Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys
Work collaboratively in groups and take down notes on the following:
1. What are your initial impressions on the characters in Wise Sargasso Sea? Do they develop through the novel or are they static? If they are developing characters, how do they change and why? Are there any similarities or differences between this set of characters and those of Jane Eyre?
In your notes, include:
Traits of personality
Physical features
Their philosophical outlooks ( how they see life, love, sex, etc), mannerisms, etc.
It’s important to read the descriptions of minor characters below to keep track of who is who in the book.
2.Setting:
How well does the writer help you to visualise the setting? Make a note of any passages of description which you think are particularly effective in creating a vivid sense of place and time.
Does the setting seem to be just a background against which the action takes place – for example because it is concerned with historical events or with the interrelationship between people and their environment?
C . Can you make any connections between these settings and the ones in Jane Eyre?
3.Themes: What themes seem to be emerging? Can you find a link with those themes in Brontë’s novel?
4.Style:
Is the story told by a narrator who is also a character in the stories, referring to herself / himself as “I” (first person narrative) or is he/she anonymous and detached from the action (third person narrative)?
Note down any interesting or striking uses of language, such as powerful words or images which evoke a sense of atmosphere. Compare and contrast them with Brontë’s use of language.
How is this novel post-modern?
5.Your personal response: Have the novel made you think about or influenced your views on its themes and characters? What have you enjoyed or admired most about the stories ( or least) and why?
6. Length: You are expected to produce a summary of your findings, including all the items you have discussed with your partners in class: characters, setting, themes, style, and your personal responses. Your written production should not exceed 1,500 words.
7. References: As you are going to be using sources on the novel and Post-modernism, quote them properly. Write your References at the end of your production.
. Group members: this information should go at the very beginning of your post.
DEADLINE: THU 8TH, NOVEMBER, 2018 – 22.00 p.m.
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ReplyDeleteANTOINETTE
ReplyDeleteA Creole girl who does not fit either in the Jamaican nor British society since she is considered “a white cockroach” by the former and a “white nigger” by the latter. “(...) I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all” (Rhys 63) At the beginning, Antoinette is isolated at her residence in Jamaica, Coulibri. This is mainly because, now that her mother is a widow, they have little money and are branded as former slave owners, which leads to harassment and hostile attacks.
Her arranged marriage to Mr Rochester does not bring happiness to her life since it is full of bad moments, as Antoinette attempts to please Rochester and make him appreciate Granbois and the nature she loves so much, fail miserably over and over again. The end result of this is Antoinette hating the place as well “But I loved this place and you have made it into a place I hate.” (Rhys 95)
“She has forgotten silence and coldness” Her husband reminisces about the time Antoinette rejected him and in order to protect herself, she would not talk to him nor give him affection. Now, however, they have grown closer, and she confesses she did not want to keep on living until she met him. This conversation happens during the night, as Mr Rochester does not really stand her the by day. Besides, she is a different person during the day than at night. During daylight she is very lively and talkative, but at night her voice transforms while talking about death and revealing secrets. (Rhys 55)
ANNETTE
She is considered “pretty like pretty self” and a good dancer, as Antoinette eavesdrops during her mother’s wedding to Mr Mason. After a year of marriage, she desires to leave Coulibri, due to the hate they receive now that they are rich, and the lies people invent. “The people here hate us. They certainly hate me.” (Rhys 14)
Being a mother of two, she prefers her son Pierre, rather than the protagonist of the novel, Antoinette. After a doctor’s appointment, she “grows thinner and silent”, as probably she was told her son’s condition was incurable.
After Coulibri Estate fire and Pierre’s death, Annette develops resentment towards her new husband, Mr. Mason. “Don’t touch me. I’ll kill you if you touch me. I’ll kill you if you touch me. Coward. Hypocrite.” (Rhys 24)
Following this episode, she is sent away to another house where is kept locked inside with two servants, one of them who abuses and rapes her “In the end - mad I don’t know - she give up, she care for nothing. That man who is in charge of her he take her whenever he want (...) That man, and others. Then they have her.” (Rhys 85)
She lived a very unhappy life, marked by different tragedies; it is possible that her son’s death put her into a depressive state, which combined with the further enclosure and abuse mark the end of her tragic life.
It is considered that her daughter will face the same fate as her; marrying an Englishman, losing herself, being abused, and ultimately die in a state of depression.
SETTING
DeleteWide Sargasso Sea is set after the Emancipation Act signed in 1833, as many passages suggest. “No more slavery - why should anybody work?” (Rhys 5)
“Then comes the glorious Emancipation Act and trouble for some of the high and mighties” (Rhys 58)
“(...) I wasn’t quite awake as I lay in the shade looking at the pool - deep and green under the trees, brown-green if it had rained, but a bright sparkling green in the sun.” (Rhys 8) This passage provides a clear representation of Antoinette’s description of the pool she and Tia usually went to spend the day and have fun.
