self and identity are inevitable. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys continues Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and the motif of names is present in both. Rhys uses it in a more complex and apparent way. Rhys uses names to convey the loss of identity in Antoinette and the invading anonymous character of, who we assume is, Mr. Rochester. Changing your name

Antoinette Cosway. Wide Sargasso Sea was Jean Rhys’s effort to retell and complicate the unresolved character of Bertha Mason, the “lunatic creole” presented to us in Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel, Jane Eyre. Bronte’s Jane Eyre was one of the first feminist critiques of the Victorian era. It scandalised and shocked society by presenting the reader with an independent woman who defied societal ideals of self-control. Through her depiction of Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea Rhys responds to Bronte’s

The original had a bias view coming from Crusoe. He didn’t see any wrong in what he was doing. Readers were unable to know the full treatment of Friday. Coetzee wanted to expand on slavery and culture. He wanted to show readers what was actually happening compared to a blinded, one-sided view. Coetzee showed that Friday has feelings, understanding and recollection. Susan says, “This casting of petals was the first sign I had that a spirit or soul – call it what you will – stirred beneath that dull

1. Highlight one character with whom you can identify. One character with whom I can identify in my selected work, the novel Wide Sargasso Sea, would be Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress who is once captivated by the lush Jamaican landscape only to be repelled by it. Antoinette is a very sympathetic character. She grew up without the love of a mother and is constantly gossiped about due to the stigma of madness that surrounds her family. We see that she is hesitant in marrying Rochester at first

Mr. Rochester vs. The Man Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys are novels with an obvious connection, however, this connection is not definite one. The main male character’s name in Jane Eyre is Mr. Rochester who has a very mysterious history in the Caribbean while The Man in Wide Sargasso Sea moves to the Caribbean after living in England for his entire life. Jean Rhys never states that the two men are the same, but the similarities between the two lead the reader

The critical responses provided in the Penguin Books edition of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, states: “the only difference between [Jane and Antoinette] is their positons, one is on the edge of the empire, the other at its center” (162). The unnamed author of the response undermines the importance of this difference and fails to see how it affects the how each of the characters are represented. The lack of acknowledgement the position from which Jane narrates, the centre— characterised by Walker

father’s wants he will lose his place in his family. Her husband has his own fears about his wife from her potential genetic madness and that she may be Black. In Rose Kamel’s article “Before I Was Set Free’: The Creole Wife in ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wide Sargasso Sea” supports the idea of Antoinette’s misogyny and racism towards his wife. He hurts his wife through mental abuse and does so by sleeping with his Black maid Amelia. Although this does not support the idea of racism it supports the idea of control

during these time periods. Jane Eyre was written in the early nineteen hundreds, while Wide Sargasso Sea was written in the 1960’s. During the time period between the two novels, there were major changes in culture and societal ideals. These changes affect how the writer views the world and influences how they write about the context in which the characters are developed. In Jean Rhys adaptation, Wide Sargasso Sea, there is a cultural shift in the perception of patriarchy, mental illness and racism

Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is a relatively still sea, lying within the south-west zone of the North Atlantic Ocean, at the centre of a swirl of warm ocean currents. Metaphorically, for Jean Rhys, it represented an area of calm, within the wide division between England and the West Indies. Within such an area, a sense of stability, permanence and identity may be attained, despite the powerful, whirling currents which surround it. But outside of this ‘sea’, one