Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea
Creole Identities and
Racial/Gender Relations
Norton Critical Ediction. NY: Norton, 1999.
WSS: Settings
• Part I: (Martinique),
Jamaica:
Coulibri estate, near Spanish
Town Part II: Granbois, Dominica,
Part III: “Great House” England
Sargasso Sea
Jane Erye
• Why is the marriage between Rochester and Bertha
unhappy?
• Why is Bertha mad? Beast, madness in the family, driven
mad, or not really mad?
Gender –
Marriage &
Inheritance system
Race
White – Creole --Black
Man
Women
Man
Women
Obeah woman
Rhys’s Self-Identity
“Do you consider yourself a West Indian?
She shrugged. ‘It was such a long time
ago when I left.’
“So you don’t think of yourself as a West
Indian writer?”
Again she shrugged, but said nothing.
“What about English? Do you consider
yourself an English writer?”
“No! I’m not, I’m not! I’m not even English.”
Rhys’s Self-Identity (2)
“What about a French writer?” I asked.
Again she shrugged and said nothing.
“You have no desire to go back to Dominca?”
“Sometimes,” she said.
David Plante “Jean Rhys: A Remembrance.” 275-76 Qut in Gregg.p. 1
Rhys’s Self-Identity (3)
• “I don’t belong anywhere but I get very
worked up about the West Indies. I still
care. . . .”
• After reading a critique of Wide Sargarso
Sea. . ., Rhys complains. . . :” Again I am in
danger of really becoming a recruit. . .I
think being born in the West Indies is an
influence very strong but . . . “ (Gregg 2 underline
added)
Wide Sargasso Sea: Character
Relationships
Mr. Cosway,
Pierre
Daniel
Godfry
Sass
Myra
Spanish Town
Whites
p. 17
Father
The Masons
E. Rochester
Richard
Aunt Cora
p. 18, 68-69
•Antoinette
Annette
Christophine
Amelia
Rhys on Jane Erye
“The creole in Charlotte Bronte’s novel is a lay
figure -- repulsive which does not matter, and
not once alive which does. . . . For me . . .
she must 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, and the reason why he thinks she is
mad and why of course she goes mad, even
the reason why she tries to set everything on
fire, and eventually succeeds. . . “ (Gregg 82)
Rhys on Antoinette’s historical
background
I. Shift of dates:
• In Jane Eyre -- Bertha confined in the attic in the
first decade of the 19th century.
• WSS’s time frame shifted to 1830’s onwards:
• Emancipation Act 1833
• Antoinette -- a child in the 1840’s, with two
fathers, one (Mason) coming after the
Emancipation.
II. “more than one Antoinette” then.
Annette and Antoinette as victims of Emancipation
and the gender/racial relationships then.
Racial Relations (1): the Whites and the
Creole
Backgrounds on Race: I. white masters, New &
Old:
• Old Masters: death of Mr. Lutrell and Mr. Cosway
• New masters after the Emancipation of slaves p.
15
• [Mr. Mason – 19, 21]
II. White against creole: e.g. p. 9; Aunt Cora’s
husband 18
(III. Black against creole: poor “white
cockcroaches”)
Race Relations (2): Views of the
Blacks
•
1.
2.
3.
Post-Emancipation Problems:
Recompensation,
Importation of contract laborers
Annette’s distrust of Chris., Godfry, and
Sass’ leaving p. 12
4. Riot: The presentation of the black mob p.
23, 25
Race Relations (3): Views of the
Blacks
• Christophine – helpful but fearful
1. Her room: p. 18 Combination of
Catholicism and voodoo
2. Antoinette’s seeking for help: p. 67, 68, 70
3. Put in jail once and may still be. P. 86
Gender/Race Relations
Women
(1) Marriage
• about Mason’s marriage: p. 17
• Gender: Rochester’s Marriage and
Inheritance: p. 41; 69
Race Relations
Women
• (2) Madness// promiscuity
• Pre-Emancipation slave-owner –
exploitation and distain. e.g. Mr. Cosway;
calls D’s mother “sly boots” p. 74;
halfway house p.57
1.Annette and her need of a “horse”; gay and
good dancer, concern for Pierre, Desire to leave
2. madness pp. 78; 81;
Race Relations
Women
2. Antoinette
• losing her mother; isolated
• (relationship with Tia,)
• Her trip to the convent p. 29
• Questions:
•
•
•
•
Antoinette –
How is she different from her mother?
How does she survive?
What do her dreams mean?
Creole Identities and Race Relations
in
Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea
• Antoinette
• survival methods
-- reaction to the death of the horse; do and say
nothing
– refuge in nature 13; solitude 16
– her dreams p. 15; 27 pp. 35-36
– the second refuge in the convent p. 32; 33; 34
– death impulse p. 54
Her view of England 66-67
What causes the problems
between Antoinette & Rochester
What causes the problems
between Antoinette & Rochester
• 1. (Race) Cultural differences
-- her limited understanding of the world --- p. 42 “Oh England, England,”
-- p. 47 her “Paris”; ”Is it true,' she said, `that
England is like a dream?”
-- his illness and discomfort: p. 40, 41, blanks
in his mind 45; p. 55 insecure
Part II: Causes for the conflicts
between Rochester and Antoinette:
• 2. (Race) Rochester’s prejudice and racial
superiority
p. 39; p. 43
• 3. Gender: Rochester's motivation for getting
married
• Agreed to everything 39; “not yet”;
• not love her; perform and hide things p. 45, 61
• P. 55 watch her die many times
• 4. Race+ Gender: the letter from Daniel
Rochester's suspicion of Antoinette’s madness
Part II: Causes for the conflicts
between Rochester and Antoinette (2)
• 5. Race+ Gender: Antoinette's
temperament--sense of doom and insecurity
• 6. Race+ Gender: 7. Antoinette’s seeking
for help from Christophine
The Turning Point
• Are Christophine’s suggestions practical?
Pp. 65 • Would their marriage have been saved
without the voodoo?
• 1. Pack up and leave
• 2. Talk frankly
• 3. Not go to England, Go to Martinique
• 7 Gender: Rochester's self-centeredness
and possessiveness:
• Turning Antoinette into Bertha pp. 68, 81
• the priest's ruined house--Pere Lilievre-Pere Labat pp. 62-63; 83