This paper deals with the effects of multiperspectival narration on the representation of Christophine in Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea.
Besides Antoinette and her husband as narrators Rhys also mentions another “I” that talks in the novel. The author very likely refers to Christophine, Antoinette’s black nurse, a Martinique obeah woman who provides a third viewpoint on the action in this multiperspectival narration. However, as multiperspectivity
“shift[s] the reader’s attention from the events recounted on the level of the characters to the subjectivity of each of the presented perspectives” (Neumann/Nünning 102),
Christophine rather appears as a minor character in Antoinette’s and Edward’s narration. Still, she seems to be an important and influencing person for Antoinette, and she also is a character Antoinette’s husband is very much concerned with and concerned about.
In literary criticism there has been a lot of controversy concerning the representation of Christophine in Rhys’s novel. The debate circles around the question in how far the character is significant for the action taking place in the narrative and in how far the woman contributes to the meaning of the novel. Whereas Gayatri Spivak sees Christophine as “tangential to this narrative” (246), Benita Parry regards her as an important source of “counter-discourse” against the colonial authority (cf. 249). Carine Mardorossian argues that by Antoinette’s and her husband’s cultural and racial presumptions about Christophine and the other black characters as racial Others the white protagonists are themselves being debunked of their imperialist, stereotypical thinking (cf. 1071-1090).
The paper contains analyses of
- the novel’s multiperspectivity,
- the perspectives and attitudes of the narrator-focalisers Antoinette and her husband (Rochester)
-Christophine’s function for the development in the plot.
The results of these analysies will be used to discuss the multiperspectival effects of the novel and to interpret Christophine’s role in the narrative by discussing Spivak’s, Parry’s and Mardorossian’s opinions about this character.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 General Aspects of Antoinette’s and Edward’s Narration and Focalisation in Rhys’s Multiperspectival Novel
3 Antoinette’s and Edward’s Narrator/Character Perspectives
3.1 Antoinette’s Narrator/Character Perspective
3.2 Edward’s Narrator/Character Perspective
3.3 Résumé and Interim Conclusion about Antoinette’s and Edward’s Narrator/Character Perspectives
4 The Representation of Christophine from Antoinette’s and Edward’s Perspectives
4.1 Antoinette’s Representation of Christophine as a Surrogate Mother
4.2 Antoinette’s Representation of Christophine as an Obeah Woman
4.3 Edward’s Representation of Christophine as a Lazy Servant and Intimidating Woman
4.4 Edward’s Representation of Christophine as an Obeah Woman
5 Analysis of the Effects of Multiperspectivity on the Representation of Christophine
6 The Function of Christophine for the Development of the Plot
6.1 Christophine’s Role in the Plot in Terms of Her Influence on Antoinette in “Part One” and “Part Two”
6.2 Christophine’s Role in the Plot in Terms of Her Influence on Edward
6.3 Christophine’s Role in the Plot in Terms of Her Influence on Antoinette in “Part Three”
7 Interpretation and Discussion of Christophine’s Representation in Wide Sargasso Sea
8 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This paper examines how the multiperspectival narrative structure of Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea shapes the characterization of Christophine, an obeah woman and former slave. It argues that the subjective accounts of Antoinette and Edward, marked by their distinct cultural backgrounds and psychological instability, obscure Christophine’s actual significance, thereby reducing her to a marginal figure in their narratives.
- The impact of multiperspectival narration on character perception.
- Comparative analysis of Antoinette’s and Edward’s narrator/character perspectives.
- Christophine’s ambiguous role as both a supportive advisor and a feared obeah practitioner.
- The influence of racial, cultural, and colonial stereotypes on the protagonists' interpretations of reality.
- Christophine’s structural and thematic importance to the plot development.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 Edward’s Narrator/Character Perspective
Edward Rochester’s perspective as a young Englishman, who has never been to the West Indies before, is especially marked by his very restricted “level of knowledge” about life in the Caribbean and by his very confused “psychological disposition”. His “values and norms” as an Englishman influence the way he sees the Caribbean world and how he interacts with his wife, Christophine and other characters.
