We began our discussion of Wide Sargasso Sea by noting that the book does not make it easy for the reader to become situated. The beginning of the novel is disorienting, and we need to be patient and look hard for cues about things like the socio-historical context of the book, narrative voice and the interrelationships between characters. We all agreed that this is a deliberate choice by the author, and started to explore other choices that Jean Rhys makes: for instance, moving the historical period of the book to post-emancipation (which is not exactly consistent with the period of Jane Eyre), deliberately delaying contextualization, and providing two principal narrative voices. How do these choices affect our understanding or experience of the novel as a whole?
As for themes, students identified issues of power and control were at work throughout the novel. Each character appears to be clinging to some means of power and trying to assert some control over their world, whether it be through money, mob strength, magic or cultural domination. Often these attempts at gaining power and control lead to deep entanglements and misunderstandings between characters, gulfs that they can not cross in order to truly connect with each other. Antoinette is problematic in regard to power and control, however, as it is not clear where she is drawing her power or by what means she is trying to control her experience (if she is at all). We noted that she is never at peace, and one student very shrewdly pointed out that she moves from one safe space to another, as each safe space is successively destroyed. Ultimately, she becomes attached to the latent sense of threat that she experiences on the island, although she is careful to point out that she feels at home within this feeling of dread or threat as long as it is divorced from people. Threat or menace from people or society is unbearable for her, but she can and must live within the threat from natural world of the island. Is this where she finds her power or control, living in the teeth of dread? Isn’t this paradoxical?
Another student noted a pattern of color in the book but was uncertain what to make of it. Mr. Cook and I appreciated that she brought this up, even tentatively. We have been encouraging students to make bold and pointed assertions about the books we’re reading, but we can not shy away from making tentative observations and allowing ourselves to spiral back through themes and ideas that we casually observe on our way to something we think is more substantial.
Another pressing question: why the return of Tia in the very last sentences of the book? What is it about this character that resonates so strongly in the book’s climactic moments?
This book will be crucial as we discuss Jane Eyre in the first semester. I have sent around an email with two due dates (one for the web assignment, one for your final independent reading) so please look closely at your email. Add a comment to this post if you were not able to get to the meeting, and we will be seeing you in a few days! Mr. Telles.
I believe Antoinette finds comfort in the familiarity of the hostility of the island. After living there for her entire life she seems to have begun fluctuating with the twists and turns of the wilderness. I mentioned throughout much of my quotations on Wide Sargasso Sea that it seems as if she has an innate connection with the island, as the weather and appearance of its scape tend to mimic her emotional and mental state throughout the duration of the novel. For example, during her final mental breakdown it is very dark outside and her husband describes the trees and everything around him as "menacing." A second occurrence is during the moments when she is "dying" in her own way when her husband commands her to. The flowers on the trees were too weak to resist the wind and were blown off, squished under feet or blown away. Antoinette seems to be a part of the island. Whether she controls it, or it controls her, I can't say. However there is a very obvious parallel between the two.
ReplyDeleteThe "resurrection" of Tia in the final pages of the book is simply a return to the events that set her entire mental stability on the run, as well as that of her mother. Her father had left at such an early age that I hardly believe him to have contributed to her constant pattern of betrayal. That considered, Tia was her first taste of the cruelty of people and the world. When she returned home wearing foreign clothes it was almost as if she had been broken and given a new identity. From then on, her mother's sanity deteriorated as she began spending money they did not have, and wishing to move because of paranoia, only to have that fulfilled, and lose her son. During the seconds when Tia hurled a rock at her, she had hoped to live with the individual who had already deserted her and stolen from her. The tears on Tia's face and the blood on her own was her first exposure to mental anguish and her attraction to dangerous personas continued from there. She married a man she did not truly know, allowed him to take advantage of her for money, and cheat on her without tangible consequences, she turned to a suspicious woman(Christopine) whose dealings with magic should have been an immediate threat to Antoinette. She consistently entered into relationships which she believed herself able to control, yet subconsciously knew she was unable to conquer. It was almost as if she were punishing herself for not being able to help her mother or herself avoid their inevitable collapse. Tia's appearance was a manifestation of her failure. Accusing her of being afraid of her fate by denying its occurrence through meaningless relationships, and hidden agendas concerning her caretaker at the time. Antoinette was attempting to hold herself to the fact that she knew more than her caretaker did of her intelligence and mental state, yet the grip her past held on her, as seen through Tia's emergence undermined that entire act and hope. At this point, Antoinette resigns herself to insanity and follows a dream, a blur of past events and subconscious notions that control her final acts of life.
I loved Wide Sargasso Sea. Its beauty, betrayal, eccentrics, and cruelty haunted me. The character of Antoinette haunted me as well. She was a beautiful girl, inside and out, but the cruel world got the better of her. How could such a lovely girl succumb to such madness?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Antoinette wanted the power to control her life. I believe that she was desperate to not become her mother. However, she put herself in situations where she did not have the power to change her life, simply because debacles were all she has known. An example of a powerless situation that she had put herself in was the marriage to Mr. Rochester.
