Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a novel by Jean Rhys that serves as a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre," exploring themes of identity, race, and colonialism. Set in Jamaica and the Caribbean during the early 20th century, the story follows Antoinette Cosway, a young Creole girl of mixed heritage who faces rejection and isolation from both the local black community and the colonial white society due to her family's poverty and her ambiguous social status. The narrative delves into Antoinette’s tumultuous childhood, marked by familial tragedy and mental illness, particularly that of her mother, Annette, who succumbs to madness after a violent mob attack.
As Antoinette matures, she marries an Englishman who is initially enchanted by her but soon becomes increasingly alienated by cultural and personal differences. The novel intricately portrays Antoinette's struggle for selfhood amid her husband's growing disdain and betrayal, ultimately leading to her descent into madness and loss of identity. The story culminates in a dramatic act of defiance as Antoinette, now renamed Bertha, seeks to reclaim her agency through an act of destruction. Rhys’s work provides a poignant exploration of the complexities of race, gender, and colonial legacies, inviting readers to reconsider the narratives surrounding these themes.
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Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
First published: 1966
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of plot: Late 1830s
Locale: Jamaica, Dominica, and England
Principal Characters
Antoinette (Bertha) Cosway , a young Creole womanThe Young Englishman , a man who marries AntoinetteChristophine , a servant woman; practitioner of obeah, or voodoo
The Story
Antoinette’s immediate family consists only of her impoverished, widowed mother and her idiot brother; a small number of black servants remain at the dilapidated Coulibri estate. Rejected by black and white people because of her mixed heritage and her family’s poverty, Antoinette drifts through a troubled and lonely childhood. Her mother ignores her, pushing her away without emotion of any kind, and only Christophine, the servant from Martinique, is kind and nurturing.
Annette Cosway, Antoinette’s mother, still young and beautiful, fights for survival by using her beauty, her only resource, and marrying Mr. Mason, a wealthy Englishman. This rescue does not last long, however; one night an angry mob of newly freed slaves burns down Coulibri. Antoinette’s brother dies and Antoinette is physically attacked. The terror of the night drives Antoinette’s mother completely insane.
For six weeks Antoinette lies ill at her Aunt Cora’s. After regaining her strength, Antoinette attends convent school. Mount Calvary convent provides a refuge of sorts. Antoinette first prays there for the freedom of death, then stops praying and feels “bolder, happier, more free. But not so safe.”
Antoinette’s stepfather visits her and finally tells her she will soon be leaving. Just prior to her departure from the convent, she dreams of herself dressed in white following a man with eyes of hatred into the dark of the jungle. She awakens and recalls the dream as one of “Hell,” and the hot chocolate she is given to calm her recalls her mother’s funeral, one year prior.
The Englishman proceeds on horseback with his new bride, Antoinette, to their honeymoon house, Grandbois. The rain, the colors, the mountains, and even the servants all seem “too much” to him, too bright, too vibrant. All of this world seems uncivilized, including his new wife, and already he regrets this marriage. When Antoinette refused at the last minute to marry him, the Englishman persuasively reassured her, most concerned with having to return to England “in the role of the rejected suitor jilted by this Creole girl.” After he settles into the house, he writes to his father but leaves out any anxiety regarding his marriage. The Englishman married for money: Antoinette owns property.
At Grandbois, their differences are inescapable, although initially Antoinette enchants him. He desires the alien nature of the island passionately. He desires Antoinette, yet he is bewildered at the numerous differences between them and is mystified at Antoinette’s dependence on him for both her happiness and her very will to live. He “was thirsty for her, but that was not love.”
One morning, the Englishman receives a letter from Daniel Cosway that details the wickedness and the history of madness in the slave-owning family into which the Englishman has just married. Antoinette, still unaware of her husband’s new knowledge, cries out to him that she does not know who she is, where she belongs, and why she exists. That night, the Englishman wanders into the dark forest and wonders how he can know the truth of anything.
Antoinette soon realizes the truth that her husband does not love her, perhaps even hates her, and, in desperation, she rides to Christophine’s in search of obeah, or voodoo. Christophine advises Antoinette to leave him and warns that the obeah can only make him come to Antoinette’s bed, not make him love her. Antoinette and the Englishman fight after he tells her that he spoke with Daniel Cosway and learned about her mother. She tells her husband her side of the story, and he listens reluctantly. She also gives him a potion supplied by Christophine. After their battle, he sleeps with her and awakens to realize he was drugged by his wife. Angered and still influenced by the obeah potion, the Englishman commits adultery with Amélie, a black servant who hates Antoinette, in the room adjacent to his wife’s bedroom.
Antoinette, traumatized by this final act of hatred, turns to alcohol. Husband and wife fight again, physically this time. Christophine argues with the Englishman and pleads for him to try again to love Antoinette. Filled with bitterness, the Englishman refuses Christophine’s offer to return to England and leave Antoinette behind in Christophine’s care. Christophine leaves in anger.
The Englishman prepares for the two of them to move to Jamaica and then indulges himself in rum and self-pity, all the while damning the “drunken lying lunatic” to whom he is married. As they begin their departure, the Englishman momentarily wavers in his feelings toward Antoinette only to be finally overcome by his own hatred; the island world is detestable to him, and he hates it most because Antoinette belongs to its “magic and . . . loveliness.”
Grace Poole speaks of her acceptance, after careful consideration, of the position as caretaker for Antoinette. Antoinette herself questions the reality of the English prison to which she is brought, amazed that she is captive for so long. She wonders about her lost identity, her name changed from Antoinette to Bertha, and her inability to see her own visage in a mirror. She is smarter than her keeper and easily and frequently steals the keys from the sleeping Grace. Antoinette, renamed Bertha, roams freely through the “cardboard world” of a house that she will not believe is in England.
Antoinette, dwelling on the loss of her dreams and her self, grasps for anything tangible, like her red dress, which she is convinced will reestablish her identity. In a dream state, Antoinette wanders through the halls of the house, searching. She passes a gilt frame mirror, sees her reflection, and is startled by the familiarity and the strangeness of her own image. Her candle, which she drops when startled by the image, causes a fire. She feels a rush of memories descend upon her; the fire returns her to horrible images of burning Coulibri. She knows what she should do. Ultimately, she is successful in burning down the Englishman’s house and destroying herself with it.
Bibliography
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