Coulibri represents both Annette and Antoinette’s good and bad moments, when Annette was married to Mr. Cosway their “garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible” (Rhys 4). But, when the husband dies it begins to deteriorate, like Annette’s sanity and lifestyle “But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell” (Rhys 4)
In the dreams there are descriptions of forests, which are the same of Jane Eyre, which contain beauty as well as terror. Both main characters in Wide Sargasso Sea face difficulties while at a forest, which gives these places a sombre atmosphere where supernatural elements take place. (CourseHero)
THEME: IDENTITY CRISIS
Identity crisis is a theme present throughout the novel, as it is suffered mainly by Antoinette, as well as by her husband.
Mr. Rochester is not mentioned at any point in the novel, which implies that the author is giving him no identity, as well as self-consciousness (Herischian 81). This last point is proven in the passage when Antoinette rejects him as a potential husband, and even though he does not love her, he keeps on insisting with the marriage. “I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor by this Creole girl” (Rhys 45). He is afraid of what society, as well as his father, would say when a Creole girl refuses to marry an Englishman. Mr Rochester does not have power in Jamaica and is portrayed as a totally different person as the one he is in Bronte’s novel, where he is shown as a dominant man, whereas Rhys gives this character anti Byronic traits to his personality which is the exact opposite. The classic Byronic hero seduces women and takes control of the relationship with a dominant personality and when Antoinette rejects him he’s so self-conscious and worried, whereas in Jane Eyre he would not be affected by it (Herischian 81).
First of all, she does not fit within the same country, as white and black people despise her and her family. “(...) I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all” (Rhys 63)
As a woman living in a patriarchal society, she is forced to marry an unknown man who rejects and encumbers her because she is now left with no fortune of her own, and is unable to escape somewhere else to achieve independence. “I am not rich now, I have no money of my own at all, everything I had belongs to him” (Rhys 68) The last step to losing her sanity is by physically crossing the Sargasso Sea, when she leaves the only place she knew, and goes to England. Just like when Mr Rochester was in Jamaica, Antoinette feels threatened by England, where she is completely oppressed by her husband.
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DeleteSTYLE
DeleteThe novel is written in first person; therefore, it is from a character point of view and not just a simple narrator. However, it is not just one person who tells the story; Wide Sargasso Sea is divided in 3 parts with different people telling the story: the first part is narrated by Antoinette, the second by Mr Rochester, and a bit by Antoinette, and the third part returns to her as well as Grace Pool.
Another postmodern trait is the lack of clear form and timeline. Rhys uses flashbacks and flashforwards to either remember the reader about past events or to tell the future, this along with the absence of chapters and using parts instead, which are typical styles of Rhys’ time.
- Foreshadowing: When Rochester draws “a house surrounded by trees” and divides “the third floor into rooms and in one room” he draws “a standing woman”, he is describing how he will imprison Antoinette at their new house in England once they move there. (Rhys 106)
- Flashback: Antoinette reminisces about eavesdropping Aunt Cora and Richard Mason talking about her and Mr Rochester’s marriage. Aunt Cora disagrees with turning her into marriage to “a perfect stranger” in exchange for money. (Rhys 71)
PERSONAL OPINION
After reading Jane Eyre, we enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea, as we could see the true story of some characters that differ from Brontë’s description. Bertha Mason is not just the ‘mad woman in the attic’, but instead someone that has a cruel and unfair past, and has to face oppression by her husband, which makes her a depressed and lost woman. We sympathise with her, just like we despise Mr Rochester for his hypocrisy, contrary to our idealisation in Jane Eyre.
Students: Aguirre, Nataly; Altamirano, Leandro; Corti, Carolina; Lodi, Malena; Tourn, Luisina.
References:
Course Hero. "Wide Sargasso Sea Study Guide."
Course Hero. 20 Dec. 2016. Web. 8 Nov.2018.
Herischian, Nazila. “Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea
as a Hypertext of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane
Eyre: A Postmodern Perspective”. 1 October
2018
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London, England.
Penguin Books Ltd. 2001. Print
GROUP 1: Aguirre, Nataly; Altamirano, Leandro; Corti, Carolina; Lodi, Malena; Tourn, Luisina.
DeleteAlthough your post is well-documented and well written, you’ve forgotten to quote source + page in some cases but you’ve respected this academic stipulation in most of the places.
SETTING: You’ve only described one of the settings of the novel, Coulibri, disregarding Granbois and Thornfield Hall.
As regards STYLE, it’d been more appropriate if you had written a brief definition of POST-MODERNISM before dealing with its characteristics. Otherwise, for a person who doesn’t know anything about the topic, your post is difficult to understand and follow. However, your explanations about the post-modern features found in WSS are clear and show that you’ve understood the literary movement.
All in all, you’ve written a good post considering most of the main topics suggested to you in your booklet. You’ve passed this instance of evaluation well. Good job!
AUNT CORA.
ReplyDeleteAunt Cora is an ex-slave owner who at the beginning lives alone in Spanish Town. She is sensitive towards Antoinette and Annette, but mainly with Antoinette. Aunt Cora is aware about the disadvantages of being a woman in such a macho society and consequently, she is constantly protecting Antoinette. A clear example is seen when Aunt Cora offers her rings to her niece so as to ensure Antoinette’s fortune ones she marries Richard. “I kissed her and she gave me a little silk bag. ‘My rings. Two are valuable. Don’t show it to him. Hide it away. Promise me.’” (Rhys 72).
