Postcolonial Studies
Paper - 203
Name - Nehalba Gohil
Roll no - 15
Enrollment no - 4069206420210009
Email ID - nehalbagohil26@gmail.com
Batch - 2021 - 23
M.A - sem 3
Submitted to - S.B Gardi Department of English M.K. Bhavnagar University
Jean Rhys - Wide Sargasso Sea
Introduction
Wide Sargasso Sea" is a novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys, published in 1966. The novel tells the story of Antoinette Cosway and her descent into madness at the hands of the coldhearted and money-hungry Mr. Rochester. Adapted from Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre," Rhys wrote "Wide Sargasso Sea" in an attempt to explain Brontë's character, Bertha Mason, the violently insane wife of Edward Rochester who was isolated from the rest of the world and locked in a third-floor room. In her novel, Rhys illustrates the emotional trauma, sexual repression, and social isolation that Antoinette faces at the hands of Rochester, resulting in the loss of herself and her sanity.
"Wide Sargasso Sea" Summary
Part One
Part one of "Wide Sargasso Sea" begins in early nineteenth-century Jamaica. A young white girl named Antoinette, the daughter of former slave owners, lives on Coulibri Estate, her family's run-down plantation with her mother, her sickly younger brother, Pierre, and a handful of servants. Moneyless due to the Emancipation Act of 1833 which freed the slaves, Antoinette's father supposedly drank himself to death, leaving behind his wife and children. Antoinette spends most of her days alone on the estate. Her mother, a beautiful young woman who has been ostracized by the community, spends her days aimlessly pacing out on their covered balcony. Antoinette's only friend is a young girl named Tia, the daughter of one of the servants, who one day turns against Antoinette unexpectedly.
One day, a group of well-dressed visitors comes to Coulibri. Among them is a wealthy Englishman named Mr. Mason. After a brief courtship, Annette and Mr. Mason are married. For the first time in years, Annette seems happy. Mr. Mason restores Coulibri to its former glory and brings in new servants, but discontent rises among the freed black servants and one night, during a protest, the house is set on fire. Antoinette's mother saves Pierre and the family flees from their home.
Six weeks later Antoinette wakes up and learns that she has been ill since the incident. Cora tells her that Pierre died and her mother had gone mad following the trauma of that night, so Mr. Mason sent her to the country to recover. Christophine takes Antoinette to visit her mother, but the once beautiful woman is unrecognizable and she becomes upset when she realizes that Pierre has died. Antoinette goes to her, but her mother violently flings her away.
For the next several years, Antoinette lives at the convent school. Cora moves back to England for a year and Mr. Mason travels for months at a time, visiting Antoinette occasionally but always bringing her gifts. During this time, Antoinette's mother dies. When Antoinette is seventeen, Mr. Mason tells her that he will have friends visiting from England and indicates that he hopes to present her as a young woman fit for marriage. At the end of part one, Antoinette wakes up from a nightmare and reflects on the death of her mother and the nightmare.
Part Two
Part two is narrated by Antoinette's new husband. It begins with their arrival at Granbois, a small estate on one of the Windward Islands owned by Antoinette's mother where they intend to spend a few weeks for their honeymoon. He admits to knowing very little about his wife, having agreed to marry her out of desperation when her stepbrother, Richard Mason, offered him 30,000 pounds to propose. He feels increasingly uncomfortable at the estate and begins to feel as though he was taken advantage of.
Soon after their arrival, the man receives a letter from Daniel Cosway, one of Antoinette's father's illegitimate children. Daniel warns the man of the insanity that runs in his wife's blood. Antoinette begins to sense that her husband hates her, so she begs Christophine for her help. Christophine tells Antoinette to leave the man, but she refuses. That night, Antoinette returns home and tells her husband about her past. They talk late into the night and when he wakes, he believes he was poisoned. Afraid Antoinette will wake up, he runs out of the house and into the woods. He sleeps in the woods for several hours and when he wakes again, he returns to Granbois where Amélie, one of the servants, brings him wine and food. He sleeps with Amélie while Antoinette sits in the next room, able to hear everything.
The next morning, Antoinette goes to Christophine's home. When she returns, she is drunk and goes straight to her bedroom. When Antoinette calls for more to drink, her husband keeps the servants from taking her more, forcing her to come out of her bedroom. Antoinette is drunk and mad and when her husband refuses to give her the bottle, she bites him. Christophine comforts her and takes her back to her room, then returns to yell at the man for his cruelty. It is that night that he decides to return to England and to take Antoinette with him.
Part Three
In the third and final part of the story, Antoinette is the narrator. Her husband has brought her back to England where she lives locked in the attic under the care of a servant named Grace Poole. Now violent and deranged, Antoinette has lost all sense of time and believes that they never made it to England. When her stepbrother, Richard, comes to see her, she attacks him with a knife, though she has no recollection of this incident when Grace tells her about it later. Antoinette has a recurring dream about stealing Grace's keys and exploring the house, but she never makes it to the end. The third time she has the dream it ends with her setting the house on fire. Believing that she has to fulfill her dream, she grabs a candle and exits the attic.
