before reading
Emily White writes, "The novel is Rhys's answer to Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë's book had long haunted her, mostly for the story it did not tell--that of the madwoman in the attic,
Jane Eyre will be the first novel we read in September but you might familiarize yourself with the general plot before reading Wide Sargasso Sea.
WHILE READING
· In your journal make note of some of the themes, motifs, and literary techniques found in Wide Sargasso Sea: happiness (the desire for, the elusiveness of); threat (the effect of living with threats); identity (racial identity, social class identity, national identity, family and self, name and self); madness (and complications of identity); sexuality and power; reality and dreams; fires, destruction; flowers, plants, nature; narrative perspective (point of view; how does perspective affect perception of identity, perception of reality)
· Also note connections between different parts of the novel; between the novel and other literature you have read, especially Invisible Man (or films you have seen); and between the novel and your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
Notice I have deleted the Wide Sargasso Sea prompts.
I have revised them and posted the new prompts on July 21 (above).
1 comment:
Prompt #1
In Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys illustrates much of “self” and “identity” in the novel through visuals. Antoinette always notes the darkness of the natives skin, the colors of their garments, the colors in nature, the expressions on others faces. The importance of the “looking-glass” in Antoinette’s life is not to be overlooked. As a child she watches her mother groom herself in the looking-glass, and as she grows older she sits in front of mirrors on her own and observes herself. Even without the physical presence of a looking-glass, Antoinette sees herself reflected at times, whether it be in the reflection of the water, or in another person entirely. It is in this way that Rhys shows the decline of Antoinette’s “self”, and how she watches it slip away as she nears a fate so similar to her mother’s. She sees herself in others, and eventually, she doesn’t see herself at all.
In part one of Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette is still a child, discovering who she is, but she already shows a keen understanding of the struggles her “self” is already causing, and what struggles will come of it in the future. As Antoinette and her family flee Coulibri nearing the end of part one, she has a final encounter with her childhood companion, Tia. “We stared at each other, blood in my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking-glass.” (pg. 38). Antoinette sees the fear she has herself reflected in Tia- the fear of others, whether they be strangers or dear friends and family. Antoinette also sees her humiliation, the shame she feels that she fears those so dear to her, that the world has made her so afraid. Tia and Antoinette were at one point as close as sisters, but the world told them to be afraid of one another, and so they became afraid.
In part two of the novel, Antoinette brings her new husband to Granbois for their honeymoon. In a conversation with Christophine, she recounts the conversation between Richard and her Aunt Cora before her marriage. “Then she turned away from the window, the sky, the looking-glass…She turned her face to the wall…” (pg. 95). Antoinette knows that soon she too will turn her face to the wall, and it is true. There is hardly a mention of Antoinette consulting her reflection after her husband strays from her. She puts up one last fight to win him back through obeah, but after it fails, she simply gives up. She loses herself without his love, and she does not go looking to find it. She pushes everything that defines her away. She no longer loves the island or its people, she does not cry to see it go. She is empty, and does not try to change the fact.
In part three, Antoinette is staying in a house, estranged from the other residents, being taken care of by a woman named Grace. “There is no looking-glass here and I don’t know what I am like now. I remember watching myself brush my hair and how my eyes looked back at me. The girl I saw was myself yet not quite myself. Long ago when I was a child and very lonely I tried to kiss her. But the glass was between us- hard, cold and misted over with my breath. Now they have taken everything away. What am I doing in this place and who am I?” Antoinette remembers herself as a girl, not so different from who she is now- lonely and without identity. Her life has been a cycle, and she has returned to the beginning. She started out afraid and unsure of herself, gradually growing to find love in herself and others, and then declining back into the darkness (“night”) that is fear. She doesn’t know what she “is like” now, who she is and why she acts the way she does. Antoinette is gone, and not even Bertha is left. The glass between her past and her future is cold and hard, as it has always been. There has always been a mist on the glass, preventing her from truly seeing what lies within her own reflection. Looking at herself in her earlier years creates just as much pain as looking at herself now does- but Antoinette doesn’t need a looking-glass to see the change.
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