On the other hand, Aunt Cora seems to be extremely level-headed when it comes to face a critical situation, like it is shown in the night of the fire in COULIBRI’s house. Not only does she calm Antoinette but also she tries to find a quick solution to safe everyone’s life. ‘’ Aunt Cora put her arms round me. She said, ‘’ Don’t be afraid, you are quite safe. We are all quite safe’’. ’ This place is going to burn like tinder and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The sooner we get out the better’’. (Rhys 19- 20)
AMÉLIE
She is a simple girl and a servant in Granbois, who is always so bright and happy that she transmits that happiness and excitement to everyone around her. “...she was so gay, so natural and something of this gaiety she must have given to me…” (Rhys 109). On the other hand, Amèlie is also deceiving and cruel, she does not respect Antoinette calling her white cockroach. “A lovely little creature but sly, spiteful, malignant perhaps, like much else in this place”. (Rhys 36)
Rochester appears to be interest in Amélie, as he is delighted with her appearance. She seems to have a strong personality, and “Her expression, was full of delighted malice, so intelligent, above all so intimate that I felt ashamed and looked away”. (Rhys 38)
SETTINGS
ReplyDeleteENGLAND/ Thornfield Hall
Antoniette dreams about living in England and imagine it as a beautiful country. She describes how the weather is in summer and how it changes when winter comes. She thought her dreams will become true in this city. “England rosy pink in the geography book map, but on the page opposite the words are closely crowned... Cool green leaves in the short cool summer. summer. there are fields of corn like sugar-cane fields, but gold colour and not so tall. after summer trees are bare, then winter and snow…. in that bed I will dream the end of my dream.” (Rhys 69)
However, her expectations were mistaken because the only thing she could appreciate form England was the dark walls that surround her.’ “… This cardboard world where everything is coloured brown or dark red or yellow or yellow that has no light in it’’ … ‘’they tell me I am in England but I don’t believe them’’ (Rhys, 116-117).
COULIBRI:
Antoinette believes that no other place could be as attractive and pleasant as Coulibri. “we were alone in the most beautiful place in the world, it is not possible that there can be anywhere else so beautiful as Coulibri” (Rhys 83).
Although this place is comfortable and marvelous, it deteriorates with the passing of time. Firstly, the garden looks bright and glorious and later it becomes more and more dark and gloomy. “Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible- the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild… smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell”. (Rhys 4) At last, Coulibri Estate is transformed into a rundown building, not only because it is unaffordable for the family to maintain the place but also for the damage caused by the natives. “My mother usually walked up and down the glacis, a paved roofed-in terrace … she had a clear view to the sea, but anyone passing could stare at her. They stared, sometimes they laughed”. (Rhys 5).
On the contrary, Rochester’s detestation of Coulibri is due to the fact that he does not feel comfortable there, hence, he expresses himself by talking awful things towards this place and also the hatred that Coulibri represents to him. “...I was tired of this people … and i hated the place. I hated the mountains and the hills, the river and the rains. … I hated its beauty and its magics … Above all I hated her.”. (Rhys 112)
GRANBOIS
ReplyDeleteGranbois is a piece of land where Christophine have her little house which is overwhelming by the size. “I heard that she owned or was given a small house and a piece of land near Granbois” (Rhys 92).
The white house is situated at the end of a sloppy meadow in a poorly condition, which is prop up with wood, and it seems that is trying to draw away from the forest. “At the top a badly cut coarse-grained lawn and at the end of the lawn a shabby white house. … Perched up on wooden stilts the house seemed to shrink from the forest behind it and crane eagerly out to the distant sea.” (Rhys 40).
Rochester had never wished to come to this place, he hated from the first time he had arrived here. “I said loudly and wildly, ‘And do you think that I wanted all this? I would give my life to undo it. I would give my eyes never to have seen this abominable place.” (Rhys 104).
STYLE:
Post-modernism has broken the mold of the traditional literature of the previous periods. Wide Sargasso Sea shows different features of postmodernist literature such as:
· Different instances of fragmentation
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS:
Antoinette’s husband is thinking how much Antoinette is alike with Amélie.
“For a moment she looked very much like Amélie. Perhaps they are related, I thought. It’s possible, It is even probable in this damned place”. (Rhys 98)
FLASHFORWARD:
Antoinette predicts her future throughout her dreams. She could foresee her ending beforehand.
“I dropped the candle I was carrying … and I saw flames shoot up. …
Then I turned round and saw the sky. It was red and all my life was in it. … I saw my doll’s house...I saw the pool at Coulibri. Tia was there. ...she laughed….All this I saw and heard in a fraction of a second. And the sky so red.” (Rhys 122-123)
FLASHBACK:
ReplyDeleteAntoinette is sitting with Sister Marie Augustine who has brought her a cup of hot chocolate. When she drinks, it reminds her when she was in the country, eating cakes and drinking chocolate early in the morning after the funeral of her mother.