Characters :-
Antoinette Cosway -
The daughter of former slave owners in Jamaica. She is a lonely young girl who grows up with no friends and a mother who gives her very little love or affection. After being forced into marriage by her stepbrother, her husband moves her to England and locks her in the attic until she becomes delusional. She is based on the character Bertha Mason from Charlotte Brontë's novel "Jane Eyre."
Annette Cosway Mason -
Antoinette's beautiful young mother. She is the second wife of both Alexander Cosway and Mr. Mason. She is often melancholy and shows signs of madness even in Antoinette's earliest memories. She is the subject of the town's gossip and feels abandoned and persecuted by everyone except those close to her. After the fire, Mr. Mason sends her away to the country to recover where she later dies.
Pierre Cosway -
Antoinette's physically and mentally disabled little brother. After Coulibri is set on fire, he is trapped in his bedroom until Annette goes in after him. He dies shortly after.
Aunt Cora -
The widow of a slaveowner. She once lived in England with her husband but now lives alone in Spanish Town. Cora nurtures and cares for Antoinette, showing her affection and taking her in after Coulibri is burned to the ground. She is distrusting of the English man and when Antoinette goes to visit her before leaving on her honeymoon, Cora gives her a small silk bag with her rings and tells her to keep them hidden from her husband.
Christophine Dubois -
A Martinique woman who was given to Annette as a wedding gift by her first husband. She was loyal to Annette and later Antoinette after her mother's death. She is a firm woman and holds an unspoken authority over the rest of the help.
Daniel Boyd/Cosway -
A spiteful, angry man, Daniel Boyd is one of Alexander Cosway's illegitimate children by one of his slaves. Daniel writes a letter to Rochester after his marriage to Antoinette warning him of the madness that runs in her family. In a second, more threatening letter, Daniel convinces Rochester to visit him and at the end of the visit, Daniel asks for money to keep him quiet.
Sandi Cosway -
Another one of Alexander Cosway's bastard children. He defends Antoinette when she is harassed on her way to school. He is described as being "more handsome than any white man" by Daniel Boyd and is well-received by the white society. Antoinette used to refer to him as her cousin, but Mr. Mason scolded her for acknowledging her black relatives. Daniel also suggests that Antoinette and Sandi were sexually involved when they were younger.
Mr. Mason -
A wealthy English man who takes Annette as his second wife. After the fire, he abandons his wife, leaving her in the care of a black couple. He is fond of Antoinette and frequently visits her in the convent, bringing gifts. He tells her that he wants her to be happy and secure and implies that he is working towards arranging a marriage for her.
Richard Mason -
The son of Mr. Mason from his first marriage. After his father's death, Richard takes it upon himself to sell Antoinette into marriage, offering the English man 30,000 pounds and the rights to her inheritance. He later visits them in England and hardly recognizes the girl locked in the attic as Antoinette.
The English Gentleman (Rochester) -
Antoinette's English husband who narrates part two of the story. He is the youngest son of a wealthy Englishman. Immediately upon his arrival to Spanish Town, he comes down with a fever. He is pressured into marrying Antoinette by Richard, her stepbrother, though he knows nothing of her or her family. He soon regrets agreeing to marry Antoinette and becomes cold and detached, referring to her as Bertha instead of her real name. He has an affair with one of the servants and eventually takes her to England and locks her in the attic where she goes mad.
Grace Poole -
A character from "Jane Eyre," Grace Poole appears at the end of "Wide Sargasso Sea" when Antoinette is locked in the attic. Grace is the primary servant of Antoinette and is tasked with watching over her.
Themes :-
Otherness and Alienation
The problem of otherness in the world of Wide Sargasso Sea is all-pervading and labyrinthine. The racial hierarchy in 1830’s Jamaica is shown to be complex and strained, with tension between whites born in England, creoles or people of European descent born in the Caribbean, black ex-slaves, and people of mixed race. The resentment between these groups leads to hatred and violence. Antoinette Cosway and her family are repeatedly referred to as “white cockroaches.
Slavery and Freedom
Freedom in the novel is double-edged and troubled. Its ideal is presented in stark contrast, again and again, to its reality. At the start of the novel, we see that the Emancipation Act of 1833 leaves discontent and violence in its wake. Mr. Luttrell, a white former slaveowner and neighbor to the Cosways, commits suicide after Emancipation, unable to adjust to the new social and economic landscape. At Coulibri, the local population of black.
Women and Power
The female characters in Wide Sargasso Sea must confront societal forces that prevent them from acting for and sustaining themselves, regardless of race or class. The two socially accepted ways for a woman to attain security in this world are marriage and entering the convent. Marriage ends disastrously in most cases, especially for the Cosway women. Husbands have affairs, die, ignore their wives’ wishes with tragic results, imprison them, take their money,
Truth
Wide Sargasso Sea is a revisionist novel, written to complicate and push up against the accepted truth of Antoinette or “Bertha” Cosway’s character as it is put forth in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre—the archetypal “madwoman in the attic.” The novel questions the very nature of truth in its premise, form, and content. Within the novel, truth is shown to be slippery at best, difficult if not impossible to recognize and trust.