I think that Antoinette thought her marriage to the English bachelor would change her life for the better. He was the ideal husband and she had hoped he would learn to love her. However, Mr. Rochester was using Antoinette for her money. But money was not all Mr. Rochester stole from her. He had stolen her love, her trust, and her last chances for sanity. I believe that is why I hated Mr. Rochester so much and felt so much sorrow for Antoinette.
Jean Rhys had created a narrative passage for Mr. Rochester for a reason. It is obvious why there are two narrative passages for Antoinette – she is after all the heroine, but Mr. Rochester is far from the hero. But I believe that Mr. Rochester had a narrative passage because Rhys wanted a chance to have readers sympathize with him. Like Antoinette, he had familial pressure bearing down on him – pressure from his father, and Mr. Rochester was desperate to appease his father. However, as I had stated before, I grew to hate Mr. Rochester because he was a cruel thief.
Tia was cruel as well. Like Sarah said, Tia was Antoinette’s first direct taste of the cruel world. Therefore, Tia became a symbol of all that was wrong in Antoinette’s world and thus the reason she kept reappearing throughout the novel.
When I began reading Wide Sargasso Sea I was immdediately turned off to the story. I was thrust into the book and it was a little diffuclt for me to Understand. However, as I reread the beginning and continued the novel, I found it easier to read. The almost disfunctional way Jean Rhys writes the story almost refelcts the atmosphere and Antoinette's life.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Sarah about Antoinette feeding off the island as a source of her mood and it was cause of her life turning into a hostile environment. I think that Antoinette liked having her life controlled by some one else and set out in front of her because her insecurity made it too difficult for her to make decisions of her own. Despite living in a hostile environment, Antoinette found something constant which was always a decision made by some one else. Even though her marriage was arranged, I don't believe she would ever want to go through the process of finding her true love on her own. Antoinette was wounded emotionally by Tia; Tia's betrayal scarred her and there is no way she could ever get over it.
I believe that Tia is a symbol for the real world for Antoinette. The world is a cruel place and I don't mean to say that everyone in Antoinette's life will betray her, but just because some one appears to be you friend does not necessarily mean that they are so nice. One quote that I found was that "it is a mistake to go by looks." Antoinette needs to establish a backbone but she is too afraid and runs away to try and comfort herself. She believes that if she avoids thinking about the bad things in her life, they will disappear completely.
Rhys has established all negative aspects of Antoinette's life and not really any positive ones. I think that the reader is supposed to feel very sorry for Antoinette and hate Mr. Rochester because he is the one you learn most about and takes advantage of her vulnerability.
Although Antoinette has everything set out for her, I think she still has a loss of identity. Because she has never done anything for herself, she doesn't know exactly who she is or who she is supposed to be. I think being on an island, a place where no one liked her, Antoinette lost any desire she might have had to become some one important. Her husband, I think, also was never really established as a strong man. He married Antoinette for her money and he does not care for her at all. When he is searching, he comes across a book shelf and finds books that are eaten away and I think this is exactly how he and his life are; he is an unfinished book that has no real purpose besides just existing.
When I first started reading Wide Sargasso Sea, I was very confused. Even to the end of the book, I had very mixed feelings about it. The book was very vivid and there was constant change. But at the same time, at certain parts of the book I had a hard time keeping my attention to the story. Throughout the novel, I felt horrible for Antoinette. She was always an outcast, without a fatherly figure or even really a motherly figure. Antoinette was doomed from the beginning, between the people of the island picking on her to her mother going crazy. And then when Rochester came into the picture, I almost lost it. Rochester aggravates me to no end. I think he is as useful as Antoinette's burnt down house. He is the scum of the Earth, in my opinion, for what he did to Antoinette throughout the book. He used her for her money and made her the way she turned out to be. As a husband he was supposed to be there to protect and support her. I wish Antoinette hadn't gone crazy, wound up divorcing that jerk and marrying someone decent. Then Rochester seeing this and being miserable the rest of his life.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above, this all ties the issues of power and control. Throughout the book, these themes are interwoven. Each character had their own way to be in control, some more so than others. I don't think Antoinette had control of her life at all, allowing others to control it for her. First her mother, then the nuns, Rochester, and finally Grace Poole.
When I read Wide Sargasso Sea, I was interested, but not incredibly interested. I enjoyed the power struggle between Antoinette and Rochester. Rochester was always trying to control her but could not. He did not know her as well as he should of. Besides the fact that he wants to control her, it is hard to control the relationship of two people when one person does not know the other. I think it was wrong for Rochester to take control, but this was a different time than today's time. The man taking control was common at the time. I also thought that the book had a very dark kind of feel to it. Especially at one point where Antoinette says: “...But I loved this place and you have made it into a place I hate.” I mean come on, if that is not enough proof that the relationship was doomed to fail and that this is a dark book, then I do not know what is enough proof. Another reason the Wide Sargasso Sea is a dark book is that Rochester was so desperate for money that he agreed to a life long commitment if he got money for it. I believe that qualifies as being a complete jerk. What I did enjoy about the book was the character of Antoinette. I believe she was developed very well. It was one of the only things I enjoyed the book. I loved the conflict in her, mostly about her struggling to deal with Rochester on a daily basis. Even if she is not narrating at the time.