“She seats me in a chair, vanishes, and after a while comes back with a cup of hot chocolate… -Drink your chocolate-. While I am drinking it I remember that after my mother’s funeral, very early in the morning, almost as early as this, we went home to drink chocolate and eat cakes”. (Rhys 35)
· It is a post-colonial novel because it is set in the colonies that were colonized by the English.
· The novel conveys aspects of feminism.
· It contains questionable narrators. The novel is told in the first person of singular by different characters from the novel and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish who is telling the story.
· It describes different identity crisis that the characters go through, for example
ETHNIC CRISIS
Antoinette is discriminated by the people of the island because she is a creole, that is to say she does not belong to either the black or white people.
“The white cockroach she marry...
The white cockroach she buy young man...”
“It was a song about a white cockroach. That’s me. That’s what they call all of us who were here before their own people in Africa sold them to the slave traders. And I’ve heard English woman call us white niggers” (Rhys 61-63).
· It has an open ending.
THEME: ISOLATION
In Jean Rhys`s novel Wide Sargasso Sea, isolation is clearly emphasised as one of the most significant themes, due to the fact that throughout the novel, Antoinette faces different situations that make her feel isolated in several ways. Among all, we can highlight two scenes in which physical and psychological isolation are represented.
From the beginning of the novel Antoinette experiences a psychological ostracise. Her feelings of uncertainty as regards her own identity since she does not belong to either the black or white people. This fact of being a creole also affects her mother, Annette, both of them find themselves alone even in their own house as people reject them from being physically different. (ChemyClass 1) “I never looked at any strange negro. They hated us. They called us white cockroaches. Let sleeping curs lie. One day a little girl followed me singing, ‘go away white cockroach, go away, go away.’”(Rhys 7)
On the other hand, she suffers from a physical isolation imposed by her husband Rochester as he locks her in a room and rejects her for making any contact with the outside world. (ChemyClass 1). “Only I know how long I have been here. Nights and days and days and nights, hundred of them slipping through my fingers.” (Rhys 118)
As a result of her imprisonment, Antoinette loses not only her mind but also her life after commiting suicide by setting the house on fire.
Personal response:
ReplyDeleteJane Rhys managed to succeed in using the main character as a mirror to show how women were oppressed by the society in the 20th Century. Furthermore, how they were victims of the patriarchal society, without concerning to what social class they belong to. Not only does she suffers from physical and mental oppression, but also she deals with the search of her own identity.
We consider that the novel is catching and interesting to read as the author makes you feel as if you are in the novel while reading it.
STUDENTS: Aguirre, Mailen; Mandel,Luciana;Mathieu, Giuliana; Montini, Cecilia;Valiente, Micaela; Vittori, Giuliana.
REFERENCES:
Chemyclass. “Alienation and isolation in Wide Sargasso Sea”. ChemyClass. website. 2018.6 of November, 2018.
Herischian, Nazila. “ Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea as a Hypertext of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: A postmodern Perspective. Department of English language and Literature, Trabiz, Iran. Web. 1st November 2012
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London, England. Penguin books limited. 2001. Print.
Group 2: Aguirre, Mailen; Mandel,Luciana;Mathieu, Giuliana; Montini, Cecilia;Valiente, Micaela; Vittori, Giuliana.
DeleteYour descriptions of characters in WSS are good but I’d like to comment on an adjective you’ve used, “macho”. You should say: MALE-CHAUVINIST society /behaviour /sexism, etc. rather than MACHO (check the Dictionary for the meaning of the latter). There are also some minor grammatical mistakes in your production but they don’t impede understanding.
SETTINGS: you’ve described the places very well. However, I’d like to clarify a point. Granbois is not a “piece of land” but a house, surrounded by a garden.
SYLE: Your definition of Post-Modernism should have included the date when this movement started. Moreover, you should have defined “stream of consciousness” briefly before posting an example of it. You must always consider the fact that your readers may not be acquainted with those terms like you are.
You could have explored the POST-COLONIAL aspect of WSS much more in depth instead of just mentioning the fact that the story takes places in an ex-colony, Jamaica. What about the author? Wasn’t Rhys born in an ex-colony as well? So you may have said that WSS is a post-colonial novel because it’s written by a “colonised” writer, coming from Dominica, which used to belong first to France and then to the British Empire. Rhys explores how the British exploitation of economic and human resources has affected the islanders and their culture. She does this in the language of the colonisers – English.
Again, you’ve lost an opportunity delve into the matter of how WSS is a feminist novel ( you merely mention this fact). WSS is a FEMINIST NOVEL (and therefore, inscribed in POST-MODERNISM) because the writer – a woman – is interested in telling the story of her protagonist – a Creole woman who does not fit into any society ( she’s rejected by both, the native Jamaicans and the British people) because of her mixed ancestry and of her sex. She’s reduced to the condition of a prisoner once she’s in England, locked up in a room for the rest of her life. She’s not even given the dignity of her own name: her husband decides that he’ll start calling her “Bertha”, a name she doesn’t recognise. But, in the end, she takes her life in her hands by escaping her prison, setting fire to it and jumping into the flames and into her liberty. Only by dying can she be free and can she be herself ( that’s why her final thought is of Tia, her friend, waiting for her as she jumps).
