Wide Sargasso Sea is one of the best-known literary postcolonial replies to the writing of Charlotte Bronte and a brilliant deconstruction of what is known as the author's "worlding" in
Jane Eyre.
The novel written by Jean Rhys tells the story of Jane Eyre's protagonist, Edward Rochester. The plot takes place in West Indies where Rochester met his first wife, Bertha Antoinette Mason. Wide Sargasso Sea influences the common reading and understanding of the matrix novel, as it rewrites crucial parts of Jane Eyre.
The heroine in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette Cosway, is created out of demonic and bestialic Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre. Rhys's great achievement in her re-writing of the
Bronte's text is her creation of a double to the madwoman from Jane Eyre. The heroine of Wide Sargasso Sea, the beautiful Antoinette Cosway, heiress of the post-emancipation fortune
is created out of the demonc and bestialic Bertha Mason. The author transforms the first Mrs Rochester into an individual figure whose madness is caused by imperialistic and patriarchal
oppression
The vision of Bertha/Antoinette as an insane offspring from a family plagued by madness is no longer plausible to the reader.
In this essay I would like to focus the factors which led to the madness of the protagonist. Although Bertha Mason and Jane Eyre seem to be enemies and contradictory characters in the
Victorian novel, many critics find several similarities between the two heroines, their life and finally between Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea. Seeing Jane Eyre and Antoinette Cosway
as sisters and doubles is very popular with some critics who dealt with the works of Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys. Nevertheless, I would like to focus in this essay on Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak's criticism on viewing and interpreting the two heroines. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in her essay "Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism" values also Jean Rhys for telling the story of Bertha Mason through the Creole perspective, but she criticises the author for marginalising the native inhabitants of West Indies.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.
2. Jean Rhys’s attitude towards the representation of West Indian in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
3. Edward Rochester- the unnamed English husband.
4. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s interpretation of Wide Sargasso Sea.
5. Summary.
6. Literature:
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This paper examines Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea as a postcolonial counter-narrative to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, focusing on how Rhys reclaims the character of Bertha Mason. The study investigates the themes of identity, colonial displacement, and the social forces that drive the protagonist's descent into madness.
- The postcolonial reconstruction of Bertha Mason as Antoinette Cosway.
- The critique of imperialistic and patriarchal structures in colonial West Indies.
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s theoretical perspective on "worlding" and epistemic violence.
- The representation of characters caught between opposing cultural identities.
- The deconstruction of the "madwoman" stereotype within the original Victorian canon.
Excerpt from the Book
2. Jean Rhys’s attitude towards the representation of West Indian in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
Jean Rhys, who spent her childhood in the West Indies, read Jane Eyre as a teeneager and regreted the fact that she could not contribute to the story of Bertha Mason. The first Mrs Rochester, who is presented in Jane Eyre as a creature between a human and an animal, represents threat for the heroine and her marital happiness with Rochester. In the letter to Selma Van Diaz, Rhys expresses her attitude towards the character of Bertha Mason and is in opposition to her representation in Jane Eyre:
“The Creole in Charlotte Bronte’s novel is a lay figure-repulsive which does not matter, and not once alive which does. She’s necessary to the plot, but always she shrieks, howls, laughs horribly, attacks all and sundry- off stage. For me (and for you I hope) she should be right on stage. She must be at least plausible with a past, the reason why Mr Rochester treats her so abominably and feels justified, even the reason why he thinks she is mad and why of course she goes mad (…)” 5
In Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys confronts the possibility of another side to Jane Eyre. The character “of the mad Creole” is given voice, dignity, identity and right to tell the reader “her side of the story.” The protagonist knows that the fate of her mother and the tragic history of her whole family can be misjudged and misunderstood by others. That is why the heroine assures her husband:
“There is always the other side, always.”6
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction.: This chapter introduces the core premise of the essay, positioning Wide Sargasso Sea as a critical postcolonial response to Jane Eyre and outlining the focus on Antoinette Cosway.
2. Jean Rhys’s attitude towards the representation of West Indian in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.: This section explores how Rhys aims to humanize Bertha Mason, challenging the "madwoman" archetype created by Brontë through the lens of childhood experience and cultural perspective.
3. Edward Rochester- the unnamed English husband.: This chapter analyzes the character of Rochester in Rhys's work, portraying him not merely as a villain, but as a victim of patriarchal inheritance laws and forced marriage.
4. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s interpretation of Wide Sargasso Sea.: This part discusses Spivak’s critique regarding British imperialism, "worlding," and the complexities of identifying Antoinette with the "mad" Bertha.
5. Summary.: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, noting that while Rhys successfully challenges the colonial narrative, she remains subject to academic debate regarding the potential marginalization of black native characters.
6. Literature:: Lists the primary and secondary sources used throughout the analytical study.
Keywords
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys, Charlotte Brontë, Postcolonialism, Bertha Mason, Antoinette Cosway, Edward Rochester, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Imperialism, Patriarchy, Identity, Creole, West Indies, Literary Criticism
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper explores how Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea functions as a postcolonial response to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, specifically by humanizing the character of Bertha Mason (renamed Antoinette Cosway).
What are the main thematic areas addressed?
Key themes include the impact of imperialism on identity, the socio-economic pressures of colonial marriage, the construction of the "Other" in literature, and the critique of patriarchal power structures.
What is the central research question?
The essay explores the factors that lead to the protagonist's descent into madness and evaluates whether Rhys succeeds in providing a balanced "other side" to the story of the first Mrs. Rochester.
Which theoretical framework is applied?
The author primarily utilizes postcolonial literary theory, drawing heavily on Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s critical essay, "Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism."
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body examines Rhys’s personal perspective on Brontë's depiction of the Caribbean, the nuanced characterization of the unnamed husband (Rochester), and the multi-voiced narrative structure of the novel.
Which keywords define the scholarly character of the text?
Significant keywords include Postcolonialism, Worlding, Epistemic Violence, Creole, Identity, and Imperialism.
How does the author characterize the relationship between Antoinette and Rochester?
The paper argues that both characters are depicted as trapped by social situations, inheritance laws, and the politics of colonial marriage, rather than being simple caricatures of good and evil.
What specific criticism does Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak level against Jean Rhys?
Spivak suggests that while Rhys gives voice to the white Creole woman, she may inadvertently marginalize the native black inhabitants of the West Indies in her narrative.
Why does the author of this essay focus on the "naming" of the husband?
The text suggests that by refusing to name the husband in the first part of the novel, Rhys emphasizes his role as a colonial force and strips him of the authority he holds in the matrix novel.
- Quote paper
- Malgorzata Swietlik (Author), 2008, "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys as a postcolonial response to "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/170690