As Spivak maintains, Edward Rochester “is a victim of the patriarchal inheritance law of entailment” as his “situation is clearly that of a younger son dispatched to the colonies to buy an heiress” (243, cf. Rhys WSS 41 with note 2). In the beginning of his narration Edward relates that he has not had a good start in the West Indies. After his arrival in Jamaica the different climate has made him ill and Edward states that he has not got to know his wife very much before the wedding: “I was married a month after I arrived in Jamaica and for nearly three weeks of that time I was in bed with fever” (Rhys, WSS 39). He relates how alien his Creole wife, this “stranger” seems to him (cf. ibid. 55). As Ramchand points out Edward is “conscious of the cultural difference between himself and his West Indian wife” (184), and the young man admits that “I felt very little tenderness for her, she was a stranger to me, a stranger who did not think or feel as I did” (Rhys, WSS 55).
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the novel’s multiperspectival structure and sets the research focus on how the narrators' subjective views shape the representation of Christophine.
2 General Aspects of Antoinette’s and Edward’s Narration and Focalisation in Rhys’s Multiperspectival Novel: This section analyzes the narrative techniques employed by Rhys and their effect on the reader’s understanding of the fragmented story.
3 Antoinette’s and Edward’s Narrator/Character Perspectives: This chapter examines the individual backgrounds, psychological states, and values of the two main narrators, which form the basis for their perception of reality.
4 The Representation of Christophine from Antoinette’s and Edward’s Perspectives: This section details how Antoinette and Edward diverge in their depictions of Christophine as a mother figure, obeah woman, or lazy servant, based on their cultural biases.
5 Analysis of the Effects of Multiperspectivity on the Representation of Christophine: This analysis explores how the clash of subjective viewpoints creates ambiguity and "correlative multiperspectivity" regarding the black characters.
6 The Function of Christophine for the Development of the Plot: This chapter identifies Christophine’s crucial role as an advisor and mediator, arguing that her potential influence is ignored by the protagonists, leading to their downfall.
7 Interpretation and Discussion of Christophine’s Representation in Wide Sargasso Sea: This final analytical chapter discusses the role of Christophine as a source of "counter-discourse" and the limitations of imperialist interpretations.
8 Conclusion: The summary reiterates that Christophine is the most significant character, whose role is obliterated by the narrator-focalisers' stereotypical perceptions.
Keywords
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys, Christophine, multiperspectivity, narration, obeah, Antoinette, Edward Rochester, counter-discourse, post-colonialism, identity, representation, Caribbean, narrator-focalisers, imperialism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the effects of multiperspectival narration on the representation of the character Christophine in Jean Rhys’s novel Wide Sargasso Sea.
What are the primary thematic areas explored?
The main themes include colonial discourse, the construction of "Otherness," the limitations of subjective narrator perspectives, and the characterization of Christophine as an obeah woman versus a maternal advisor.
What is the central research question?
The research explores how the different perspectives of the narrators Antoinette and Edward shape their diverging interpretations of Christophine, and how this narration obscures her actual function in the plot.
Which scientific methods are utilized in this analysis?
The author employs close textual analysis of the novel, focusing on narrative theory, focalization, and literary criticism related to post-colonial and gender studies.
What is the primary subject of the main part of the paper?
The main part of the paper consists of a comparative analysis of how the two narrator-focalisers perceive and dehumanize Christophine, followed by an examination of her actual function in the narrative development.
Which specific keywords characterize this study?
Key terms include Wide Sargasso Sea, multiperspectivity, obeah, counter-discourse, narrator-focalisers, and cultural identity.
How does the narrator's perception of Christophine change throughout the novel?
For Antoinette, Christophine is initially a surrogate mother but becomes an object of ambivalent fear regarding her obeah powers. For Edward, she is initially viewed as a lazy, intimidating servant, later escalating to the perception of her as an evil witch and criminal.
Does the analysis conclude that Christophine’s "obeah" is a central destructive force?
No, the paper concludes that while the narrators perceive it as such, the destruction is ultimately caused by the protagonists' own decisions and their refusal to heed Christophine's advice.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Christina Gieseler (Autor:in), 2010, The Effects of Multiperspectival Narration on the Representation of Christophine in 'Wide Sargasso Sea', München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/176870
