Instituto Superior “San Bartolomé” Reaching Farther, Reaching Wider II : Instituto Superior “San Bartolomé” Reaching Farther, Reaching Wider II (De)Construction of Identity in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea
Prof. Virginia G. Cattolica
Jean Rhys: the writer : Jean Rhys: the writer
The mad woman in the attic… : The mad woman in the attic…
JANE EYRE WIDE SARGASSO SEA (C. Brönte) (J. Rhys) : JANE EYRE WIDE SARGASSO SEA (C. Brönte) (J. Rhys) England
(Thornfield Hall)
E. Rochester – Bertha Mason
Richard Mason (Bertha’s stepbrother)
Adéle (Rochester’s protégé)
Jane Eyre (Adéle’s governess)
Grace Poole (servant and later Bertha’s “jailer”) West Indies
(Coulibri – Massacre)
Annette – Mr. Cosway (1st husband)
Antoinette (Bertha) and Pierre (children)
Daniel Cosway (Mr. Cosway’s illegitimate son)
Mr. Mason (Annette’s 2nd husband)
Richard Mason (his son)
Mr. Rochester (Antoinette’s husband)
Christophine, Amélie and Grace Poole (servants)
Tia (Antoinette’s friend)
Theoretical background : Theoretical background A person identity: a construct
Concepts involved
Common sense
Ideology Converge
Patriarchy Positively or
Oppression Negatively
Enslavement
Common Sense : Common Sense ‘An ideological and discursive construct, rooted in a specific historical situation and
operating in conjunction with a particular social formation’
(Belsey, 1980: 34)
Discourse : Discourse ‘A political vision of reality whose structure promoted a binary opposition
between
the familiar and the strange’
(Loomba, 2002: 47)
Some concepts to remember… : Some concepts to remember… Otherness
To be ‘the other’ implies to be different from what is normal or accepted.
Doubleness of Selfhood
Result of the process, split of personality
Forming a Community : Forming a Community Meant unforming or
re-forming the existing
communities
Process
Involved practices such
as trade, plunder, warfare,
genocide, & enslavement
Colonies: Mixed Societies : Colonies: Mixed Societies Creoles Hybrids
[Locally born [mixture of white
whites] & natives]
Imbalance between the nº of whites, creoles, hybrids & black inhabitants.
‘The Other’
Identity : Identity “ The qualities and attitudes that a person or group of people have, that make them different from
other people”
(Longman Exams Dictionary 2006)
Antoinette’s Identity : Antoinette’s Identity Negatively influenced
Shattered by her husband’s patriarchal, postcolonial ideology
Transformed her into ‘the Other’
Antoinette’s childhood : Antoinette’s childhood ‘She pushed me away, not roughly but calmly, coldly, without a word, as if she had decided once and for all that I was useless to her’ (W.S.S. 5)
‘Once I made excusses to be near her when she brushed her hair, a soft black cloak to cover me, hide me, keep me safe. But not any longer. Not any more.’ (7)
Antoinette - Tia : Antoinette - Tia ‘When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking-glass.’ (W.S.S. 23)
Slide 15 :
Antoinette : Antoinette Rejected by her mother
Looked for love among servants and Tia
Was in communion with nature Moulded by Mr. Mason
Helped by Aunt Cora
Educated by Sisters at Convent
Nature in Antoinette’s Life : Nature in Antoinette’s Life ‘Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible –the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell od dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of the reach or for some reason not to be touched… The scent was very sweet and strong.’ (W.S.S. 5)
Mr. Rochester : Mr. Rochester Was a young Englishman
Sought his fortune in the West Indies
Married a young, rich heiress
Felt victim of Imperialistic and Patriarchal oppression
Mr. Rochester : Mr. Rochester “When at last I met her I bowed, smiled, kissed her hand, danced with her. I played the part I was expected to play ... Every moment I made was an effort of will ... I would listen to my own voice and marvel at it, calm, correct but toneless, surely. But I must given a faultless performance.” (W.S.S. 44)
Slide 20 :
Vision of Reality : Vision of Reality Rochester’s
Real
Commonsensical
Moderate
Sane
Familiar Antoinette’s
Unreal
Nonsensical
Wild
Insane
Dirty
Unfamiliar
Rochester and his disconnection from nature : Rochester and his disconnection from nature ‘I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all, I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and the loveliness. She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it’. (W.S.S. 112)
Antoinette: A Stereotype : Antoinette: A Stereotype “To perpetuate an artificial sense of difference between
‘self’ and ‘other’”
(Loomba, 2002: 60)
Rochester’s Power : Rochester’s Power Considered Antoinette a doll, a marionette
Used his influence as husband, man and master
Attempted to change the Caribbean Creole girl into the English Bertha
Antoinette : Antoinette Before...
Unstable personality
A girl ‘with the sun inside her’ (W.S.S. 102) After...
A fragile and vulnerable ‘marionette’
A ‘ghost in the grey daylight’ (W.S.S. 111)
Antoinette/Bertha: a ghost : Antoinette/Bertha: a ghost
Some conclusions…Antoinette’s Identity : Some conclusions…Antoinette’s Identity Shattered by Patriarcal, Postcolonial oppression
Abandoned, ‘othered’ and accussed of being insane
Her madness: a reaction to subjection rather than congenital
Antoinette’s Suicide : Antoinette’s Suicide Jumped out of the window in the attic
Saw her projected double: Tia
Illusion: back to the past
Escape from the terrible oppression of Patriarchy
Thank you very much! : Thank you very much! virginia_cattolica@hotmail.com