Although you’ve omitted these ideas in STYLE, you’ve mentioned some of them in your personal response. You’ve done your task well, all in all. Good job!
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ReplyDeleteStudents: Moschen, Yamila, Ramirez, Micaela, Segovia Brian, Spesot Mariel
ReplyDelete1) CHARACTERS
Christophine: She is a black woman, who wears golden jewelry as well as black clothes. She is slave who later becomes Anette’s wedding gift. She also practices obeah (a voodoo- like magic) because of this she has some problems with law. She’s the only trusted person by Antoinette, until she’s forced to leave her when Antoinette marries Mr. Rochester. Christophine character contrast to Annette in terms of motherhood as she cares and protects Antoinette at Colibri State. Whereas Annette is detached and cold. What is more, they give Antoinette a different perspective on how women should behave. Annette takes advantage of her sexiness to secure not only her wealth but also her status. Despite Christophine’s poorness she is completely independent and does not rely on men. Besides, Christophine does not like and trust in Rochester’s intentions and she advises Antoinette to leave him, by explaining that women should gain their own independence (Wilberfoce 15). “All women, all colours, 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” (Rhys 68). Our impression about Christophine is that despite of the century in which this novel was written she supports women in terms of marital status and independence. Although she is sold as a slave, she is respected not only by the blacks but also by the whites, which is something that we have never seen before. She is a static character as her thoughts and attitudes remains the same.
Richard Mason: He is the son of Mr. Mason and Antoinette´s step brother. He is attractive, fearful, and dishonest. Besides, he does not care about Antoinette. When Mr. Mason dies, he oversees Antoinette’s future. Although, Richard is responsible for setting an arranged marriage between Mr. Rochester and her sister, Christophine believes that Richard is not the right person to look after her stepsister´s future as he is only concerned on having money and power. Not only Antoinette is left penniless as Richard gives all her fortune to Rochester but also, she is under the control of her husband (Jennie K. Hann 7). “She is damn lucky to get him, all things considered. I would trust him with her life” (Rhys 71). We can say that Richard Mason is an ambitious man and his aim is to secure his wealth. In addition, he does not care for Antoinette and he forced her to marry someone that does not love her. He is a static character, as he does not change throughout the novel. However, in connection to Jane Eyre, he might feel guilty for her stepsister as he sees her in a deteriorate way and that he is almost killed by Antoinette as she could not forgive him
2) SETTINGS
ReplyDeleteWide Sargasso Sea consists of three main settings which are based on Jean Rhys's family history.
COULIBRI: The place where Antoinette is raised and Mount Calvary Convent School in Spanish Town. Coulibri presents different aspects of the characters’ life such as the feeling of being safe like in the case of Christophine towards Antoinette where affection can be seen.” We were alone in the most beautiful place in the world, it is not possible that there can be anywhere else so beautiful as Coulibri”( Rhys 83). On the other hand, there are certain events that put their lives at risk. “Then they poisoned her horse and could not ride about any more” ( Rhys 83). Moreover, there is clear evidence of discrimination as well as the division based on racism. Furthermore, this place builds up Antoinette’s weak personality.
GRANBOIS: which demonstrates Antoinette and Rochester post wedding party. It is described as a colourful and beautiful site where Rochester is introduced by Antoinette to the local inhabitants. However, their relationship decays due to Rochester bad intentions towards everything that has to do with Antoinette’s culture leading to a site of divisions among them as well as abandoning Granbois to establish himself in England with Antoinette. “Now you are at Granbois. I looked at the mountains purple against a very blue sky” (Rhys 40).
THORNFIELD HALL: This Mansion is represented as a gloomy and cold place. “I hear it cold to freeze your bones and they thief your money, clever like the devil” (Rhys 69). Besides, Antoinette is imprisoned not only by her husband but also by a patriarchal society. As she is locked in an Attic for almost her entire adulthood, she begins to suffer from mental breakdowns leading to the destruction and burning of Thornfield Hall in which she dies (Wilberfoce 11-12).
3) THEMES
ReplyDeleteRACISM: is one of the most important in the novel. This theme can be clearly seen as racism has always been a theme of discussion for a long time and one of the causes that leads to conflict and that is why Jean Rhys tackle this issue in her novel Wide Sargasso Sea. In the mid-1800s, your social status, job as well as your domestic duties were based on your race. When the novel was written, Jamaica was currently suffering from many racial conflicts due to the Emancipation act in 1833 (Jay 6). The main character of the novel Antoinette, who is a Creole, she is not accepted by neither the white nor the black due to the different ethnic tensions among the different racial groups. “I never looked at any strange negro. They hated us. They called us white cockroaches. Let sleeping dogs lie. One day a little girl followed me singing, go away white cockroach, go away, go away" (Rhys 7). Moreover, Antoinette's family do not share the same racist view the other whites and blacks have, as they need Christophine and other black slaves, who are respected by the family so we can see how the power based on race can change (Sparknotes Ed 10). In connection to Jane Eyre, this idea of racism is demonstrated in the negative assumptions the English have towards the Caribbean islands as the English are superior due to their political and financial power in different parts of the world, Bertha is a clear example of this negative beliefs (Wilberfoce 13).