ReplyDeleteTo me the book resembled the works of Charlotte Bronte, not only Jane Eyre, but her other works with poetry. I previously read her poems over the summer and when I started reading this book I could clearly see the resemblance and influence.
ReplyDeleteOne resemblance that I could see was Rhys' work with not only colors but with very bold opposites. From always mentioning heaven and hell, light and dark, ect. This re-occurrence really speaks about the characters and how they are all struggling for that power. It seems that none of them understand the "grey area" of life. Heaven or hell, light or dark, power or no power. They think if they don't have absolutely control, they have no control whatsoever.
I don't really believe either can really be a protagonist in the big picture. At small parts in the story there may have been a small glimpse of them being heroes in a sense but for the most part they are victims of themselves and therefore antagonists to each other and themselves.
As much as I loved this book (it being my favorite out of the three we read) one small problem I had was the lack of trust in the whole book. There wasn't a character in the book that you could rely on. In a sense it pulls the book together, but I really wonder how the story would have gone even with just one character who wasn't trying to deceive others and themselves.
The book was very negative overall. However, unlike most books that follow that sort of path, this one didn’t leave you hopeful for a good future for that character. Maybe because we know what happens in Jane Eyre and the author didn’t want to give false hope. Either way it was a very interesting book to read and analyze.
This was an interesting story, and though I would probably say it was my least favorite of the summer reading books, that doesn't mean I disliked the story. I could see the connection between this story and Invisible Man, both of the stories addressing a descent into madness (though the madness in Invisible Man seems significantly savvier.) But even more than mental instability, the issue of identity permeates both stories. While the narrator in Invisible Man is struggling to gain an identity in a world that is trying to manipulate him, Wide Sargasso Sea deals with Antoinette losing her identity in a similarly manipulative world. She loses her home, her family, and her name and by the end of the story, her step-brother doesn't even recognize her.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting (as I often do) to follow some of the motifs and recurring elements strung throughout the story, two of the most interesting (and most intertwined,) being betrayal and zombiism. Elements of the process of zombification come up several times through the story (which I may or may not only know because of footnotes.) The morning after Antoinette performs the voodoo ritual on her husband, he has a dream of being buried alive (a reference to a stage in zombification.) As Antoinette mentions, giving her a new name is also a method of zombifing her, and is also a part of the process of zombification.
Although the husband can be rather plainly called the antagonist of this story, I don't think he is without sympathetic qualities. Both of the characters are to be pitied in some way shape or form, and neither is shown to be innocent of misdeeds. Both of them were pushed into the marriage by their parents (at least that was my understanding) without getting to know the other party. While the husband's belief in the claims of Cosway's supposed illegitimate son is what drives the two characters apart, Antoinette is not perfect, and her problems are not caused just by her misfortune. Due to her childhood, it's clear she has little trust for people. This mistrust is why she resorts to using obeah to seduce her husband even after talking with him seemed to have somewhat improved matters. Although the constant betrayals of Antoinette are the focus of the book, Antoinette has also perpetrated betrayal (on Christophine by forcing her to Antoinette the supplies as well as upon her husband.) This isn't to defend the husband's actions, but he isn't a solely antagonistic figure. He is a tragic character as well.
I wasn't a huge fan of wide sargasso sea, because the book had an eerie depressing feel to it. Antoinette was set up to fail from the beginning, and her path never really changes. Bad things just keep happening to her through out her life, never letting her to develop who she was. The only time she felt like her self was when she was in the jungles of the island, but i feel it was more the fact that she was alone. With no one around to judge her or discriminate against her she finds a sort of happiness, until she must return to reality. I also feel like she never really makes good choices in her life, she gets married to someone who can barley stand her sometimes, and eventually locks her in a room in England. I feel if she had stayed in the convent she would have found a purpose and identity through religion. Now i am not a religious person myself, but many people open up to it in times of hardship. This might have been a better decision for her to make, but i say this only in knowing what the outcome of the other choice is. If i were in her shoes i would have left the convent to, again because i am not religious. So it brings me back to the reason why i don't really like this book, and that is because Antoinette id set up to fail and it angered me to read her keep making bad choices. It is like listening to a broken record, or watching someone fall over and over again, eventually they will stop getting back up.
ReplyDeleteIn the discussion we had for Wide Sargasso Sea, the one thing that stood out to me most was that “death came spiritually then physically” amongst all the other points in the book. (Mainly because I didn’t take notes on the first day we started the discussion and therefore lost all the interesting points.)
ReplyDeleteAntoinette had watched her mother go through these phases of death and had accepted it as natural. When she had married Rochester and had eventually submitted herself to him, she had died on the inside. The fact that she had resisted him for so long just shows that the jungle side of her refused to be tied down to him completely, despite the fact that she was already married to him. In the jungle, she could be whoever she wanted to be, and therefore had known the blessings of being free. However, after her marriage, she had traded in her freedom to being caged in. Someone had pointed out that she eventually gave in because she saw the beauty of “death” if she did give in to him, and followed through with it. After her spirits death, it was just a fact of her body slowly dying.