FEMALE DEPENDENCE ON MEN:
Patriarchy means a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. Such as the case of Mr. Rochester towards his wife which clearly demonstrates the place women occupy in mid nineteenth century. Women were not considered to be independent until 1839. Besides, they were not allowed to divorce until The Matrimonial Act was passed in 1857. It is nowadays illegal to imprison your wife but during that time men could do whatever they want as women were their property. As an example, Rochester locked Antoinette because according to him she suffers from mental breakdowns. So, both novels clearly demonstrate how Rochester is beneficiated from Antoinette alias Bertha Manson’s money which leads his wife to become a powerless woman and always rely on her husband. Even if a woman regrets being married, she has no choice but to continue her marriage (Wilberfoce 16). “There would be a scandal if I left him and he hates scandal. Even if I got away (and how?) he would force me back” (Rhys 71).
4) STYLE
ReplyDeletePost-Modernism is a socio-cultural movement that has started around the 1960s. Its aim is to show human crisis and it assimilate the purpose of our existence.
In Wide Sargasso Sea, many of these characteristics are presented, which show us the ideology and background of the writer. In addition, this is one of the first novel that it is divided in parts instead of chapters.
• This novel is a hypertext of Jane Eyre which tells a story of Antoinette/Bertha Mason from her own point of view.
• Rhys is reflected in her own character Antoinette since she is also a “Creole woman” Besides; this type of novel revolves around feminist literature. That is why Rhys criticizes Rochester not only because he renames Antoinette for Bertha but also due to the lack of Rochester’s identity. “My name is not Bertha; why do you call me Bertha?” (Rhys 86).
• POST COLONIALISIM: Rhys was born in a former British colony, Dominica as her identity was considered inferior in relation to English people (Sites.Google). ”Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger”(Rhys 24).
DEVICES:
• FRAGMENTATION is shown in the following aspects:
• STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: One of them is sexual stream of consciousness as Bertha tries to use magic in Rochester. “That is why I wish and that is why I came here. You can make people love or hate. Or… or die” (Rhys 70).
• ALLEGORY: Is what writers tend to use to provide the “characters, figures and events” with “abstract ideas and principles”, letting readers have a notion of the author’s mind. “And if the razor grass cut my legs and arms I would think ‘It’s better than people: Black ants or red ones, tall nests swarming with white ants, rain that soaked me to the skin -once I saw a snake. All better than people” (Rhys 11).
• FLASHBACKS: Past events in the narrative such as dreams sequences and memories, showing the readers the ongoing events. “I found that out long ago when I was a child. I loved it because I had nothing else to love, but it is as indifferent as this God you call on so often” (Rhys 82).
• FLASHFORWARD: Future events in the narrative. “But this is not the place or the time, I thought, not in this long dark veranda with the candles burning low and the watching, listening night outside. Not tonight, I said again. Some other time.” (Rhys 81, 82)
NARRATOR
Wide Sargasso Sea is narrated in the first person by two main characters in which all of them tell the story according to their own point of view. However, in part three we have a brief narrative by Grace Pool. Moreover, other characters add a lot to the story by using the following devices: Reported Speech, Dialogues, Letters, Place names. In Wide Sargasso Sea the language varies according to regions in which is spoken ¨because she pretty like pretty self” (Rhys 3). In contrast to Brontë´s novel, the narrator is the main character: Jane Eyre as well as the language that is quite simple as she bases on her upbringing and 18th Century characteristics. (Wilberfoce 14).
5) PERSONAL RESPONSES
ReplyDeleteWhile Reading Wide Sargasso Sea we could realise how important is for women to have a choice. A choice in who we want to marry, in education as well as be independent from men. We can not imagine the suffering of those women who belonged to a patriarchal society as their life was controlled by their husbands. Nevertheless, it is important how both authors try to illustrate women from a different point of view in a society that was dominated by men. The fact that women now do not fear to talk, to denounce and to rebel against oppression is undeniable.
References:
LiteraryDevices Editors. “Literary Devices and Terms ” LiteraryDevices.net. Web. 4 Nov. 2014
Jay, Michael. “The Wide Sargasso Sea blog”. Thewidesargassoseablog.blogspot.com. October,
2011. Web. 7th November, 2018.
Jennie K. Hann. Miller, W.C. ed. "Wide Sargasso Sea Characters". GradeSaver.com. July 2007
Web. 9th November, 2018.
Sites Google Editors. “Wide Sargasso Sea”. Sites.google.com. N.D. Web. 6th November, 2018.
SparkNotes Editors. “Wide Sargasso Sea Main Ideas”. Sparknotes.com. N.D. Web. 5th
November, 2018.
Wilberfoce, William & Charles, Thomas. “Space, place and landscape”. Crossref-it.info. N.D.
Web. 05th November, 2018.
Wilberforce, William & Charles, Thomas. “Racial Difference in Wide Sargasso Sea”.
Crossref-it.info. N.D. Web. 5th November, 2018.
Wilberforce, William & Charles, Thomas. “A variety of narratives”. Crossref-it.info. N.D.
Web. 5th November, 2018.
Wilberforce, William & Charles, Thomas. “Character, structure and theme in Wide
Sargasso Sea”. Crossref-it.info. N.D. Web. 5th November, 2018.
Wilberforce, William & Charles, Thomas. “Women and Power”. Crossref-it.info. N.D.
Web. 5th November, 2018.
GROUP 3: Moschen, Yamila, Ramirez, Micaela, Segovia Brian, Spesot Mariel
DeleteLANGUAGE: Your post is well-written but there are some ungrammatical bits. For example, you say “poverty”, not “poorness.” Remember to edit your production carefully next time. There are some ungrammatical sentences but they do not impede understanding.
SETTING: There is a part which is quite confusing:
“However, their relationship decays due to Rochester bad intentions towards everything that has to do with Antoinette’s culture leading to a site of divisions among them as well as abandoning Granbois to establish himself in England with Antoinette.”
The rest of the description is good.
SOURCES: Although you’ve emailed me your sources, you’ve forgotten to quote some of them in your post.
STYLE: You’ve shown by your analysis that you’ve understood the main concepts behind Post-Modernism.
All in all, you’ve written a good analysis of WSS, with some omissions. You’ve passed this instance of evaluation. Good Job!
Group: Bogado Diego, Lopez Rodrigo, Malagueño Gabriel, Suligoy Ludmila.
ReplyDeleteROCHESTER
He is a hypocrite. He pretends to be her true lover by marrying her but when she refuses to marry him, his ego is wounded and he insist on trying to find the reason why she took that decision. He is worried about what his father and the society would think about him, given the fact that he would return to England empty-handed (Herischian 80). Rochester’s attitude towards Antoinette is reflected here:
“The morning before the wedding Richard Mason burst into my room at the Frasers as I was finishing my first cup of coffee. ‘She won’t go through with it!’
‘Won’t go through with what?’
‘But why?’
‘She doesn’t say why.’
‘She must have some reason’.
(...)
Let me get dressed. I must hear what she has to say.’
(...) I thought that this would indeed make a fool of me. I did not relish going back to England in the role of rejected suitor jilted by this Creole girl.I must certainly know why.” (Rhys 45)
ANTI-BYRONIC HERO
Antoinette’s husband is never mentioned by name in the novel. The writer’s “nameless hero” portrays Rochester as a man without identity and therefore the self-confidence of a Byronic Hero is absent throughout the novel. His family deprived him of a future of his own choosing. Instead, exiled to Jamaica he is to marry a “strange woman”, as is expected, unwillingly. (Herischian 80-81)
Consequently, he feels strongly powerless, even more so when he becomes aware of how independant and determined his wife is; a resolute woman reluctant to change her point of view. He tries desperately to exert some power over her, with no immediate result.
Consider the following example: “... but I was certain that nothing I said made much difference. Her mind was already made up. (...) Reality might disconcert her, bewilder her, hurt her, but would not be reality. It would be only a mistake, a misfortune, a wrong path taken, her fixed ideas would never change.
Nothing that I told her influenced her at all.” (Rhys 55; 56)
GRACE POOLE: she is the woman in charge of taking care of Antoinette at Thornfield. She had promised to keep the secret of Bertha. She usually drinks and falls asleep in front of Bertha. “The woman Grace sleeps in my room. At night I sometimes see her sitting at the table counting money(....) At first she used to look at me before she did this but I always pretended to be asleep,now she does no trouble about me. She drinks from a bottle on the table then she goes to bed, or puts her arms on the table, her head on her arms, and sleeps”(Rhys 116).
ReplyDeleteSETTING
Coulibri Estate: This is the place where Antoinette has spent her whole childhood. It is afflicted by disputes concerning safety and danger on the grounds of racism and slavery, all of them being the result of England’s colonization. Despite the turmoil that surrounds it, it is a place of exuberance, liveliness and affection, that invokes a rather welcoming and needed sense of peace. (Hardwick 2)
“I never looked at any strange negro. They hated us. They called us white cockroaches (...) One day a little girl followed me singing, ‘Go away white cockroach, go away, go away.’ I walked fast, but she walked faster. ‘White cockroach, go away, go away. Nobody want you. Go away.’ (Rhys 7)
“Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible-the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell (...) It was a bell-shaped mass of white, mauve, deep purples, wonderful to see. The scent was very sweet and strong.” (Rhys 5)
Granbois: It is an Estate located in Dominica where Rochester and Antoinette go to celebrate their marriage. Similar to Coulibri, it is a place of affection, full of gorgeous landscapes and vividness. (Rhys 157,?) (Hardwick 2)
“I looked at the mountains purple against a very blue sky.
Preached up on wooden stilts the house seemed to shrink from the forest behind it and a crane eagerly out to the distant sea. It was more awkward than ugly, a little sad as if it knew it could not last.” (Rhys 41)
Thornfield Hall: It is a place in the freezing and cloudy England, in which Antoinette is imprisoned and she puts and end to her life igniting the house.
“there is one window high up- you cannot see out of it. My bed had doors but they have been taken away. (...) “There is no looking-glass here so i don't know what i am like now.” “The door of the tapestry room is kept locked. It leads, i know, into a passage. that is where Grace stands and talks to another woman whom i have never seen.” (Rhys 116)
THEME: Loss of Identity and Sanity
ReplyDeletethe most important aspect which characterise Wide Sargasso Sea as a anti-Bildungsroman novel is Antoinette’s loss of identity and sanity. Jean Rhys portrays her as a woman who is discriminated in the country of Jamaica by the natives. The fact that Antoinette belongs to both cultures the English and Jamaican, may be the reason for that rejection. She is neither accepted by the English who call her “Creole” nor by the Jamaican who call her “white cockroach”. Furthermore, she is separated from her homeland Jamaica and taken to England where she feels alien and oppressed. (Herischian 74; 75)
Additionally, witnessing Coulibri Estate burning down struck Antoinette deeply with sadness. Right after, she encounters Tia and runs towards her, hoping she would find comfort to diminish what was lost in the flames, expecting to embrace someone familiar that would make her feel somewhat safe again.
“She was all that was left of my life as it had been. (…) I thought, I will live with Tia and I will be like her. (…) When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. (…) We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking-glass.” (Rhys 23)
Instead, once again, she suffered an even greater loss. All that she knew that was right, was suddenly wrong, and the stone shattered her image. Her Aunt Cora told her that it would heal properly, that it wouldn’t spoil her on her wedding day. But she reflects: “it did spoil me for my wedding day and all the other days and nights” (Rhys 85)
After this event, Antoinette clearly felt lost, as if she belonged nowhere, betrayed and heartbroken, for her heart “was heavy as lead” (Rhys 85)
Style: Wide Sargasso Sea is a Postmodern novel for many reasons. To begin with, it shows personal crisis in many of its characters e.g. Antoinette who is a Creole who struggles to have a place in society but she finishes losing her identity and sanity. Another aspect is the fragmentation, depicted by the fact that the novel has 3 narrators: in part 1 Antoinnette, in part 2 Rochester and Grace Poole. Sometimes the chronological order in the novel is not respected.
Devices:
_Stream of consciousness:is a narrative mode or method that attempts to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind.. e.g. “I went to bed early and slept at once. I dreamed that I was walking in the forest. Not alone. Someone who hated me was with me, out of sight. …I woke crying. The covering sheet was on the floor and my mother was looking down at me”(Rhys 11).
_ Flashbacks: a short part of a film, story, or play that goes back to events in the past. e.g. “They knew that he was in Jamaica when his father and his brother died,” Grace Poole said. He inherited everything, but he was a wealthy man before that. Some people are fortunate, they said, and were hints about the woman he brought back to England with him(Rhys 115).
_ Flashforwards: a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which a future event or scene is inserted into the chronological structure of the work. e.g. “That was the third time I had my dream, and it ended. I know now that the flight of steps leads to this room where I lie watching the woman asleep with her head on her arms. In my dream I waited till she began to snore, then I got up, and let myself out with a candle in my hand. It was easier this time than ever before and I walked as though I were flying. (Rhys 122).
Personal Response
ReplyDeleteJane Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea provides us information about the details and the harsh conditions women were exposed to during British Colonialism in the West Indies. We feel sympathy for a woman who is a victim of a patriarchal society and oppression. We consider that controversies like racism and and gender divisions are still seen nowadays. This gives us the impression that society in general have failed to accept its cultural diversities, social classes and gender identities.(Herischian)
References
Hardwick,Ann.”Space, Place and Landscape”.Crossref-it.Web.
November 7, 2018.
https://crossref-it.info/textguide/wide-sargasso-sea/29/1990
Herischian, Nazila. Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea as a Hypertext of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: A
Postmodern Perspective. ResearchGate. Department of English Language and Literature, Tabriz Azad
University PO box 51575-5311, Tabriz, Iran. 1 November 2012. Web. 30 October 2018.
Noren, Ander.”Culture Of Death and Magic In Jamaica” Wide Sargasso Sea.Blogspot. Web
November 7, 2018.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. N.p.: W.W.Norton&Company, 1992. Print.
GROUP 4: Bogado, Diego – López, Rodrigo – Malagueño, Gabriel – Suligoy, Ludmila
DeleteSOURCES: You’ve used some other sources apart from the one I’ve sent you but haven’t emailed them to me.
CHARACTERS: Your analysis of Grace Poole is bit weak. You could have speculated on her reasons for drinking, for instance. Why does she fall into a stupor? Is it because she is a prisoner of sorts too? Is her job easy – taking care of a woman perceived to be ‘dangerous’ by the master, Mr Rochester? Does Grace have freedom to do what she wants or is she forever imprisoned within those four walls the same as Antoinette?
SETTING: again, the description of Granbois is rather poor. How does Rochester feel about Granbois? Why?
STYLE: Although your analysis of the post-modern elements in WSS is good, you should have included a brief definition of POST-MODERNISM.
In spite of some omissions, you’ve passed this instance of evaluation. Good job!